Microsoft KB Archive/832889

= The File Open dialog box does not automatically select the first available document in an Office program =

Article ID: 832889

Article Last Modified on 5/17/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Access 2007
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2007
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003
 * Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
 * Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
 * Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
 * Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
 * Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
 * Microsoft Office Word 2007
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SYMPTOMS
You click File and then click Open to bring up the Open dialog box in a Microsoft Office program, such as Microsoft Office Word 2003 or Microsoft Office Word 2007. When you do this, the program does not automatically select the first available document that is listed in the Open dialog box. Additionally, the Open button is unavailable.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because the AutoSelect feature is disabled in Microsoft Office 2003 and in the 2007 Microsoft Office programs.



RESOLUTION
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.

To resolve this behavior, you must create a Windows Registry value and then set the value to zero.

Follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:  Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:

 

 On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value. Type DisableAutoSelect, and then press ENTER. On the Edit menu, click Modify. Type 0, and then click OK.</li></ol>

Note When this fix is enabled, the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code that uses the SelectedItems property will function as expected.

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MORE INFORMATION
This behavior is different from earlier versions of Office because if the AutoSelect feature is enabled in the Open dialog box, and you view a folder on a network share that contains many files and folders, you may experience a delay of two to five minutes before the Open dialog box is populated and the first available Office 2003 document is selected.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

818792 OffXP: Long delay in the display of file names from the &quot;File Open&quot; dialog box

Additional query words: dimmed greyed OFF2003 OFF2k3 OFF2k+3 WD2003 WD2k3 WD2k+3 PPT2003 PPT2k3 PPT2k+3 XL2003 XL2k3 XL2k+3 AC2003 AC2k3 AC2k+3 OFF2007 WD2007 PPT2007 XL2007 ACC2007 OL2007 PUB2007

Keywords: kbregistry kbopenfile kbprb KB832889

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