Cannot access Internet URL from with Word

OK
First, having re-read some the previous posts I just want to note that this wasn't a case of being able to answer the prompt and then open a URL from within Word - I never got the prompt, it just gave the error message and wouldn't open the link.


Next I tried creating a new account with Standard and then Administrator access but that didn't work either.


Then I resorted to removing the IE folders from the Program files and Program Files (x68) folders and replacing them with ones from my computer with IE9 on it. That didn't work either; IE simply wouldn't open at all even directly clicking the program exe icon. I suspect that I would have had to remove all the existing Registry entries as well and then reinstall IE9 from scratch.


So I reinstalled the IE10 folders and everything was back as before. I then uploaded IE11 in case it was an IE10 glitch that had been resolved, re-ran the compatibility system but that didn't find any issues, and tried again. Results as per IE10.


My final solution was to paste the text and link into Wordpad instead of Word. Wordpad being a Windows program rather than Office that has to be compatible, and it works! She does get the prompt but can simply accept that and open the link, so from now on she will use Wordpad instead of Word for these docs and links.

I suspect that if I tried a more modern version of MS Office, or even a different office system like Apache or Libre, or a different browser, they'd probably work too. I think this must be a compatibility issue between XP and later versions of IE, probably as part of MS's marketing strategy to get people to buy a later version of Office, and since their support of XP software is due to end this year it isn't going to get fixed.


So there we go. An interesting if sometimes frustrating issue to play with, ending in an acceptable workaround.


Thank you for all your help and suggestions, Bill. Much appreciated! You are a credit to these forums!


Best regards
David