Asp Forum - Re: Excel 2007: Macros disabled when workbook is protected (why?

Jim Rech

12/18/2006 8:29:00 PM

MS has provided this information:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/92...

--
Jim
"Felipe" <Felipe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:84FF3822-FBE9-4ED2-B15B-165DB2286AC4@microsoft.com...
| Hi,
| I'm running into the following situation wich seems to present a different
| behaviour in Excel 2007 than in 2003 and one that I can't understand. I
will
| appreciate any help or comments.
|
| Macro Security = "Disable all macros with notification".
|
| When opening a workbook (.xlsm) with a macro included on it, the message
| bar correctly shows me the "Security Warning: Macros have been disabled"
| message, and offers me the option to "Enable this Content" when clicking
on
| the Options... button.
|
| After protecting the same workbook with the Protect Workbook feature and
| opening the file again, the same message is shown in the message bar but
the
| "Enable this Content" option is not available in the dialog opened with
the
| Options... button and the following message is shown on the same dialog:
|
| "This file contains encrypted macros that have been disabled because there
| is no antivirus software installed that can scan them. To run these
macros,
| remove the encryption or permission restrictions on the file."
|
| Any comments on why the Protect Worksheet is interfering with the macro
| security? I haven't found a way to enable the macros without unprotecting
the
| workbook. I've test this with a very simple sample workbook.
|
| Thanks,
| Felipe

2 Answers

felipe

12/19/2006 2:45:00 PM

Thanks a lot Jim for your answer.
I've read the article and I find unbelievable that in order to support this
(very common from my perspective) scenario in Excel 2007, the solution is to
update our antivirus software.
Does anyone know if this a by-design behavior?
I conclude my "only" solution right know (since I'm not able to update the
antivirus software) is to continue using Excel 97-2003 format.
Any comments?
Thanks again,
Felipe

"Jim Rech" wrote:

> MS has provided this information:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/92...
>
> --
> Jim
> "Felipe" <Felipe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:84FF3822-FBE9-4ED2-B15B-165DB2286AC4@microsoft.com...
> | Hi,
> | I'm running into the following situation wich seems to present a different
> | behaviour in Excel 2007 than in 2003 and one that I can't understand. I
> will
> | appreciate any help or comments.
> |
> | Macro Security = "Disable all macros with notification".
> |
> | When opening a workbook (.xlsm) with a macro included on it, the message
> | bar correctly shows me the "Security Warning: Macros have been disabled"
> | message, and offers me the option to "Enable this Content" when clicking
> on
> | the Options... button.
> |
> | After protecting the same workbook with the Protect Workbook feature and
> | opening the file again, the same message is shown in the message bar but
> the
> | "Enable this Content" option is not available in the dialog opened with
> the
> | Options... button and the following message is shown on the same dialog:
> |
> | "This file contains encrypted macros that have been disabled because there
> | is no antivirus software installed that can scan them. To run these
> macros,
> | remove the encryption or permission restrictions on the file."
> |
> | Any comments on why the Protect Worksheet is interfering with the macro
> | security? I haven't found a way to enable the macros without unprotecting
> the
> | workbook. I've test this with a very simple sample workbook.
> |
> | Thanks,
> | Felipe
>
>
>

Jim Rech

12/19/2006 5:08:00 PM

>>Any comments?

I believe it is by design but probably as a side effect of the decision NOT
use the new zipped xml format with protected sheets/workbooks. When you save
a protected workbook having macros in nominally the new XLSM format you, in
fact, get an encrypted workbook, not zipped XML (thus making it very hard to
see the password). But existing antivirus software cannot scan the
encrypted macros so Excel will not enable them.

What makes this laughable to me is that Excel 2007 uses the same weak
sheet/workbook protection as older versions that is so easy to break with a
brute force macro attack that no one would bother hacking into the XML.

Send me an email for a workaround.

--
Jim
"Felipe" <Felipe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:18ACBB93-6F21-4453-9ECA-7E323D81D7BF@microsoft.com...
| Thanks a lot Jim for your answer.
| I've read the article and I find unbelievable that in order to support
this
| (very common from my perspective) scenario in Excel 2007, the solution is
to
| update our antivirus software.
| Does anyone know if this a by-design behavior?
| I conclude my "only" solution right know (since I'm not able to update the
| antivirus software) is to continue using Excel 97-2003 format.
| Any comments?
| Thanks again,
| Felipe
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote:
|
| > MS has provided this information:
| >
| > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/92...
| >
| > --
| > Jim
| > "Felipe" <Felipe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| > news:84FF3822-FBE9-4ED2-B15B-165DB2286AC4@microsoft.com...
| > | Hi,
| > | I'm running into the following situation wich seems to present a
different
| > | behaviour in Excel 2007 than in 2003 and one that I can't understand.
I
| > will
| > | appreciate any help or comments.
| > |
| > | Macro Security = "Disable all macros with notification".
| > |
| > | When opening a workbook (.xlsm) with a macro included on it, the
message
| > | bar correctly shows me the "Security Warning: Macros have been
disabled"
| > | message, and offers me the option to "Enable this Content" when
clicking
| > on
| > | the Options... button.
| > |
| > | After protecting the same workbook with the Protect Workbook feature
and
| > | opening the file again, the same message is shown in the message bar
but
| > the
| > | "Enable this Content" option is not available in the dialog opened
with
| > the
| > | Options... button and the following message is shown on the same
dialog:
| > |
| > | "This file contains encrypted macros that have been disabled because
there
| > | is no antivirus software installed that can scan them. To run these
| > macros,
| > | remove the encryption or permission restrictions on the file."
| > |
| > | Any comments on why the Protect Worksheet is interfering with the
macro
| > | security? I haven't found a way to enable the macros without
unprotecting
| > the
| > | workbook. I've test this with a very simple sample workbook.
| > |
| > | Thanks,
| > | Felipe
| >
| >
| >

microsoft.public.excel.programming

Re: Excel 2007: Macros disabled when workbook is protected (why?

Jim Rech

felipe

Jim Rech

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