We were having an issue (at work) of word locking up or slowing way down when we were opening multiple files off one of our websites. One of our database developers found this and since doing this simple fix we seem to have fixed our problems.
I also checked some of the normal MS Office application extensions and found a couple doing the same thing. Also try on PDF files.
From the link:
A web page on the internet or on an intranet can contain a link to a Word document. When you click on a link to a Word document, it can display in your web browser, or it can display within Word itself.
This website is about how to control how to open a Word document from the internet or an intranet.
This page is written specifically about Windows XP and Internet Explorer version 6. If you have a different version of Windows, a different browser, or a different version of Internet Explorer, the instructions might be slightly different.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sharing/OpenDocInIE.html
