Unable to connect to Microsoft Office Online

[aurion]

I am using Vista Version 6. My system originally had Office 2003 installed. I
recently upgraded to Office 2007. Whenever I try to create a new document
(Word) or workbook (Excel) etc. I receive the message "Unable to connect to
Microsoft Office Online". Retrying doesn't work.
I can access the Microsoft Office Online website through the internet and
that's fine. Does anyone have a clue what might be going on? The system is
running the Symantec Antivirus solution - I don't know if there are settings
that may be causing the error. Googling this problem has been less than
helpful.
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Gordon]

I am using Vista Version 6.

It would be difficult to have ny other version of Vista!

My system originally had Office 2003 installed. I
recently upgraded to Office 2007. Whenever I try to create a new document
(Word) or workbook (Excel) etc. I receive the message "Unable to connect
to
Microsoft Office Online". Retrying doesn't work.
I can access the Microsoft Office Online website through the internet and
that's fine. Does anyone have a clue what might be going on? The system is
running the Symantec Antivirus solution - I don't know if there are
settings
that may be causing the error. Googling this problem has been less than
helpful.
Thanks for your help in advance.

Try disabling Symantec and see if that cures the problem...

 

[aurion]

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the pointer. Unfortunately that didn't have any affect. I tried
turning off all my firewalls, virus checkers etc and still couldn't get any
further.

Cheers

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Aurion,

In Word 2007 if you click on the blue help question mark and look at the bottom right hand corner of help does it say 'Offline'? If
so, click the 'Offline' choice and select 'Show content from Office Online' to see if that helps.

The setting is also changeable from Word (or other ribboned app) Trust Center Options (Alt T, O,)
Office Button=>Word Options=>Trust Center=>Trust Center Settings=>Privacy Options.

=============Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the pointer. Unfortunately that didn't have any affect. I tried
turning off all my firewalls, virus checkers etc and still couldn't get any
further.

Cheers <<
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[aurion]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your suggestion.

I checked the Blue Question mark and it shows "Connected to Office Online".
I clicked on this and it shows a check-mark against the words "Show Content
From Office Online". So I think that the system SHOULD be able to access the
Templates etc, because it certainly brings up all of the Help options.

I also had a look at the Trust settings and all of the options were checked
as being on.

So sadly, I'm no further forward.

Best regards...

 

[Dan]

I can't believe we can't find a fix for this. I posted two times for this
and never got a single reply. Just in case you didn't see my posting, here
is what I posted...

Whenever I'm in any Microsoft Office 2003 Pro application and try to perform
a search, the Search Results has "Unable to connect to Microsoft Office
Online" listed on top of the Task Pane. My anti-virus is Norton Internet
Security 2007. I checked the settings and all of the Office apps are set to
the Allow setting. I tried turning off the firewall and auto protect and
still unable to connect. I've worked with Microsoft some time ago on this
and gave up after spending way too much time on it. I've searched the
internet and haven't had any luck either. If I remember right, this all
started after I installed the Office 2007 trial version and then uninstalled
it. At that time I started having problems with Office 2003, so I had to
uninstall and reinstall it. I have both programs (Office 2003 and Norton N/S
2007) on my laptop and the online search works fine. Any input would be
greatly appreciated. Like I said, way too much time spent on this problem.

 

[aurion]

Hey Dan,

I agree that it seems unbelievable that this doesn't seem to work. The other
thing that went wrong at around the same time I did the upgrade to 2007 was
that the Indexing stopped working. So now I cannot do a search in Outlook.
Maybe not connected but yet another really frustrating thing which I haven't
found an answer for in an forum.

Cheers...

 

[Johnbes]

Hi, This is JohnBes from Microsoft, I’m in the Office Assistance and
Worldwide Services team. I’m very sorry you are all having problems using
our online services from the Office client. From this and other threads I’ve
read, I wanted to first confirm some background information for further
investigation. Please let me know if any of the following assumptions are
incorrect…

1. It generally happens after upgrading from Office 2003 to Office 2007.
2. The symptoms are all connectivity related and occur in both Office 2003
and Office 2007.
a. Connection problems occur primarily when using Search in 2003 and
Help or File New in 2007.
3. Everyone has checked their trust center settings and they all are set to
online.
a. To check in 2007 ( From Bob Buckland’s reply check the settings at
Office Button=> App Name Options=>Trust Center=>Trust Center
Settings=>Privacy Options => Check “Search Office Online for Help when
connected to the internetâ€)
b. To check in 2003, Tools-Options-General Tab-Service Options-Online
Content- Check “Search online content when connectedâ€
c. Also, please respond if any admin policies have been changed or
applied to their systems recently regarding online connectivity.

There have been reports on both Vista and Windows XP, so at this point
appears the issues is not specific to any operating system. There are two
other services I’d like you to check form the Office Client…

Try to insert some online clipart.
1. On 2007 ribbon apps like Word, XL,PPT click on the Insert menu => choose
Clip Art
a. On 2003 and non-ribbon apps, Insert = > Picture => Clipart…
2. Click on the “Search In†drop down of the Clipart Task Pane and make sure
“Web Collections†is checked.
3. Search for any common term like cat or bridge.
4. If an alert appears asking if you want to search for clips online, choose
Yes.
5. Online clipart should appear in your clipart taskpane. You’ll know its
online as they will have a tiny globe icon at the bottom left of the clipart
thumbnail.
6. Click on any online clip to insert into yoru document.

Also, make sure you can connect to Research sites from Word.
1. In Word 2007 choose the Review menu from the Ribbon and select Research
from the Proofing toolbar.
a. In Word 2003 select Tools => Research…
2. In the Reference dropdown at the top of the Research pane, select any
online listing in the “All Research Sites†category.
3. Search for any common term and make sure online results appear in the
results list.

Finally, if you haven’t recently, please delete your cookies, then restart
your system and check for connectivity.

I’ll be your main contact for tracking this issue through to completion.
Feel free to E-mail me at (e-mail address removed) anytime. If we can’t readily
figure out this problem with standard trouble shooting steps, I may ask a few
of you to download a shareware tool to detect client/server connectivity
traffic to help debug the issue.

Thanks,
John

 

[JohnBes]

Hi, One more issue to check. Browse to http://office.microsoft.com and
sign-out if you are currently signed in with your passport account. After
signing out, delete your cookies, restart your Office apps and try to connect
to online properties from the Office apps.

Note: You can tell if you are signed in or not by looking at the top right
of the Office.Microsoft.com home page. A status indicator will say either
"Sign In" (meaning your are NOT signed in) or "Sign Out" (meaning you are
signed in.)

Thanks,

John
(e-mail address removed)

 

[aurion]

Hi John,

Thanks very much for picking up on this concern. I'll embed my answers into
your questions, ok?

1. It generally happens after upgrading from Office 2003 to Office 2007. CORRECT. BUT PLEASE NOTE, I'VE JUST CHECKED THE SEARCH IN OFFICE AND IT IS NOW WORKING. I GUESS THE LAST TIME I CHECKED IT WAS ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO AND IT DIDN'T WORK THEN. BUT NOW IT IS. I HAVE LOADED THE MOST RECENT FIXES FOR EVERYTHING FROM WINDOWS UPDATE, NOT SURE IF THIS IS CONNECTED!

2. The symptoms are all connectivity related and occur in both Office 2003
and Office 2007. I CAN'T RECALL IF I HAD PROBLEMS WHILE USING 2003, JUST ONCE I'D MOVED UP TO 2007.

a. Connection problems occur primarily when using Search in 2003 and
Help or File New in 2007.

CURRENTLY, IN WORD, I CANNOT CONNECT TO MICROSOFT ONLINE WHEN USING FILE
NEW. BUT IF I CLICK ON THE ?HELP ICON THERE IS NO PROBLEM CONNECTING TO THE
HELP INFORMATION.

3. Everyone has checked their trust center settings and they all are set to
online.
a. To check in 2007 ( From Bob Buckland’s reply check the settings at
Office Button=> App Name Options=>Trust Center=>Trust Center
Settings=>Privacy Options => Check “Search Office Online for Help when
connected to the internetâ€). ABSOLUTELY, ALL PRIVACY OPTIONS ARE CHECKED.
b. To check in 2003, Tools-Options-General Tab-Service Options-Online
Content- Check “Search online content when connectedâ€
c. Also, please respond if any admin policies have been changed or
applied to their systems recently regarding online connectivity.
NO ADMIN POLICIES HAVE BEEN CHANGED OR APPLIED.

There have been reports on both Vista and Windows XP, so at this point
appears the issues is not specific to any operating system. There are two
other services I’d like you to check form the Office Client…

Try to insert some online clipart.
1. On 2007 ribbon apps like Word, XL,PPT click on the Insert menu => choose
Clip Art
a. On 2003 and non-ribbon apps, Insert = > Picture => Clipart…
2. Click on the “Search In†drop down of the Clipart Task Pane and make sure
“Web Collections†is checked.
3. Search for any common term like cat or bridge.
4. If an alert appears asking if you want to search for clips online, choose
Yes.
5. Online clipart should appear in your clipart taskpane. You’ll know its
online as they will have a tiny globe icon at the bottom left of the clipart
thumbnail.
6. Click on any online clip to insert into yoru document.

I CAN ACCESS THE ONLINE CLIP ART WITHOUT PROBLEM.

Also, make sure you can connect to Research sites from Word.
1. In Word 2007 choose the Review menu from the Ribbon and select Research
from the Proofing toolbar.
a. In Word 2003 select Tools => Research…
2. In the Reference dropdown at the top of the Research pane, select any
online listing in the “All Research Sites†category.
3. Search for any common term and make sure online results appear in the
results list.

I CAN ACCESS THE ONLINE RESEARCH SITES WITHOUT PROBLEM.

Finally, if you haven’t recently, please delete your cookies, then restart
your system and check for connectivity.

I REGULARLY CLEAR OUT MY COOKIES. MY SYSTEM WAS RESTARTED VERY RECENTLY. I
CAN ACCESS ALL THE ABOVE SITES BUT STILL NOT ACCESS THE FILE NEW SITE.

I’ll be your main contact for tracking this issue through to completion.
Feel free to E-mail me at (e-mail address removed) anytime. If we can’t readily
figure out this problem with standard trouble shooting steps, I may ask a few
of you to download a shareware tool to detect client/server connectivity
traffic to help debug the issue.

Thanks,
John

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP JOHN.

 

[aurion]

Hi again John,

I tried what you suggested below, and unfortunately this didn't help.

Let me know what I can do to help you pin this down.

All the best... Shaun

 

[Johnbes]

Hi again, It sounds like we’re making progress, just to confirm at this
point you can connect to Office.Microsoft.com through client search and
client help on both Office 2003 and 2007. But currently can't connect to
Office Online through the Office 2007 File New dialog, correct?

Also, did you notice if you were logged in when you browsed to
Office.Microsoft.com? Can you download templates from Office.Microsoft.com
into the client? For instance, tell me what happens when you go to
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC101945201033.aspx?pid=CT101425391033 and attempt to download the 2008 calendar into Word.

Thanks for all your help!
John
(e-mail address removed)

 

[aurion]

Hi John,

Would be nice to think we're making some progress!

I apologise if I'm a little unclear. I can definitely use the Client Help to
access Office.Microsoft.com. Not had problems with this. The search I was
referring to was the Search feature in Outlook. Before it always said that it
was still indexing and I couldn't do a search - for 4 months. But now it's
working.

I was able to browse to Office.Microsoft.com when logged in AND not logged
in. I just downloaded the 2008 calendar without problem by following the
link. But I still can't do this by going to the NEW function.

Hope I answered your question.

Cheers... Shaun

 

[Johnbes]

Hi Shaun,

There’s a tool called Fiddler I’d like you to run on your system, it can log
all your client server connectivity in a specified period of time. It
needs the .net framework to run, so you’ll be prompted to install it too. If
you don’t mind installing Fiddler and sending me the .saz output file to
(e-mail address removed), I should be able to tell what’s going on with your
Office 2007 install.

Dan is also working in parallel with Fiddler and sending me his Office 2003
Client Server traffic. Between the three of us we can hopefully figure out
the issue(s) preventing online connection. We'll report back to this thread
after debugging the output.

Here's the steps to install and run Fiddler...
1. Exit from your Office 2007 applications.
2. Browse to http://www.fiddler2.com/Fiddler2/version.asp and click on the
link “Install Fiddler 2â€.
3. If you are prompted to install the .net framework please do so. You may
have to retrigger the Fiddler 2 install after installing the .net framework.
4. Once Fiddler is installed, run it from the Start – All Programs –
Fiddler 2
5. Click on the File menu and make sure “Capture Traffic†is checked. You
are now ready to capture your client/server traffic.
6a. Launch Word 2007 and bring up the File New dialog. Click on a few
categories.
6b. Exit from File New and download some online clipart.
6c. Press F1 and browse online help from the Client Help Viewer.
7. Back in Fiddler make sure new session data has appeared in your Fiddler
Session window.
8. Go to the Fiddler Edit menu – Select All.
9. Fot to the Fiddler File menu – Save – Session(s) – in ArchiveZip…
10. Give it any name and send the .saz file to (e-mail address removed).

Thanks for all your help!
John
(e-mail address removed)

 

[aurion]

Hi John,

Did you manage to receive the email I sent you with the attachment?

I've not heard from you recently so would appreciate an update.

Cheers... Shaun

 

[Johnbes]

Thanks for the ping Shaun, your mail was filtered to another folder, I just
finished investigating your fiddler data and believe I understand what is
occurring in your client.

The issue is specific to Office Online/ Office 2007 integration and a fix is
currently being escalated . I hope to have a fix propped on the web with the
next service release. Its specific to clients running with worldwide
language combinations that are currently not supported by Office Online.
Shaun in looking at your Fiddler logs it appears you are running English
Office with a Singapore location. While it’s a totally valid international
setting, our File New service doesn’t currently support this combination.

As a temporary workaround please try setting your location as follows
1. Bring up the Control Panel and open the “Regional and Language Optionsâ€
dialog.
2. Click on the “Current Format†dropdown and select the English(United
States) language format.

I’ve uncovered a few other language combinations that are currently not
compatible with File New, all of these will be addressed in the fix to Office
Online.
English (Malaysia)
English (Singapore)
English (Indonesia)
Spanish (Traditioanl Sort)
Spanish (Latam)
Romanian (Modava)
I’ll reply to the thread when I know the target date for propagating the fix
to Office Online. NO download will be required, this is an online only issue
that updates the http://office.microsoft.com site.

I’ve also been investigating Dan’s issue with the Fiddler info he provided
over the past week. Dan I've confirmed that your issue is NOT related to the
mixed language scenario. I’ve tried numerous combinations of installs and
have het to find a repro case. I do believe it is related to the 2007 trial
version being uninstalled. If anyone else has a similar issue with Office
2003 client search not able to connect with Office Online, please send a
reply to the thread, as the more customer data the better in debugging this
problem.

A special thanks to Shaun and Dan who have really made the difference in
investigating these issues!

All the best,
John
(e-mail address removed)

 

[aurion]

Hi John,

Changing the regional settings to US has resolved the problem!

My computer was bought in Singapore, hence the English (Singapore) setting.
But I'm using the computer in the Philippines. I just never changed the
setting.

Thanks very much for your help John. Really great!

Cheers... Shaun

 

[michel]

Hi John:

I found this conversation while I was posting a problem similar to the one
you resolved.

When opening help (F1) in office 2007, I get only the table of content .
The main page is blank. If I click on a topic (even offline) nothing
happens.

I cannot get templates, neither insert clipart.
This is the same with firewall desactivated.

Note that the page used to say: "This page is not available". After I
installed SP1 today, the page is now blank.

Could you please help?

Michel

 

[Jason Murray]

I am having the same type of problem except I also cannot get the online help
through Office 2007. We can browse the website, download the calendar, but
we cannot get new templates online. I have just installed Office 2007 SP1
and it did not help.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Might try emptying your temporary cache, in Internet Explorer, tools, Internet
Options, delete files.
Can you accept the ActiveX control? Is it enabled?
http://office.microsoft.com/templates/axinstall.aspx?

Look at the Add-ons to be sure. In Internet Explorer, tools, manage add-ons.

Put Microsoft Office in your trusted sites. In Internet Explorer, tools,
security tab, high-light Trusted sites, click sites, uncheck "Require server
verification (https for all sites in this zone."

Type:
http://office.microsoft.com in the address bar, click add.