Troubleshoot security and password protection

Although most aspects of your presentation are maintained when you save it as a Web page, Microsoft PowerPoint does not maintain password protection or enable you to create a password after you've saved the presentation as a Web page. To preserve a password, save a copy of your presentation in it's original format before saving it as a Web page.

Passwords are case-sensitive. Check to see whether the CAPS LOCK key is turned off, retype the password to make sure that you didn't mistype it, or make sure that you have the correct presentation open for the password you typed.

• You may have cleared the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box on the Trusted Sources tab in the Security dialog box. If you clear this check box, and if the security level setting is set to Very High or High in the Security dialog box (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu), you may be unable to run the built-in wizards, templates, or custom commands.

• You may be running a VBA-less installation of the product. Some organizations prefer to run installations of Microsoft Office that do not include the Visual Basic for Applications functionality. Removing this functionality may affect your ability to use some of the built-in features, such as wizards, templates or add-ins, or other items that use macros. Please contact your system administrator or IT professional for more information or see the Microsoft Office 2003 Resource Kit.

If you set the security level to Low, you are not protected from unsafe macros, so this setting is not recommended. By setting the security level to Medium, with the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box cleared, users can choose to enable or disable unsigned COM add-ins and VBA macros when they are prompted. If your security level is set to Very High or High, with the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box cleared, all unsigned COM add-ins and VBA macros are disabled automatically. Therefore, it is recommended that users keep security levels set to High with the Trust all installed add-ins and templates check box cleared.

The following table lists the available Microsoft Office 2003 security settings, along with their corresponding behaviors, in the Security dialog box (Macros submenu, Tools menu).

• The macro you want to run might not be from a trusted source. If the security level is set to Medium or High, and you open a presentation or load an add-in that contains digitally signed macros that are not from a trusted source, you receive a macro warning. If you are sure you trust the macro developer, add the name to the list of trusted sources on the Trusted Sources tab in the Security dialog box (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu).

• The presentation might contain a macro virus. If you don't expect the presentation to contain a macro, you might have a virus that is adding a macro virus to the presentation. Check your computer for viruses, and try to get an uninfected copy of the presentation from the source.

• The macro might be in a presentation you downloaded as an HTML page from a Web site and opened as a temporary file. If your virus scanner tells you it cleaned out a virus in this presentation every time you open it, you are removing the virus from the temporary file only, not from the original presentation on the Web server. Check your computer for viruses, and notify the source about problems with the original presentation.

• The presentation contains legitimate macros. If you know these are legitimate and safe macros, you might want to digitally sign those macros and then add your name to the list of trusted sources on the Trusted Sources tab in the Security dialog box (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu).

To stop displaying macro warnings, change the security level for your presentation to Low on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu). To avoid a macro virus infection on your computer, change the security level to Low only if you are running specialized antivirus software that can check presentations and add-ins for macro viruses, and you are sure all the macros you use are from trusted sources.

This warning appears in the Security Warning dialog box if the security level is set to High or Medium on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu), and you open a presentation or load an add-in that contains digitally signed macros but the digital certificate has not been authenticated. For example, if the macro developer has created his or her own digital certificate, you receive this warning.

This type of unauthenticated certificate can be forged by malicious users to claim that it is anyone's certificate. For example, a malicious user can create a certificate named "Microsoft Corporation." The only warning you have that the certificate is false is this warning. You should not expect professional software developers to sign with an unauthenticated certificate. You should expect this type of certificate only from individual co-workers or friends. If the security level is set to High and you trust the macro source, you can select the Always trust macros from this source check box when prompted and enable the macros. If the security level is set to Medium, you can enable the macros without adding the developer to the list of trusted sources. If you don't trust the developer, do not enable the macros.

• Macros might have been disabled automatically. If the security level is set to High on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu), and you open a presentation or load an add-in that contains unsigned macros, the macros are disabled and you cannot run them. You can enable macros that are not digitally signed by changing the security level to Medium on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu), and then either closing the presentation and opening it again or unloading and then reloading the add-in. Remember to change the security level back to High if you want Microsoft PowerPoint to automatically disable unsigned macros in the future.

• You might have chosen to disable macros when you opened the presentation. If the security level is set to Medium or High on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu), and you chose to disable macros because you do not trust the source of the macros, you cannot run the macros. To run the macros, either close the presentation and then open it again or unload and then reload the add-in, and then click Enable Macros when prompted.

The macros might have been digitally signed from within the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor in Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 or later. Microsoft PowerPoint 97 doesn't recognize digital signatures, so it can't update the signature if you modify a signed Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro. To prevent modifications, you cannot view in PowerPoint 97 the code for macros that have been digitally signed in PowerPoint 2000 or later.

Your network administrator might have enforced a security level for your workgroup or corporation to ensure you use only macros that have been determined to be virus-free. For more information, see your network administrator.

• The digital certificate for the source may not be authenticated. You can only add certificates to your list of trusted sources if they have been authenticated.

  Note  Certificates created with the Selfcert.exe tool are considered to be unauthenticated and can only be added to the list of trusted sources on the computer on which they were created.

• The list of trusted sources might be locked. Your system administrator might have locked your list of trusted sources so that you cannot add new macro developers to it.

• The macro might not be digitally signed. In order to add a macro developer to the list of trusted sources, the macro must be digitally signed by the developer.

• You might not have Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later installed on your computer. Internet Explorer 4.0 or later is required in order to digitally sign a macro or verify that a developer is trusted.

• The security level might be set to Low. In order to add a macro developer to the list of trusted sources, you must change the security level to Medium or High on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu).

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, the Certificate Properties dialog box appears when you click the Details button in the Security Warning dialog box. The Trust tab in the Certificate Properties dialog box provides an option to trust the digital certificate, but Microsoft Office 2003 programs will ignore any options you set on the Trust tab. Use the Trusted Sources tab in the Security dialog box (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu) to add a macro developer to the list of trusted sources.

Digital certificates created with the Selfcert.exe tool are considered unauthenticated. Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 will allow you to add the owner of an unauthenticated certificate to the list of trusted sources only when the certificate is used on the same computer on which it was initially created. This means you can run Selfcert.exe and create a certificate on your computer, sign your own personal macros, and you can trust that certificate on that same computer. However, if you attempt to share the presentation with another user, the other user will be unable to run the macros if the user's security setting is set to High on the Security Level tab (Tools menu, Macro command, Security submenu).