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How to supress a virus warning window when opening a secure file via a hyperlink?

  1. #1
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    How to supress a virus warning window when opening a secure file via a hyperlink?

    When I try to open a file located on my external drive by clicking on a hyperlink that I've put on an Excel spreadsheet, a warning window opens with this message:

    "Opening <path and filename>
    Some files can contain viruses or otherwise be harmful to your computer. It is important to be certain that this file is from a trustworthy source. Would you like to open this file?
    [OK] [[Cancel]"

    Is there anyway to suppress this fool warning window?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Forum Moderator Leith Ross's Avatar
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    Re: How to supress a virus warning window when opening a secure file via a hyperlink?

    Hello Norm158,

    Welcome to the Forum!

    Anytime an Excel file contains macros you will get this warning message, unless the macros are from a trusted source. I know, you created the file and its on your computer and you still this message.

    You can make the macro on your own machine trusted by signing your VBA project with a self signed certificate. You can do this by running selfcert.exe.

    Here is article by Jim Groves of Microsoft that takes you step by step through the process. Once you have created your self signed certificate, you can apply it to all your VBA projects and get rid of the warnings. Here is the article.
    How to Use the Personal Digital Signature

    There are three major steps to using a personal digital signature to sign your Outlook VBA projects:

    1. Install Digital Signature for VBA Projects.
    2. Create the digital certificate.
    3. Sign the project by using the digital certificate.

    The following sections describe these steps in detail.
    Install Digital Signature for VBA Projects

    By default, Digital Signature for VBA Projects is not installed with Office 2000, so you must install it yourself.

    1. Close all programs.
    2. Click the Windows Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
    3. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
    4. Do one of the following:
    * If you installed Outlook by using the Office Setup program, click Microsoft Office on the Install/Uninstall tab, and then click Add/Remove.
    * If you installed Outlook individually, click Microsoft Outlook on the Install/Uninstall tab, and then click Add/Remove.
    5. Click Add or Remove Features.
    6. Click the plus symbol (+) next to Office Tools.
    7. Click the icon next to Digital Signature for VBA Projects, and then click Run from My Computer.
    8. Click Update Now.

    Create the Digital Certificate

    Installing Digital Signature for VBA Projects does not create the digital signature itself; rather, it installs an application program that you run to create the digital signature.

    1. In Windows Explorer, locate and double-click Selfcert.exe. It is located in the Office program folder; by default, the path of this folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office.
    2. In the Your name text box, type your name or some other identifying information, and then click OK.

    Sign the Project

    Once you have created the digital certificate, you can use it to sign your Outlook VBA project.

    1. In the Visual Basic Editor, select the project you want to sign.
    2. On the Tools menu, click Digital Signature.
    3. Click Choose, and then select the digital certificate you created.

    Note The first time you start Outlook after signing your project, Outlook will display a message informing you that the Outlook project (called ThisOutlookSession) contains macros written by you. To prevent this message from appearing again, select the Always trust macros from this source check box.

    More About Digital Signatures

    Because a personal digital signature that you create yourself isn’t issued by a formal certification authority, VBA projects that are signed by using such a certificate are referred to as self-signed projects. Depending on how your organization uses the digital-signature features in Microsoft Office, you might be prevented from using such a certificate, and other users might not be able to run self-signed macros for security reasons.

    Some organizations use tools such as Microsoft Certificate Server to produce or distribute digital certificates within the organization. If this applies to your organization, you might be able to sign your VBA projects by using a digital certificate from your organization’s internal certification authority. Even if your organization does not issue digital certificates for internal use, a network administrator or software development manager in your organization might control a digital signature that can be used to sign your project for you.

    You can also obtain a digital certificate from a commercial certification authority, such as VeriSign or Thawte Consulting. The digital certificates provided by these authorities provide the level of assurance required by commercial software publishers such as Microsoft.

    * For more information about digital signatures, you can visit these sites:
    o Microsoft Security Advisor ( www.microsoft.com/security [ http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.aspx ] )
    o VeriSign, Inc. ( www.verisign.com [ http://www.verisign.com/default.aspx ] )
    o RSA Data Security ( http://www.rsasecurity.com/ [ http://www.rsasecurity.com/default.aspx ] )
    * You can also read about digital security and Microsoft Office in the Microsoft Office 2000/Visual Basic Programmer’s Guide [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en...mmersguide.asp ] published by Microsoft Press (1999).
    Sincerely,
    Leith Ross

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  3. #3
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    Re: How to supress a virus warning window when opening a secure file via a hyperlink?

    Hi Leith,

    Thanks very much for your quick and detailed reply, which I think should prove very useful when I start using VBA to create macros. I don't think it gets directly at the problem I posted about, though. To focus on that problem's essentials, I created a simplified instance of it: I opened a brand new excel workbook, used a menu command to create a single hyperlink to a file I'd created on my external drive, and clicked the link. I again got the warning window that I quoted in my original post. Note that there are no macros (or anything else) in this simplified workbook. So might there be another approach to keeping the warning window from popping up when I try to open a file by clicking a (macroless) workbook's hyperlink? Thanks.

  4. #4
    Forum Moderator Leith Ross's Avatar
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    Re: How to supress a virus warning window when opening a secure file via a hyperlink?

    Hello Norm158,

    As far as I know, there isn't a macroless way to prevent the warning message aside from setting your macro security level to low. Which I strongly advise you do not do.

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