When you are trying to call up a typical office (not an Adobe PDF) file using INTERNET EXPLORER (this does not apply to other browsers) and the file is not loaded in a browser window, there are 3 likely causes:

1. You do not have the associated program installed (Ex. Word, Excel). If so, you have two choices, you can either buy the Microsoft Office suite from whomsoever you buy software (very expensive), or download the OpenOffice suite from OpenOffice.org (it is a 75 megabyte download) OpenOffice will read and write in Microsoft file formats. IF YOU ARE A NARFE Florida Chapter Officer with a slow connection and need it for your Chapter work, please contact me and I will send you a CD.

2. Your security settings (either Firewall or AntiVirus) prohibit your opening a Microsoft Office suite file with your browser. If so, you can either adjust your settings, or right click on the link to the file, select the "Save Target As" option and save it to your hard drive-then open it directly in Word or Excel.

3. Your file type association has been compromised, possibly by another program's installation. You can check and correct this by opening your computer's Control Panel in the Classic View, then selecting the Folder Options, checking the file extension to see if it is registered correctly. You can correct it, if necessary. See below: