Why does Excel try to open password-protected URL links itself instead of just giving to the browser?

Question

I have links to secure sites inside Excel spreadsheets (currently 2010, but I'm pretty sure it's the same with Office 2007).

When I click on them, instead of just launching the system browser (Firefox), and seeing the password prompt from the browser - it seems that Office tries to connect to the site itself. So I see a certificate warning and then a Windows Security password prompt.

After that, if I get the user/password correct, it will open the browser which then prompts me again.

This is annoying and insecure (Windows/Office shouldn't need that password)

Why does Office do this and how do I stop it?

Answer 1

Excel does some strange stuff with links.. Especially if your default browser is not IE.

Looks like there are some registry settings you can play with to force a browser to open:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/218153/en-us

Answer 2

It seems the answer is that, for Office 2010, the relevant value is no longer under the Wow6432Node. Now, it has to be set under the original location

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Internet\
ForceShellExecute = 1

I had actually tried that before, but incorrectly read the first part of the article that says the "Internet key" should be set to 1.

This implies that Office 2010 (or at least, Excel 2010, which I tested with) is now somewhat a 64 bit application.