WD6X: Macro Virus Protection Tool for the Macintosh (MW1222) (133895)

MORE INFORMATION

THE TEXT OF MW1222

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  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
                  MW1222: MACRO VIRUS PROTECTION TOOL
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                                                  Revision Date: 11/95
                                                       1 Disk Included

The following information applies to Microsoft Word for the
Macintosh(R), versions 6.0 and 6.0.1.

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 Application Note may not be distributed for profit.

 Copyright (C) 1995 Microsoft Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.
 Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are registered trademarks of
 Microsoft Corporation.
 Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
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Introduction
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The Macro Virus Protection tool is a free tool that installs a set of
protective macros in Word. These macros detect suspicious Word
documents and alert you if they find a Word virus. You are then given
the choice of opening the file without its macros, ensuring that no
viruses are transmitted.

In addition, the tool also contains an updated version of the scanning
code for the Concept Virus and can be used to scan your hard disk for
Word files that contain the Concept Virus.

This Application Note includes two files: Readme.doc and Scanprot.dot.
Readme.doc contains complete information on how to install the Macro
Virus Protection tool. It also answers common questions about the tool
and about macro viruses. Scanprot.dot contains the Macro Virus
Protection tool. Look at Readme.doc for instructions on how to use the
Scanprot.dot file.

Special Notes
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While running the Macro Virus Protection tool, you may experience the
following problems:

 - The scan may be time consuming.

   The scanning portion of the Protection tool may take a long time to
   run, depending on the size of the hard disk, the computer
   configuration, and the number of documents being scanned. You can
   minimize the time it takes to scan your documents by instructing
   the tool to scan only folders where you know Word documents to be
   present, rather than scanning an entire hard disk.

 - There is no indication that you have to wait.

   While the scanning tool is working, the mouse pointer may not change
   to a watch, but instead appears as an arrow,  italic I-beam, or
   another unexpected shape. This is a display problem only and does
   not affect the performance of the Protection tool.

 - The tool mistakes a File Series document for subdocuments.

   If the scanning tool finds a File Series document (created in Word
   4.0 or 5.0), it will pause and ask if you want to convert the file
   into a Master Document. You should answer No. If you answer Yes, the
   scanning tool will create a master document and will create a Word
   6.0 document for each document in the file series.

 - You receive an Error 1078 message.

   If you don't have a Normal template, or if the User Templates
   setting is missing, you will receive the error message "Error
   1078 -This file cannot be opened (Global)." This error message
   occurs because the scanning tool needs to install itself in the
   Normal template and it can't find the template. Should you get
   this message, click OK, close Scanprot.dot, quit Word (this creates
   a Normal template if one did not already exist), and restart Word.
   Look in the File Locations setting to make sure a path is specified
   for User Templates. (To locate the File Locations settings, click
   Options on the Tools menu, and click the File Locations tab.) Then,
   reopen Scanprot.dot.

 - The tool does not check documents that were created in Word for
   Windows(R).

   The scanning tool will not examine files that were created in Word
   for Windows if they have not yet been opened and saved in Word for
   the Macintosh. This is because when the files are first copied from
   an MS-DOS(R)-formatted disk, they do not have the correct file type
   identifier, which they receive after being opened in Word for the
   Macintosh. For the scanning tool to check these files for the
   presence of viruses, you must first open each file in Word for the
   Macintosh and save it. You then run the scanning tool and specify
   the folder where the files are located.

 - You receive an Error 1025 message when the tool checks a mail merge
   document.

   Mail merge documents with missing data documents will cause the
   scanning tool to pause. When the scanning tool opens a mail merge
   document, it tries to find the attached data document so that it
   can check the data document for viruses. If it can't find the data
   document, it asks if you want to locate the document. If you choose
   not to locate the file, "Error 1025 - Word could not open the
   document <document name>" appears. To avoid this error message,
   locate the data document when the scanning tool asks, or move the
   mail merge document from the folder that you want to scan.

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