Controls in the "Links" dialog box become unavailable when you click "Automatic" or "Manual" for the update behavior in Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac

When you click Automatic or Manual for the update behavior, all the controls in the Links dialog box become unavailable except for the close button. This problem occurs if you modify the link to a linked object in a Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac workbook. For example, the object may be a Microsoft Word for Mac document or an Excel workbook.

To work around this problem, close and reopen the Links dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In the Links dialog box, click Close.
2. On the worksheet, click the inserted object.
3. On the Edit menu, click Links.

All the controls are now active. Additionally, the update behavior still uses the setting that you used before you closed the Links dialog box.

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