Configure Internet Explorer to open Office documents in the appropriate Office program

When you click an HTML link to a Microsoft Office file (such as a Microsoft Word or Excel document), Internet Explorer may open the file in Internet Explorer, instead of opening the file in the appropriate Office program.

This behavior may occur if Internet Explorer is configured to host documents for Office programs that are installed on the computer. By default, Internet Explorer is configured to host documents for Office programs.

To configure Internet Explorer to open Office files in the appropriate Office program instead of in Internet Explorer, use one of the following methods.

Open My Computer
On the Tools menu (or the View menu), click Folder Options (or click Options).
Click the File Types tab.
In the Registered file types list, click the specific Office document type (for example, Microsoft Excel Worksheet), and then click Advanced (or click Edit).
In the Edit File Type dialog box, click to clear the Browse in same window check box (or click to clear the Open Web documents in place check box).
Click OK.

Example: For .CSV files, you can use the above procedure and uncheck Browse in same window option for Microsoft Excel Worksheet. This is applicable for .CSV, .XLS and other file types handled by MS Excel.

More information, and registry editing method available at: How to configure Internet Explorer to open Office documents in the appropriate Office program instead of in Internet Explorer

WinXPTutor's XP Resources

Configure Internet Explorer to open Office documents in the appropriate Office program