How to manage the "Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management" option in the 2007 Office programs

This article describes how to manage the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option in the Permission dialog box in the 2007 Microsoft Office programs.

The Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option was removed from the Permission dialog box in the 2007 Office programs. Therefore, to display files in which IRM was configured in Microsoft Office XP programs and in earlier versions of Microsoft Office programs, you must first display the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option in the 2007 Office programs. Then, you must enable the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option. To do this, use one of the following methods.

Note The Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option is enabled only for files that are saved in the 97-2003 file formats (*.doc, *.xls, *.ppt).

Method 1: Use Group Policy to display the option

Group Policy settings let administrators customize computers that are part of a network. There are two patterns to consider when you use Group Policy to enable the policy settings.

Pattern 1 has the following conditions:

�	Do not allow for changes to user options.
�	Always create files that can be read in browsers that support IRM.

Pattern 2 has the following conditions:

�	Do not allow for changes to user options.
�	Do not create files that can be read in browsers that support IRM.

To use Group Policy to display the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option, follow these steps:

1.	Download the 2007 Office system Administrative Templates (ADM). For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=92d8519a-e143-4aee-8f7a-e4bbaeba13e7
2.	Extract the downloaded AdminTemplates.exe file to a folder.
3.	Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
4.	In the Group Policy Object Editor, expand User Configuration, right-click Administrative Templates, and then click Add/Remove Templates.
5.	In the Add/Remove Templates dialog box, click Add.
6.	Open the folder to which you extracted the AdminTemplates.exe file, click office12.adm, and then click Open.
7.	Confirm that office12 was added to the Add/Remove Templates dialog box, and then click Close.
8.	Under User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Microsoft Office 2007 system, and then click Manage Restricted Permissions.
9.	In the details pane, double-click Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management.
10.	For pattern 1, click to select the Enabled check box. For pattern 2, click to select the Disabled check box. Then, click OK.
11.	Exit the Group Policy Object Editor.
12.	Click Start, click Run, type gpupdate /force, and then click OK.

Method 2: Add a registry entry to display the option

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 the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Typically, changes to Group Policy settings are made by modifying the registry. Registry entries that are added when you apply Group Policy settings are usually created under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies registry subkey.

To display the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option and to not allow for changes to user options, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2.	Right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM
3.	Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4.	Type IncludeHTML as the name of the new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
5.	Double-click the IncludeHTML registry entry: � For pattern 1, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK. � For pattern 2, type 0 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
6.	Exit Registry Editor.

To display the Allow users with earlier versions of Office to read with browsers supporting Information Rights Management option and to allow for changes to user options, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2.	Right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM
3.	Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4.	Type IncludeHTML as the name of the new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
5.	Double-click the IncludeHTML registry entry, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK
6.	Exit Registry Editor.

Note If the IncludeHTML registry value is added to both the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM subkey and the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM subkey, the registry setting that was added to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\DRM subkey is loaded first.

For more information about IRM, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about Group Policy, click the desktop, and then press F1 to open Windows help.