Error Message when Open Database

[Joan]

My office recently upgraded to Windows XP. We have a
database that manages information for all of our
customers. The database worked great on all of the
computers before the upgrade. 2 computers were upgraded
to Office Professional 2003 when they were upgraded to
XP. Now, when you open the database on one of those
computers, you get the following error message: This
programs contains macros or code that may be harmful to
your computer. How do I correct this problem?????

 

[Brendan Reynolds]

Officially, it's not a problem, it's a feature!

You have a number of options.

a) You can simply tell the users "Provided you know where the MDB came from,
and trust the person who provided it, just choose 'Open' in the dialog box."

b) You can set the macro security level on those PCs to 'Low'. Choose
'Macro' and then 'Security' from the 'Tools' menu.

c) Office 2003 includes a tool to digitally sign VBA code. Certificates
created using this tool can only be trusted on the same PC on which they
were created, but as there are only two PCs involved, you could simply
create a certificate on each of those two PCs. Use 'SELFCERT.EXE', in the
'OFFICE11' folder to create the certificate, then in the VBA editor select
'Digital Signatures' from the 'Tools' menu to sign the VBA project with that
certificate.

d) If all users log on to the same domain, you can use Certificate Services
on the server to create a certificate that can be trusted across that
domain.

e) If you need a certificate for use beyond your own domain, you'll need to
purchase a certificate from a CA (Certification Authority). The most well
know CAs are VeriSign and Thawte, but there are others. I'm currently
checking out GlobalSign. I've been evaluating one of their less-expensive
e-mail signing certificates before investing in the more expensive
code-signing certificate. The evaluation went well, so I hope to purchase
and start testing the code-signing certificate quite soon now.