Clicking on URL in Word, but website won't load

[Kathy S.]

Hi All,

When I'm in Word, and I click on a link to a website, I get the
following error message: "cannot locate the internet server or proxy
server." This has been going on for months, and upgrading to the
latest version of Office 2004 hasn't helped.

BUT, if I restart my computer, I'm able to click on the link, and the
website loads, just like that. Problem is, that doesn't last. Pretty
soon, I'm back to getting the error message again.

The fact that it will work temporarily when I restart my computer is
really confusing to me. Can someone help me get to the bottom of
this?

Thanks in advance! You all are such a great group out there.

Best,

Kathy

 

[Russ]

Are you on dialup or broadband?
Did you try to get on the internet with a regular browser, after this broke
down in Word? Did that work?
Are you going through a proxy server at work?

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Kathy -

I think your problem lies somewhere other than with Word, itself
Office:Mac isn't like PC Office where Word *tries* to be a browser.

When you click the link Mac Word is then out of the picture - it hands the
instruction off to your browser via the OS. It sounds like Word is doing its
job & handing the instruction off to the browser (it launches, right?), but
the *browser* is unable to locate the site. The error message is generated
by your browser, not by Word.

It could be several things, but if restarting your Mac *does* correct it -
even temporarily - it sounds like an OS issue. In order to help narrow it
down more info is required but here are some basic starting points:

1- Make sure OS X is updated - reapply the Combo updater for your type of
Mac from the Apple site (don't rely on Software Update),

2- Be sure your browser is updated as well

3- Repair Disk Permissions using Disk Utility (or comparable)... might also
be a good idea to run Verify Disk while you're at it to see what it finds.

My gut feeling, though, is that the problem probably is not with your local
system, but is more likely your connectivity to or erratic performance of
your ISP. If the above suggestions don't help please provide more specific
details & someone will try to help even though it is most likely not a
subject for this forum... If nothing else you'll get pointed in the right
direction to get the issue resolved

Points of interest if you need to come back:

On a network? Wireless internet connection?
What browser? What ISP?
What happens if - when you have one of these failures - you launch your
browser directly, type/paste in the URL & try to access the same site?

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac