Filetype blocked by registry setting

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

I have been doing some cleanup of old documents. I tried to open one
document and I got an error message about the filetype having been
created by an earlier version of Word and it being blocked by a
registry setting.

The message inside the box is:

"This error occurs if you try to open a Microsoft Office document and
the file type for that document has been blocked by a registry policy
setting. To help secure your computer, Microsoft or the administrator
of this computer implemented a registry policy setting that prevents
opening this type of file.
To open documents with this file type, disable the registry policy
setting. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article
922850."

Clicking on the hyperlink, I am taken to:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=922850

This contains a lot of complicated information about changing the
registry. I am reluctant to make registry changes.

Is there any downside to making these registry changes?

What's the best way to handle this situation?

I find this action by Microsoft very unfriendly. I have been using
Word since it first came out. I don't think it's my responsibility to
load and resave all of my old documents every time a new release of
Word comes out.

Is there a utility that will scan my hard disk, locate all documents
saved with unsupported versions of Word, and offer me the chance to
convert them?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Did you click on the link to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922849/? That's
applicable if you have Word 2007. If you have Word 2003, you can click on
that link to get to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810/, which gets you
to the real nitty-gritty. Method 1 provides a downloadable update that will
make the Registry edit for you. It is provided by MS and is quite safe.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Jay Freedman]

In addition to Suzanne's pointers to the better KB articles, I'd like to
correct a misapprehension. You wrote

I find this action by Microsoft very unfriendly. I have been using
Word since it first came out. I don't think it's my responsibility to
load and resave all of my old documents every time a new release of
Word comes out.

That's not what's happening here. There is no need to resave the documents
even once, let alone "every time a new release of Word comes out." Microsoft
engineers determined that -- quoting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810 -- "the parsing code that Office 2003
uses to open and save the [old] file types is less secure". For reasons that
the article doesn't mention, they decided to disable that code rather than
rewrite it in a secure manner. They left it up to you to decide whether to
take the risk -- a very small risk if you open only your own documents, but
maybe a larger risk if you don't know where the old documents have been.

I agree that the chase 'round the barn to find the right KB article is
pretty poor, but it is a one-time thing.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

Did you click on the link to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922849/? That's
applicable if you have Word 2007. If you have Word 2003, you can click on
that link to get to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810/, which gets you
to the real nitty-gritty. Method 1 provides a downloadable update that will
make the Registry edit for you. It is provided by MS and is quite safe.

I have 2007. I didn't see a downloadable update. Is that just for
2003?

For 2007, do I have to do the manual registry update?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, you'll need to either do the manual update or put the files in a
trusted location; see
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100319991033.aspx

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

Yes, you'll need to either do the manual update or put the files in a
trusted location; see
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA100319991033.aspx

That did it. I was able to move the files to

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates

and open them without any problems.

I might tackle the registry update later.

Thank you very much.

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

In addition to Suzanne's pointers to the better KB articles, I'd like to
correct a misapprehension. You wrote

I find this action by Microsoft very unfriendly. I have been using
Word since it first came out. I don't think it's my responsibility to
load and resave all of my old documents every time a new release of
Word comes out.

That's not what's happening here. There is no need to resave the documents
even once, let alone "every time a new release of Word comes out." Microsoft
engineers determined that -- quoting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938810 -- "the parsing code that Office 2003
uses to open and save the [old] file types is less secure". For reasons that
the article doesn't mention, they decided to disable that code rather than
rewrite it in a secure manner. They left it up to you to decide whether to
take the risk -- a very small risk if you open only your own documents, but
maybe a larger risk if you don't know where the old documents have been.

Perhaps there is no *requirement* to resave old documents, but if you
don't, you may not be able to open them without spending a couple of
hours chasing down obscure KB links and possibly corrupting the
registry.

I agree that the chase 'round the barn to find the right KB article is
pretty poor, but it is a one-time thing.

It's a one-time thing for *this* problem, but these problems come up
way too often. Each one is a one-time thing.

Without this group and the MVPs, the problem would be many times
worse. It's criminal that the MVPs aren't getting paid while Microsoft
racks up billions in profits. ;-)

 

[Jay Freedman]

[snip]

Perhaps there is no *requirement* to resave old documents, but if you
don't, you may not be able to open them without spending a couple of
hours chasing down obscure KB links and possibly corrupting the
registry.

I've already agreed that the KB in this case is in bad shape. Hint for next
time: Google or Live Search often does a better job of indexing the KB than the
MSDN site does. Paste the exact wording of an error message into the search box,
and you'll usually come up with the right article.

That "easily corrupted registry" thing is another myth I'd like to bust. I
work with the registry almost daily and have never corrupted one. You really
have to be ham-handed to cause the kind of damage that prevents the computer
from booting. I have a philosophical dislike of the idea that it's a single
point of failure, but the registry isn't a fragile flower, either.

It's a one-time thing for *this* problem, but these problems come up
way too often. Each one is a one-time thing.

Really? Do you have some specifics about this "way too often"? I'd have trouble
coming up with more than a mere handful over the last decade. But maybe my
definition of a problem differs from yours.

Without this group and the MVPs, the problem would be many times
worse. It's criminal that the MVPs aren't getting paid while Microsoft
racks up billions in profits. ;-)

Well, there I agree wholeheartedly!