Configure Internet Explorer to open linked Office files in their respective applications

Question

Windows XP had an option to configure Internet Explorer to open Office documents in the appropriate Office program instead of in Internet Explorer. As the option (File Types tab) is missing in Windows Vista, can anyone aid in a solution other than saving the file upon download?

Answer

Option 1

Follow the steps listed under Method 2 in the following Microsoft article, a registry edit which works fine in Windows Vista as well.

How to configure Internet Explorer to open Office documents in the appropriate Office program instead of in Internet Explorer

Option 2: Using the FileTypesMan freeware utility

• Download FileTypesMan utility from Nirsoft.net and save it to Desktop
• Unzip the archive and run FileTypesMan.exe
• Double-click the office file extension for which you want to enable or disable browser integration
• To view Office documents in their respective programs (instead of in Internet Explorer), enable the following checkbox:

Don't open inside a Web browser window

• Click OK