How can I prevent Microsoft Word in Office XP from loading HTTP-linked images?

A. Office XP can display HTTP images, which might let the hosting site track the image download. Authors have been known to place hidden HTTP images in a document to let them track the reading of a document. To disable the loading of HTTP-linked images in Word, perform the following steps:

1. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe).
2. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common registry subkey.
3. From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
4. Enter the name BlockHTTPImages, then press Enter.
5. Double-click the new value, set it to 1 to block HTTP-linked images, then click OK.
6. Restart Word.

To reenable HTTP-linked images, either delete the BlockHTTPImages registry value or set it to 0. To test whether you can view HTTP-linked images, download the testhttpimage.doc. If you can see the ntfaq.com link icon image in this file, you can download HTTP images.