UPDATE: Cannot Open Office 2003 Documents Protected with RMS

Previously we blogged that starting on December 11, 2009, customers using Office 2003 would not be able to open Office 2003 documents protected with the Active Directory Rights Management Service (AD RMS) or Rights Management Services (RMS). Additionally, customers would not be able to save Office 2003 documents protected with AD RMS/RMS. A Hotfix package for this issue was released on 12/12/2009.

In an effort to reach a broader audience, updates are now available through:

Microsoft Update


Windows Software Update Services

Download Center

NOTE: Although these updates are available to users of all supported languages, the patch descriptions on the Microsoft Update site and Download Center are in English. Localized versions of these descriptions will be available in early January.

For additional information regarding this issue please explore these Knowledge Base articles:

Office 2003 - KB978551

Word Viewer – KB978558

Excel Viewer – KB978557