Password prompt when you close a Word document you opened in a Web browser

If you click Back or if you close the browser window after you use Microsoft Internet Explorer to locate a Microsoft Word document in a Web site, you may be prompted to type a user name and password.

Also, the Authentication dialog box may appear if you start Word, open a file as read-only directly from a Web server, and then quit Word.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Office XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Part 1: Obtain and install the hotfix

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Part 2: Enable the hotfix

After you download and apply the hotfix, you must create the "DontAddToMRUIfURL" registry key to enable the hotfix. To do this, follow these steps.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In Microsoft Word 2002, click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
   In Microsoft Word 2000, click the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Options
4. With the Options key selected, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type DontAddToMRUIfURL, and then press ENTER.
6. With DontAddToMRUIfURL selected, click Modify on the Edit menu.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
   
   Note To activate the fix, change the Value data box to 1. To turn off the setting, change the Value data box to 0.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

This hotfix is a post-Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) hotfix. To install the hotfix, you must have Office XP SP-2 installed. For more information about Office XP SP-2, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Additionally, you may have to install Windows Installer 2.0 to install this hotfix. For more information about the Windows Installer requirement for post-Office XP SP-2 hotfixes, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

This problem occurs when Internet Explorer tries to write the document file name to the list of most recently used files. To write the file name to the most recently used list, Internet Explorer tries to obtain read/write access to the document.

This problem also occurs when Internet Explorer tries to add the Word document to the most recently used list when the client has a Web folder that points to the Web server where the Word document resides. For example, this problem occurs if you locate the Word document at http://www.MyWebServer.com/word.doc, and you also have a Web folder that points to http://www.MyWebServer.com. By default, the Web folder tries to gain read/write access to the document.