Knowledge Base

You receive a security warning message when you open or when you save a document in Word 2003

Article ID: 837011

Article Last Modified on 4/7/2006

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Office Word 2003

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

When you open a document in Microsoft Office Word 2003, you receive the following security warning message:

This file needs to be opened by the <convertername> text converter, which may pose a security risk if the file you are opening is a malicious file. Choose Yes to open this file only if you are sure it is from a trusted source.

When you save a document in Microsoft Office Word 2003, you receive the following message:

This file needs to be saved using the <convertername> text converter. If you are not the author of this file or if the file is not from a trusted source, using this converter may pose a security risk. Click Yes to save this file only if you are sure it is from a trusted source.

Note When you click Yes in either of these messages, the document is saved as expected.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur when any one of the following conditions is true:

You have Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Word 2002 installed on the same computer.
In Word 2003, you saved your document as a Microsoft Office Word 6.0/95 (*.doc) document. To do this, on the File menu, click Save As, and in the Save as type box, click Word 6.0/95 (*.doc).
Word 2003 prompts you with the error messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section when it is using file converters that have not been digitally signed. The prompt is expected and it is typical. Because the file converter in question is not signed, the prompt occurs with the following text converters:
- Text with Layout (*.ans)
- Microsoft Excel Worksheet (*.xls)
- Microsoft Word 6.0/95 (*.doc)
- Microsoft Word 4.0 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
- Microsoft Word 5.0 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
- Microsoft Word 5.1 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
- Microsoft Word 2.x for Windows (*.doc)
- Microsoft Works 2000 (*.wps)
- Microsoft Works 4.0 for Windows (*.wps)

RESOLUTION

This problem was previously fixed in a hotfix that is contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Microsoft Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

870924 How to obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003

Because this change can modify existing behavior and it can cause compatibility issues, a design change was made so that you can revert to the old behavior. This hotfix will disable the security check that Word 2003 performs when it is about to use an unsigned file converter. We recommend that you only use this option if you require compatibility with the old behavior.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Word 2003 Hotfix Package that is dated March 1, 2004. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

835212 Word 2003 hotfix package: March 1, 2004

After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section to set the DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity registry key and to activate the hotfix.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 1.

MORE INFORMATION

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 enable this hotfix, follow these steps:

Quit Microsoft Word.
Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click to select the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Options
After you select the key that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
Type DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity, and then press ENTER.
Right-click DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.

Additional query words: Word2003 which may pose a security risk

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbqfe kboffice2003presp1fix kboffice2003sp1fix kbhotfixserver KB837011

Microsoft KB Archive/837011

Contents