Microsoft KB Archive/817541

= You Can Sign Office Documents with Encryption-Only Certificates and Other Non-Document-Signing Certificates =

Article ID: 817541

Article Last Modified on 2/1/2007

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition

-



IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry



SYMPTOMS
You can successfully add a digital signature to a Microsoft Office XP document, although the digital certificate was not specifically created to sign documents.



CAUSE
This problem occurs because the Office programs do not distinguish between document-signing certificate and non-document-signing certificates.

Some Certificate Authorities (CA) are created for signing documents. Other CAs are created for signing files for security purposes in an operating system environment (non-document-signing certificates). For example, a non-document-signing certificate may be one that is used by the Encrypted File System (EFS) service. The EFS service is a part of the security subsystem in the NTFS file system.



Hotfix Information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Office XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites
 The Client version of this fix is a post-Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) fix. To install the fix, you must have Office XP SP-2 installed. For additional information Office XP Service Pack 2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

325671 OFFXP: Overview of the Office XP Service Pack 2

 The Client version of this fix requires Windows Installer 2.0 or later. For additional information about the Windows Installer requirement, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

330537 OFFXP: Office XP Updates and Patches Released After September 2002 May Require Windows Installer 2.0

 The Full-File version of this fix installs on Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 1 (SP-1). However, the Full-File version has not been tested to the same extent on that version as it has on Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2). Some unanticipated file conflicts are possible. This configuration is supported, but not recommended.

Restart Requirement
You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Registry Information
This fix installs and activates the following registry key with the value of 1.

The instructions below are provided for your reference. If you have to deactivate the fix, you can change the value from 1 to 0 .WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To deactivate this fix, follow these steps:  Quit all Office XP programs. Click Start, and then click Run.</li> In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.</li> Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\General\FilterDigitalSignatureCert

</li> With the previous key selected, click Modify on the Edit menu.</li> In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.</li> On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.</li></ol>

File Information
The global version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel. <pre class="fixed_text">  Date         Time     Size       File name ---  10-Apr-2003  19:01   10,138,852  Sharedff.msp 10-Apr-2003 17:13    3,959,932  Sharedop.msp After the hotfix is installed, the Global version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. <pre class="fixed_text">  Date         Time   Version            Size    File name --  10-Apr-2003  07:32  10.0.5208.0     9,939,528  Mso.dll

<div class="status_section">

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words:

Keywords: kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbprb kbbug kbfix KB817541

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.