Updated: 2008-11-17

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This article provides a list of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) addresses that 2007 Microsoft Office system applications use. The types of content available from Microsoft through Office applications includes tools, clip art, training courses, technical support, and other information and resources used by knowledge workers.

As part of their overall security strategy, organizations control access to the Internet by using a proxy server, a component of a company's firewall that manages communications between the internal network and the Internet. To help protect IT environments from Internet-based threats, administrators can use Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server. For information about ISA Server, see the Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server TechCenter (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=107448).

Organizations block users' access to the Internet for reasons ranging from productivity to security. Before disabling Internet access, administrators should consider that the 2007 Office system is designed to use resources on the Web to help increase user productivity. The decision to block Internet access should be based on your organization's specific security requirements.

The scope of this article is limited to providing a list of URLs used by Office applications. For security guidelines, refer to the following resources:

Office features that use Internet resources

The following sections provide examples of 2007 Office system features that use Internet resources.

Extended Error Messages

Technically known as "Extended Error Messages (with additional help)," this feature of the 2007 Office system provides information about commonly encountered errors. Many of these errors occur when an Office feature is used incorrectly. A typical extended message includes tips on how to avoid the condition that triggered the error message. Internet access is needed for this feature for Microsoft to update or add to the collection of available error messages. Users must be participating in the Customer Experience Improvement Program to receive these updates.

Customer Experience Improvement Program

The Customer Experience Improvement Program is a way for Microsoft to learn how customers are using products. If a user participates, a list of statistics is generated from the users' computers at scheduled intervals. That list is later submitted to Microsoft through the Internet when the user's computer is not busy. If a user does not participate, the statistics are not sent, and the latest Extended Error Messages are not downloaded.

Research option

The Research option available in Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 allows users to access a variety of information, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, news wires, translation services, or Web search engines. These services are available through predefined URLs found in the Research task pane (in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, click the Review tab, and then click Research in the Proofing group). A service might exist on the corporate intranet (a custom service), a Microsoft Web site, or a third-party Web site.

Microsoft Office Online

The Microsoft Office Online Web site serves as a gateway to a number of specialized sites that support and enhance the 2007 Office system of products and services. The site includes Template Gallery, Design Gallery Live (which includes clip art), Office Assistance Center, Office eServices, Office Update (for security patches and product updates), and links to related sites covering platform, developer, and international issues.

Information Rights Management

Information Rights Management (IRM) is a feature of 2007 Office system that allows individuals and administrators to specify access permissions to documents, workbooks, and presentations. This helps prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorized people. After permission for a file has been restricted by using IRM, the access and usage restrictions are enforced no matter where the information is, because the permission to a file is stored in the document file itself.

You can use IRM to enhance collaboration methods and help restrict unauthorized access to the content of Office Word 2007, Office Excel 2007, Office PowerPoint 2007, and Office Outlook 2007 files. IRM takes advantage of the Internet when a user has been granted access to a document or file from another user outside of the company firewall. In this case, IRM will try to validate any externally managed permissions by means of Microsoft Windows Live ID accounts. If you don't have a means of authenticating these accounts, you cannot assign IRM privileges for external users.

For information about IRM, see Information Rights Management in the 2007 Microsoft Office system (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=107461) on the Microsoft Office Online site.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks within users' documents might point to sites on the Internet. As noted earlier in this article, it is possible to restrict or allow access to Web sites by using proxy settings.

Online collaboration

Usually considered to be only a local area network issue, it is possible for users to connect to external Web sites such as those created and managed by Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. Access can be granted or blocked by using a proxy server.

Validation of digital signatures and certificates of trust

To validate certificates of trust, users need access to the Internet. Companies that issue these signatures and trust certificates have Web sites where they post lists of stolen, rejected, or bad signatures for certificates of trust. If you have the Check for publisher's certificate revocation or the Check for server certificate revocation option turned on in Internet Explorer you'll need Internet access to accommodate the request by Office applications to confirm certificates. These options are accessed by clicking the Tools button, clicking Internet options, and selecting the Advanced tab.

These are just some of the Office features that take advantage of the Internet. Access to most of these sites can be managed by using proxy settings.

Addresses for Internet sites used by Office applications

The addresses provided here might change, and in addition to Microsoft Web locations, there are references to external Web sites in order to provide a better set of Help topics. New addresses might be added to support new features or to provide more services to users. However, commonly used addresses will be redirected to any new URL addresses as time goes on. To determine what the most current address is, enter any of the addresses listed in this section at a browser address entry line. After the page for that address appears, examine the address line. It should have resolved to the current address for that URL. If it has changed, it is advised to update any proxy server settings you might have to support that change.

If you need to see the current IP address of a URL, search the Internet for a provider that lists URL and IP addresses. For example, the following Web page provides valuable information about URLs and IP addresses: http://uptime.netcraft.com/.

  • http://accountservices.passport.net/

  • http://articles.health.msn.com/

  • http://beta.microsoft.com

  • http://blogs.technet.com/

  • http://boards.live.com/

  • http://calendar.live.com/

  • http://communities2.microsoft.com/

  • http://download.microsoft.com/

  • http://eshop.msn.com/

  • http://forums.microsoft.com/

  • http://freebusy.office.microsoft.com/

  • http://g.live.com/

  • http://gallery.live.com/

  • http://get.live.com/

  • http://go.microsoft.com/

  • http://home.membercenter.office.microsoft.com/

  • http://home.officelive.com/

  • http://houseandhome.msn.com/

  • http://jp.moneycentral.msn.com/

  • http://jp.msnusers.com/

  • http://main.placeware.com/

  • http://map.msn.co.jp/

  • http://mappoint.msn.com/

  • http://maps.live.com/

  • http://maps.msn.co.uk/

  • http://maps.msn.com/

  • http://maps.ninemsn.com.au/

  • http://maps.sympatico.msn.ca/

  • http://microsoft.com/

  • http://microsoft.map.com.tw/

  • http://moneycentral.msn.com/

  • http://msdn.microsoft.com/

  • http://msdn1.microsoft.com/

  • http://msdn2.microsoft.com/

  • http://msrm.walkerplus.com/

  • http://news.msn.co.jp/

  • http://oca.microsoft.com/

  • http://office.microsoft.com/

  • http://officelive.microsoft.com/

  • http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/

  • http://privacy.microsoft.com/

  • http://r.office.microsoft.com/

  • http://rad.msn.com/

  • http://realestate.msn.com/

  • http://sc.msn.com/

  • http://Search.msn.co.jp/

  • http://search.msn.com/

  • http://search.office.microsoft.com/

  • http://shapes.one.microsoft.com/

  • http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/

  • http://support.microsoft.com/

  • http://support.officelive.com/

  • http://support.officelive.live-int.com/

  • http://technet.microsoft.com/

  • http://technet2.microsoft.com/

  • http://tools.ietf.org/

  • http://us1.trymicrosoftoffice.com/

  • http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

  • http://webapps.livemeeting.com/

  • http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/

  • http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

  • http://www.adobe.com/

  • http://www.connect.microsoft.com/

  • http://www.d-vision.ne.jp/

  • http://www.groove.net/

  • http://www.keikakuhiroba.net/

  • http://www.livemeeting.com/

  • http://www.macromedia.com/

  • http://www.microsoft.com/

  • http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/

  • http://www.msn.co.jp/

  • http://www.msn.com/

  • http://www.msnusers.com/

  • http://www.office.microsoft.com/

  • http://www.officelive.com

  • http://www.passport.com/

  • http://www.placeware.com/

  • http://www.support.microsoft.com/

  • http://www.trendmicro.co.jp/

  • http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/

  • http://www.w3.org/

  • http://www.windowsservercatalog.com/

  • http://www.zspc.com/

  • https://abc301.officeliveuc.com/

  • https://accountservices.msn.com/

  • https://accountservices.passport-ppe.net/

  • https://accountservices.passport.net/

  • https://c1.storemanager.iwsloc.iwslab.com/

  • https://c1.storemanager.officelive.com/

  • https://deploy.ztelligence.com/

  • https://ecom.livemeetingstage.com/

  • https://home.officelive.com/

  • https://liveid.officeliverewards.com/

  • https://login.live-int.com/

  • https://main.livemeeting.com/

  • https://pa.one.microsoft.com/

  • https://profile.microsoft.com/

  • https://support.officelive.live.com/

  • https://ucs.officelive.microsoft.com/

  • https://watson.microsoft.com/

  • https://webapps.livemeeting.com/

  • https://www.microsoft.com/