PPT97: Macro Virus Warning Appears When Hyperlinking to Programs

ID: Q190270

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When hyperlinking to objects or locations outside of your PowerPoint presentation, you may receive the following warning message:

   Opening file: <path to file><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?

This behavior will occur whether or not the Macro Virus Protection option is turned on.

To locate the Macro Virus Protection option, click Options on the Tools menu.

CAUSE

The warning message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article is issued by Microsoft Office not PowerPoint. This warning is referred to as the open programs warning, not the macro virus protection warning. It appears any time you hyperlink to an application or run a program. You will also receive this warning when you hyperlink to certain types of document files. You cannot disable this warning. Similar behavior occurs in other Microsoft Office programs that allow hyperlinking.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, you can use the Run Program option rather than the Hyperlink option in the Action Settings dialog box. This will prevent the Open Programs warning from appearing in most cases.

NOTE: You can also turn off the Macro Virus Protection option in PowerPoint.

STATUS

This feature is under review and will be considered for inclusion in a future release.

MORE INFORMATION

The macro virus warning is initiated by PowerPoint when you hyperlink to a file that may contain macros. When the macro virus warning is activated, the following message appears:

   The presentation you are opening contains macros. Some macros may
   contain viruses that could harm your computer.

If you are sure this presentation is from a trusted source, click Enable Macros. If you are not sure and want to prevent any macros from running, click Disable Macros. To disable this feature, click to clear the "Always ask before opening documents with macros" check box and then click Enable. PowerPoint will not ask you again if macros are found in a file.

You can also disable macro virus protection by following these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

2. Click the General tab.

3. Click to clear the Macro Virus Protection check box.

4. Click OK.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q168427
   TITLE     : PPT97: No Warning When Opening PowerPoint Files From Web
               Pages

Additional query words: OFF98 powerpnt powerpoint97 powerpoint powerpnt97 powerpnt98 8.0 ppt8 ppt98 ppt97 ppt macppt mac_ppt error dialog box messages links animation settings custom linking connect connections

Keywords          : kbmacro kbvirus kbhtml
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Hardware          : x86
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: November 24, 1998