Export or save my digital signature?

[clapper]

Last week my computer crashed and I lost the digital signature (or
certificate, or whatever it's called) I had created for signing macro
projects. I have now created another one, no problem, but people I had sent
projects to now have to go through the business of 're-accepting' my macros
every time I send an updated version.

To prevent this from happening in the future, how can I save a copy of the
signature or certificate (I'm not even sure I'm calling it the right thing)
that I've created?

Thanks.

[TimE]

In Internet Explorer, choose Tools | Internet Options, select the Content tab
and click on the Certificates button. On the Personal tab, you should see
your certificate. Select it and click Export to save the certificate to a
file you can import later on. Make user you export the Private Key with the
it.

"clapper" wrote:

> Last week my computer crashed and I lost the digital signature (or
> certificate, or whatever it's called) I had created for signing macro
> projects. I have now created another one, no problem, but people I had sent
> projects to now have to go through the business of 're-accepting' my macros
> every time I send an updated version.
>
> To prevent this from happening in the future, how can I save a copy of the
> signature or certificate (I'm not even sure I'm calling it the right thing)
> that I've created?
>
> Thanks.

[clapper]

Thanks so much for the response. However...

In the Export Wizard there is an option to export the private key as well,
but that option is grayed out. A note reads that "The associated private key
is marked as not exportable."

Any idea why? How else do I save my key?

Thanks


"TimE" wrote:

> In Internet Explorer, choose Tools | Internet Options, select the Content tab
> and click on the Certificates button. On the Personal tab, you should see
> your certificate. Select it and click Export to save the certificate to a
> file you can import later on. Make user you export the Private Key with the
> it.
>
> "clapper" wrote:
>
> > Last week my computer crashed and I lost the digital signature (or
> > certificate, or whatever it's called) I had created for signing macro
> > projects. I have now created another one, no problem, but people I had sent
> > projects to now have to go through the business of 're-accepting' my macros
> > every time I send an updated version.
> >
> > To prevent this from happening in the future, how can I save a copy of the
> > signature or certificate (I'm not even sure I'm calling it the right thing)
> > that I've created?
> >
> > Thanks.

[TimE]

If the option is not available, then the certificate was created with a
non-exportable private key. I just did a quick test and it looks like it
doesn't matter, which surprises me. Just save the CER file you exported and
you should be good to go. Import the certificate in to Trusted Publishers for
the macros to run, import it into Personal to be able to sign new macros.
However, I'd recommend you test this before relying on it, just to make sure
I didn't screw something up in my test

"clapper" wrote:

> Thanks so much for the response. However...
>
> In the Export Wizard there is an option to export the private key as well,
> but that option is grayed out. A note reads that "The associated private key
> is marked as not exportable."
>
> Any idea why? How else do I save my key?
>
> Thanks
>
>
> "TimE" wrote:
>
> > In Internet Explorer, choose Tools | Internet Options, select the Content tab
> > and click on the Certificates button. On the Personal tab, you should see
> > your certificate. Select it and click Export to save the certificate to a
> > file you can import later on. Make user you export the Private Key with the
> > it.
> >
> > "clapper" wrote:
> >
> > > Last week my computer crashed and I lost the digital signature (or
> > > certificate, or whatever it's called) I had created for signing macro
> > > projects. I have now created another one, no problem, but people I had sent
> > > projects to now have to go through the business of 're-accepting' my macros
> > > every time I send an updated version.
> > >
> > > To prevent this from happening in the future, how can I save a copy of the
> > > signature or certificate (I'm not even sure I'm calling it the right thing)
> > > that I've created?
> > >
> > > Thanks.