Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.The Windowed SELECT control was implemented as a wrapper of a native shell common control in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and in earlier versions of Internet Explorer. The Windowless SELECT control was implemented as a fully intrinsic element in Internet Explorer 7.
The Windowless SELECT control was designed to replace the Windowed SELECT control in Internet Explorer 7. However, this design change has triggered some compatibility issues with Microsoft Office 2003 and with earlier versions of Office. For Internet Explorer 7 to support the Windowed SELECT control in Office 2003 and earlier versions, the following registry subkey is added when you install Internet Explorer 7:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_USE_WINDOWEDSELECTCONTROL
The following are the default registry DWORD entries for the FEATURE_USE_WINDOWEDSELECTCONTROL subkey:
| DWORD entry | DWORD value |
| Excel.exe | 1 |
| Infopath.exe | 1 |
| Powerpnt.exe | 1 |
| Winword.exe | 1 |
These default registry entries determine what type of SELECT control these applications are using. If you make any changes to these values, this may break the hosting behavior of these applications in Internet Explorer 7.
By default, the Windowless SELECT control is used when MSHTML is loaded under the following circumstances:
- For applications that do not have a DWORD entry
- For applications whose DWORD value is set to 0
The Windowed SELECT control is used for applications that have a DWORD value that is set to 1.