OFFICE XP:

There are unresolved problems with all Microsoft XP products when they attempt to access any Word document from the web. REMEMBER THAT THESE SOLUTIONS ARE ONLY NECESSARY IF YOU HAVE Microsoft OFFICE XP.

SOLUTION:

To get around these issues, after you access one of our Word forms from the web, immediately save it to your local files, then close that browser window. DO NOT NAVIGATE AWAY FROM THAT WINDOW. The problem only surfaces once you move AWAY from a Microsoft Word page.

SYMPTOMS:

When accessing any Word document from the internet (regardless of browser, but definitely worse with Internet Explorer), your computer will (1) freeze and you will be required to restart the computer (even Ctrl/Alt/Delete doesn't work) OR (2) your computer will start running extremely slow until you restart your computer OR (3) you will experience very slow performance (30+ seconds to open a page).

Microsoft Knowledge Base:

See Microsoft Articles 819954 and 823329

Microsoft has a BETA version of the fix that has not yet been released to the public.

This BETA fix will be included in the next Microsoft Service Update for Office XP. We will change the message at the top of our website to provide notification and links as soon as Microsoft publishes this Service Update.

Thank you for your patience,

IRB Office