I've noticed this with my systems that have Opera set as the default browser. I was writing it off to my AntiVirus software running a check before passing the value to the browser. That would be the first place I'd look.

If you're using Exchange there are all sorts of attachment blocking settings that can be toggled. URLs can come in as attachments and could be going through various Outlook filters before reaching your browser.

I couldn't find too much else that would impede your browser being opened. Here are a couple of articles that might contain relevant info.

• The Locate Link Browser dialog box appears when you open a Web link in an e-mail message in Outlook 2003 [support.microsoft.com]

• Cannot send a Web site address link from Internet Explorer [office.microsoft.com]

I had the same delay, it seemed to get worse the longer my computer was on. If I rebooted, links in Outlook would open almost instantly, however, later in the day they would take up to 30 seconds to load. Never figured it out, I recently upgraded my computer and my Outlook email links now open instantly even though I am running all the same software.

I suspect a bloated registry or dieing processor/motherboard may have been the cause..

This is on an almost brand new machine.

Seems to be not only in outlook, but double clicking an html file in file explorer also experiences the delay.

How long is the delay? Are we talking 5 seconds (inefficient code) or are we talking 60 seconds (something's failing and timing out)?

Kaled.

Just a hunch, but try rebooting or swapping out your router. Had a similar problem with web pages resolving and this did the trick.