You receive a "The address of this site is not valid" error message when you click a hyperlink in an Office 2003 document (890474)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
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

In a Microsoft Office 2003 document, when you click a hyperlink that opens another document, you may experience the following symptoms:
  • The document does not open.
  • You receive the following error message:
    The address of this site is not valid. Check the address and try again.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if all the following conditions are true:
  • The document that contains the hyperlink was saved in an Office 2003 program.
  • The document that contains the hyperlink and the document that the hyperlink opens are located on the same network server.
  • The document that contains the hyperlink and the document that the hyperlink opens are located in separate shares on the network server.
  • The hyperlink contains a relative URL.

    Notes
    • By default, a relative URL for the hyperlink is created when you save the document in Microsoft Office Excel 2003.
    • A relative URL has one or more missing parts. The missing information is taken from the page that contains the URL. For example, if the protocol and Web server are missing, the Web browser uses the protocol and domain, such as .com, .org, or .edu, of the current page.

RESOLUTION

This problem was first fixed in a hotfix that is now contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 2.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

870924 How to obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 1 Hotfix Package that is dated November 25, 2004. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

890472 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 1 hotfix package: November 25, 2004



After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section to set the HypAlternateResolveToRel registry key and to enable the hotfix.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

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.

To enable this hotfix, follow these steps:
  1. Quit all Office 2003 programs.
  2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  3. Locate and then click to select the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common

  4. After you select the subkey that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
  5. Type HypAlternateResolveToRel, and then press ENTER.
  6. Right-click HypAlternateResolveToRel, and then click Modify.
  7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
  8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/7/2006
Keywords:kbOffice2003sp1fix kbsavefile kberrmsg kbOffice2003preSP2fix kbQFE kbbug kbfix KB890474 kbAudITPRO kbAudEndUser
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