You cannot access Word documents by using Outlook Web Access on a server that is running SharePoint Portal Server

You may not be able to access Microsoft Word documents by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) on a server that is running Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server. This problem may occur if the path of the folder that contains the document contains more than 100 characters.

This problem occurs because the MAX_WEB_FOLDER_LENGTH attribute is defined with a set limit of 100 characters. After you apply this hotfix, the MAX_WEB_FOLDER_LENGTH attribute is defined with a set limit of 260 characters. The hotfix changes the limit to 260 characters because some earlier versions of Microsoft Office have a limit of 260 characters, and this new limit will work correctly with earlier versions of Office.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it 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 Internet Explorer service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone 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 typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) 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 tool in Control Panel. This fix is available for Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Internet Explorer 6, and Internet Explorer 6 SP1.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

After you apply the 325355 software update that is described in this article, the following registry key on a computer that is running Internet Explorer 6 SP1 permits you to enable the 260-character limit and also permits you to disable the 260 character and revert to the 100 character limit for backward compatibility. You must manually create the iexplore.exe entry in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\KB325355_INCREASE_WEBFOLDER_MAXURLLENGTH_TO_260CHAR subkey. To do this, follow these steps:

Note This section only applies to Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. To set the limit to 260 characters, locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\KB325355_INCREASE_WEBFOLDER_MAXURLLENGTH_TO_260CHAR subkey.
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type iexplore.exe for the Value Name.
5. Double-click iexplore.exe.
6. Click Hexadecimal, in the Value Data area, type 0x1, and then click OK.
   
   Note To revert to the 100-character limit for backward compatibility, reset this value to 0x0.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

For more information about a related topic, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: