word cannot fire event

[johnpaulstonard]

When I open certain word documents on a warning box appears that says
'word cannot fire event'. It doesn't seem to effect the file in
question. How do I get rid of this?

 

[CyberTaz]

It would help greatly if you give some indication of;

Which version of Word, including updates
Which Mac OS, including updates
A little about the computer you're using - model, RAM

Is there anything these "certain word documents" have in common that makes
them different from the docs that *don't* trigger the message? If so, what?

Are these files you created on your system or have they been transplanted
from another source? If transplants, where did they come from?

Does it happen regardless of how you attempt to open the file or only if you
dbl-click the file icon *or* only if you use File>Open - What?

There isn't much doubt that someone here can help you, but you've *got* to
give them something to work with.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Version of Word/Office? OS?

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>

 

[johnpaulstonard]

I have Word v.X
OS X 10.3.9
Running on a Powerbook G4 with 512 RAM

I work on a number of files, regularly updating them, which came from a
different Mac. Some of these provoked the 'Word cannot fire event'
warning box. This seems to have spread. It appears to be something to
do with macros.

Thanks for helping a novice with this problem.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

It almost certainly does have "something to do with macros" and it certainly
*will* have spread

It is almost certain that you have a virus. The only thing that's keeping
your hard disk from being wiped clean right now (or having all your bank
account details sent to Russia) is that you have the PC Word version that is
failing to work correctly on the Mac.

You need to update that AntiVirus program of yours and run a full system
scan, before you pick up the Macintosh flavour of that virus. Actually, if
you don't do anything: as soon as that virus figures it out, it will go and
get the Mac version for you

The fact that it's spreading indicates that it is already "partially"
working... I just can't say for sure which one you have or which bits are
not working. Does your bank account still have money in it?

Sorry to be alarmist, but you are actually in great danger, and so is the
computer of anyone you correspond with electronically.

A quality (paid-for!!) Anti-Virus program will find and eliminate the threat
for you. The instructions we could give you would only be 90 per cent
certain of getting the thing out, and I wouldn't want to bet your security
on that last ten per cent: if I were wrong, you lose the lot.

Once you have run a full scan of your computer without finding any virus,
THEN it is safe enough to assume that you have picked up a Windows Word
macro in a document from a PC and that this is all that is wrong. That
macro will be copied if you copy the document: so don't.

Are you sure you haven't downloaded any "extensions" or "additions" to Word
or Microsoft Office recently? If you have, one of those has produced some
PC-only code on your system. That's the "event" that won't fire: it's
looking for an Intel processor: if it's a virus, make sure it never finds
one

Hope this helps

I have Word v.X
OS X 10.3.9
Running on a Powerbook G4 with 512 RAM

I work on a number of files, regularly updating them, which came from a
different Mac. Some of these provoked the 'Word cannot fire event'
warning box. This seems to have spread. It appears to be something to
do with macros.

Thanks for helping a novice with this problem.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[johnpaulstonard]

Thanks for that response. I am now running an anti-virus programme
which quarantines and cures individual files; but this does not prevent
them becoming reinfected. Is it a war of attrition? How do I get rid of
the PC macros, if not by cutting and pasting the text?

 

[johnpaulstonard]

I should have added that the virus was W97 Thus.a (or something of the
sort).

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Ah! Well, now we know what it is It's a nasty one: it's the "December
13th" virus: on December 13th it will attempt to erase your hard disk.

See http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w97m.thus.a.html

Fortunately, it's also very old, so your anti-virus program managed to
identify it, and will have no trouble removing it from all of the files it
finds it in.

If it cannot successfully remove the virus, it will quarantine the host
file. I would normally delete anything an AV program puts in quarantine: if
it can't fix it, neither can I.

Yes, it is a war of attrition. You should be OK now for a year or two,
provided that you update your antivirus definitions at least once a month
and stay clear of websites that attract teenagers

One of the most effective defences is to run as a Limited User. On both PC
and the Mac, I login as Administrator ONLY when I need to install software
or perform system maintenance. Both at work and at home I run as a limited
user all the rest of the time. That way, the bad guys can never GET full
control of the computer, which absolutely prevents them installing their
crud in such a way that you can't find it or remove it. If I did get
something bad come in, I could just trash the User ID and the rest of the
system would be OK.

Protection against "malware" is getting better all the time. Unfortunately,
so is the malware... I guess the bad news is that the better and more
popular Macs get, the more malware there will be out there that will hammer
a Mac.

Sadly, the game has increased in ferocity. I can remember the first Word
viruses wee known as "Prank" viruses, were confined to doing irritating
things to Word, and were created by sad schoolkids.

Now some of the best and most highly-qualified programmers in the world are
creating them for organised criminal organizations and nation states (e.g.
The CIA...).

This stuff is no longer "funny". It's capable of great damage, and the
worst of them leave no sign they've been there.

All we can do is run the latest protection software, keep it updated, and
make sure our backups store data for more than a year (it can take a year
before you realise that last year's tax return or whatever has been
interfered with). So we need to make sure our backup runs daily and that we
can easily get back a year if that's what it takes to find a clean copy of
your data.

Cheers

I should have added that the virus was W97 Thus.a (or something of the
sort).

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[johnpaulstonard]

Thanks for that - I shall follow your advice.

Ah! Well, now we know what it is It's a nasty one: it's the "December
13th" virus: on December 13th it will attempt to erase your hard disk.

See http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w97m.thus.a.html

Fortunately, it's also very old, so your anti-virus program managed to
identify it, and will have no trouble removing it from all of the files it
finds it in.

If it cannot successfully remove the virus, it will quarantine the host
file. I would normally delete anything an AV program puts in quarantine: if
it can't fix it, neither can I.

Yes, it is a war of attrition. You should be OK now for a year or two,
provided that you update your antivirus definitions at least once a month
and stay clear of websites that attract teenagers

One of the most effective defences is to run as a Limited User. On both PC
and the Mac, I login as Administrator ONLY when I need to install software
or perform system maintenance. Both at work and at home I run as a limited
user all the rest of the time. That way, the bad guys can never GET full
control of the computer, which absolutely prevents them installing their
crud in such a way that you can't find it or remove it. If I did get
something bad come in, I could just trash the User ID and the rest of the
system would be OK.

Protection against "malware" is getting better all the time. Unfortunately,
so is the malware... I guess the bad news is that the better and more
popular Macs get, the more malware there will be out there that will hammer
a Mac.

Sadly, the game has increased in ferocity. I can remember the first Word
viruses wee known as "Prank" viruses, were confined to doing irritating
things to Word, and were created by sad schoolkids.

Now some of the best and most highly-qualified programmers in the world are
creating them for organised criminal organizations and nation states (e.g.
The CIA...).

This stuff is no longer "funny". It's capable of great damage, and the
worst of them leave no sign they've been there.

All we can do is run the latest protection software, keep it updated, and
make sure our backups store data for more than a year (it can take a year
before you realise that last year's tax return or whatever has been
interfered with). So we need to make sure our backup runs daily and that we
can easily get back a year if that's what it takes to find a clean copy of
your data.

Cheers




--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410