You cannot use the Read button or the Change button to configure IRM properties of an Office 2003 document when Outlook is not your default e-mail client (892542)

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 configure the Information Rights Management (IRM) properties of a Microsoft Office 2003 document, you may not be able to select users or groups from Active Directory. When you click Read or Change in the Permissions dialog box to modify the IRM properties of an Office 2003 document, you may receive one or both of the following messages:

Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfill the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Office Outlook and set it as default mail client.

Outlook is not currently your default mail client. Would you like to make it your default mail client?Note The Read button or the Change button may become unavailable after you receive these messages.

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

After you install the service pack, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of the article to set the DoNotUseOutlookByDefault registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Microsoft Office 2003 Hotfix Package dated 1/22/2005. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

892539 Description of the Office 2003 post-Service Pack 1 hotfix package: January 22, 2005

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, follow these steps:

Open the Office 2003 document.
On the File menu, point to Permissions, and then click Restrict Permission As.
In the Select User box, click the name of a user who has permissions to modify IRM properties, and then click OK.
Click to select the Restrict permission to this document check box if it is not selected.
In the Read box or in the Change box, type the SMTP address of each user to whom you want to grant permissions.

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:

Quit all non-essential programs.
Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click to select the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\office\11.0\Common\DRM\
After you select the key that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
Type DoNotUseOutlookByDefault, and then press ENTER.
Right-click DoNotUseOutlookByDefault, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.