Microsoft KB Archive/416351

= You cannot open Office files in Internet Explorer =

Article ID: 416351

Article Last Modified on 8/17/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
 * Microsoft Access 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Access 2003
 * Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2003
 * Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Word 2003
 * Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
 * Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
 * Microsoft Office XP Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office XP Standard Edition for Students and Teachers
 * Microsoft Office XP Developer Edition
 * Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Office Excel 2007

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Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry





SYMPTOMS
When you try to open a Microsoft Office XP or a Microsoft Office 2003 file in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0, the document does not open, and you receive one of the following error messages:

Error message 1

414 Request-URI Too Large - The size of the request header is too large. Contact the server administrator.

Error message 2

404 Page Not Found

Error message 3

A DDE error has occurred, and a description of the error cannot be displayed because it is too long. If the filename or path is long, try renaming the file or copying it to a different folder.



CAUSE
This problem occurs if the file or the path name is longer than 255 characters. If the file or the path name is longer than 255 characters, the file cannot be located on a URL Web address, a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path, or a mapped drive.

Additionally, Microsoft Office programs have a limitation for the total length of the path and the file name. The combined length cannot be more than 218 characters.

If the temporary file name in the Internet Temporary folder is longer than 218 characters, you will receive one of the error messages that is referenced in the &quot;Symptoms&quot; section.



RESOLUTION
You can resolve this problem by updating your version of Internet Explorer to one of the following versions:
 * Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2 (5.50.4807.2300)
 * Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1

For additional information about how to update Internet Explorer, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276369 How to obtain the latest service pack for Internet Explorer 5.5

328548 How to obtain the latest service pack for Internet Explorer 6

After you update Internet Explorer, you must make a modification to the registry to turn on the fix for this problem. You must add a new registry entry named TruncateFileName, that has the following properties:

Subkey:

Entry: TruncateFileName

Type: DWORD

Value: 1

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

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 TruncateFileName, and then press ENTER. On the Edit menu, click Modify. Type 1, and then click OK.</li></ol>

If you still cannot open a specific Office file, the temporary cache file may be damaged or corrupted. To resolve this problem, you must delete the temporary Internet files that Internet Explorer caches. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Click Internet Options on the Tools menu.
 * 2) Click Delete Files on the General tab.
 * 3) Click OK, and then click OK.

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