We have IE 9, a Vista 32 bit, home premium PC with SP2, Office 2010 professional, and Windows Live Mail 2011.   Whenever an e-mail has a link for further information or explanation, Click on the link and it opens a link in Word.  Often a DOS file.  It always used to link correctly, but we did the update via Windows Update for Windows Live Mail 2011 and the Repair for Windows Live Mail from the Control Panel.  That had no effect on the problem. 

We reset the IE 9 settings and after rebooting, that had no effect.  We checked the settings on Office 2010 Pro, and those likewise are set to standard. There are no other software or program changes on the PC for some time.

Any education is appreciated. 

gene in St Paul