Word 97 hyperlink in Word 2003

[Guest]

I have a document created in Word 97 with hyperlinks to other documents. In
word 97 when you left click the link, the referenced document opens. When I
left click the link in Word 2003 I get a message box with the hyperlink
detailed and instructions to use "CTL +" to open the file. If I right click
the link, I get a menu and can then "Open Hyperlink". Is this by design?
Can I set a switch somewhere to allow the file to open with a left click as
it did in Word 97?

 

[Jay Freedman]

I have a document created in Word 97 with hyperlinks to other
documents. In word 97 when you left click the link, the referenced
document opens. When I left click the link in Word 2003 I get a
message box with the hyperlink detailed and instructions to use "CTL
+" to open the file. If I right click the link, I get a menu and can
then "Open Hyperlink". Is this by design? Can I set a switch
somewhere to allow the file to open with a left click as it did in
Word 97?

Yes, it's by design -- people complained that they couldn't select the
hyperlink to copy it or edit it because clicking it immediately jumps to the
destination. IMHO, Microsoft made exactly the opposite choice from what most
people wanted -- it should be Ctrl+click to select and just click to jump
<shrug>.

You can indeed turn it off, by unchecking "Use CTRL + click to follow
hyperlink" in Tools > Options > Edit.