How to enable "trust all macros..." when this option is greyed out

[Boris]

I do not seem, under any circumstances, to choose to "trust all macros from
this source" in Microsoft Office 2002 (SP3) on a machine running Windows XP
SP2 (with all current updates installed). I am logged in to my computer as a
full administrator (though not using the "administrator" account) and the
macros are all correctly digitally signed (as confirmed in the off macro
warning dialogue box). I can add the document with document templates with
macros to the start-up folder, in which case they open without warning as
expected, but regardless of which VeriSign signed macro source I select the
"always trust macros from this source" checkbox option remains greyed out
(the two sources I particularly have in mind are Adobe for Acrobat 6 and the
Institute for Scientific Information for Endnote - in this latter case the
certificate has expired but that can be worked around by disconnecting the
laptop from the network and changing the date appropriately).
I had a similar problem on my old machine but have recently upgraded to a
new laptop (Toshiba Tecra) with a clean (preinstalled) version of Windows XP
SP2 and a quite limited installation of utilities (plus Office) to date.
Any help on what may be preventing the "always trust macros from this
source" checkbox being activated would be very welcome.
Many thanks.
PS Macro security is set to medium and I am running Norton Internet Security

 

[Beth Melton]

Typically this is due to a problem with the digital certificate. To
find out for certain, here's an add-in that I know has a valid digital
signature. It's a add-in to help control your task pane, which you may
or may not want or need, and since it's a global template you can
easily remove it from the Startup folder:

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/ShowTaskPaneContent.htm

When you install it you should see the Enable Macros dialog with the
option to "always trust this source" is it enabled?

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Boris]

Hi Beth. Thanks for your reply and suggestion. No problem with the signature
but I have found (after a whole day of experimenting!) the cause. It appears
one of my utilities (MathType - an enhancement to the equation editor
supplied by Microsoft) installed a key to trust its macros (though it doesn't
use macros!) under hklm/software/microsoft/vba... and, if the key is present,
you loose all of your previously entered trusted certificates and no longer
get the option of "trusting all macros from this source". Recreating the key
under HKCU circumvents the problem although in my particular case I can
equally simply delete the key. I guess this is a left over position for the
key from a previous windows version (and a previous office version) but it is
strange that it totally disables the "trust all macros..." option, rather
than simply being ignored. A little hoe, perhaps, in Microsoft’s development
which could even be exploitable by malicious software, I guess...
Anyway, many thanks for your suggestion and let me know if you would like
more explicit details.
Bets wishes, Boris

 

[Beth Melton]

Hi Boris,

Would you mind emailing me the key? I'd like to take a look at it. You
can select it in the Registry, click File/Export and save the selected
branch.

My email address is (e-mail address removed). To obtain a valid email
address remove NoSpam4Me.

Thanks!

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Boris]

Hi Beth - will do, just need to get it off the my other machine. I'll try to
get it to you tomorrow or at the latest on Monday.
Best wishes, Boris.

 

[Boris]

Hi Beth,
Key just sent to you y e-mail. Best wishes, Boris.