12/01/2011 A macro that is contained in an encryp…

Article ID: 927150 - Last Review : September 7, 2010 - Revision: 6.0

A macro that is contained in an encrypted Office Open XML file does
not run in 2007 Office programs

SYMPTOMS

In one of the 2007 Microsoft Office programs that are listed in the "Applies
to" section, w hen you try to run a macro that is contained in an encrypted Office Open XML file, such as an
.xlsm file, a .docm file, or a .pptxm file, the macro does not run as expected. This behavior does not occur
for files that are saved in the "Microsoft Office 97 - 2003" file format.

Note An encrypted file is a file that you protect by using any of the follow ing methods:

Passw ord protection

Information Rights Management (IRM)
W orkbook protection in Microsoft Office Excel 2007

CAUSE

This behavior occurs if the computer is not running an active antivirus

program that supports the scanning of encrypted content as supported by the Microsoft Antivirus API. In
this case, macros are disabled in encrypted Office Open XML files.

Also, macros may be disabled in the file by the security settings in the program. If macros are disabled by
the security settings, you receive the following error message w hen you try to open the file: Security
Alert Macros have been disabled .
To enable the macros, click Options , click Enable this content, and then click OK. How ever, if you enable
the macros, the behavior that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section still occurs.
Security Alert This file contains encrypted macros that have been disabled because there is no antivirus
softw are installed that can scan them. To run these macros, remove the encryption or permission
restrictions on this file. File Path: <path and name of file> Help protect me from unknown content
(recommended) <More information> Prevent encrypted macros from being scanned for viruses.

The 2007 Office release provides several settings that enable you to prevent encrypted macros from being
scanned for viruses. This is useful if your virus-scanning program does not support the Microsoft Antivirus
application programming interface (API).

By default, macros are encrypted w hen you encrypt and save a file in the Office Open XML file formats. If
your virus-scanning program does not support the Microsoft Antivirus API, your virus-scanning program
cannot scan encrypted macros. Therefore, encrypted macros w ill be disabled.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, install 'The 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack
2 (SP2) which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Dow nload Center at
http://ww w .microsoft.com/dow nloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-
9db49b4ab6e5 (http://w w w.microsoft.com/dow nloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=b444bf18-
79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5)

W ORKAROUND

Warning This w orkaround may make a computer or a netw ork more

vulnerable to attack by malicious users or by malicious softw are such as viruses. We do not recommend
this w orkaround but are providing this information so that you can implement this w orkaround at your

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927150 1/2
12/01/2011 A macro that is contained in an encryp…
own discretion. Use this workaround at your ow n risk.

To w ork around this issue, disable antivirus scanning on encrypted files that contain macros. To do this,
follow these steps:

1. Exit the 2007 Office programs.

2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click one of the follow ing registry subkeys as appropriate:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Security
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\Security
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Security
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type one of the follow ing value names depending on the registry subkey that you clicked in step 3,
and then press ENTER:
ExcelBypassEncryptedMacroScan
PowerPointBypassEncryptedMacroScan
WordBypassEncryptedMacroScan
6. Right-click the DWORD value that you created in step 4, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to exit Registry Editor.

Note The steps above should not be

used after Office 2007 SP2 has been installed. This registry information is also provided in the '2007
Microsoft Office Security Guide', but that documentation w as created prior to the release of the Office 2007
Service Pack 2. Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from
w ithin the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response
to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical
errors and may be revised at any time w ithout notice. See Terms of Use (http://go.microsoft.com/fw link/?
LinkId=151500) for other considerations.

APPLIES TO
Keywords: kberrmsg kbapi kbantivirus kbtshoot kbexpertisebeginner kbprb KB927150

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