Block games in Excel

[Brian]

I'm a network administrator and I've been tasked with keeping our users from
being able to play games in Excel such as PacMan, Astroids........

Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can do this?

 

[JLGWhiz]

The only sure way is against the law. <g>

 

[Dave Peterson]

Threaten them with disciplinary action when they're caught?

 

[JLGWhiz]

If i remember correctly, when i was still working, our techs went around and
uninstalled the programs. With todays technology, you should be able to do
that with code on the LAN.

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Brian,

If I rename a file from "PacMan.xls" to "Financial Returns 2007.xls" then you would never be able to
tell what I am doing....and besides, I may just be trying to learn advanced Excel programming
techniques from using that file.

Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[JLGWhiz]

Here is more:

http://manageengine.adventnet.com/products/desktop-central/windows-security-policies.html

 

[Brian]

I wouldn't mind setting a policy, but like others said if they rename a
game.xls file the game will still work. That and there are hundreds of games
written. There would be no way to keep up. I assume if I blocked all VBA
code from running in Excel, that would work, but I can't do that because
there are business reasons for VBA code.

I'm wondering if there is any commonality between the games that
distinguishes them from.....macros or other business legit code?

 

[Susan]

i'm no guru, but...... i'd say it depends on how sophisticated your
users are. if they're the ones learning VBA & writing macros, then
it's going to be a lot harder. but for others......
for instance, my secretary loves the macros that **i** write, & uses a
lot of VBA, but knows nothing about how to get into them, get into the
VBA editor, or anything like that. for that person i'd simply insert
a hidden worksheet in the game workbook named UNAUTHORIZED & have an
auto-open macro in personal.xls that checks for the existence of that
sheet. if found, they get a message saying "this is a spreadsheet not
authorized for use during business hours." & have it close itself.

but that's assuming you know where all these game workbooks are, what
their names are, and that the users won't know how to get around that.
just my ideas.

susan

 

[Jim Thomlinson]

Nobody works 8 hours a day every single day. That is just the way it is. Some
people play games and some people answer questions on newsgroups (at least
that's what the smart ones do). If you block people from playing games that
will not necessarily make them any more productive. They will just stand
around the water cooler and complain about how much of a tyrant their boss is.

If you want people to stop playing games then motivate them to do their
work. That of course is an infinitly more difficult task than removing the
games.

 

[Brian]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not worried about blocking this functionality from
VBA programmers, just the normal secretaries, and HR and.......

When you say add a hidden worksheet in the game workbook are you talking
about doing that per game per PC?

About adding an auto-open macro in personal.xls that checks for the
Unauthorized sheet, once again is that per game per PC?

 

[Dave Peterson]

How would you ever know what sheets are authorized and what sheets are not? By
sheetname??

And what will you do when they get smart and rename the unauthorized sheet to
something that is authorized?

 

[Susan]

yes, i had envisioned your opening each game workbook, adding the
worksheet, hiding the worksheet, and adding the code to the
personal.xls. you wouldn't have to do it per PC (as i assume these
are on a server), but you'd have to make a visit to each PC to add the
code to their personal.xls. if the game workbooks are not on a server
then you'd have to find them on each individual PC.

you might be able to automate it with a macro <wink>.


if you do it now, before you come down hard on them & they start
changing the names of the workbooks, it will always stay with the
workbook no matter what the name.

i do agree with jim's assessment re: 8 hr workdays, as here i am
answering your post during MY 8 hr workday. my employer overlooks it
because i learn things in the newsgroup that benefit her & the
company. but your people will probably either find something
different to do or stand around the water cooler.

another (complicated) idea is that before you go this route, you could
have a hidden worksheet with an auto-open macro that would
automatically list on the hidden worksheet WHO is opening it, each
time, & how much time they're spending with it open. you could track
it for a little while & then you could address the worst offenders
specifically to their face & leave alone the ones who just play it for
10 minutes here & there as a little break. but like i said, much more
complicated.

hope it helps
susan

 

[Susan]

unless he's got workbooks with worksheets named UNAUTHORIZED, then the
hidden one should be a (fairly) decent trigger. (i know, i know,
nothing in excel is secure if somebody wants to find something & knows
how to do it).

but if they know how to (& think of) look for a hidden sheet, all is
sunk, because then they could rename it. i believe he's counting on
people not knowing how to do that..........

susan

 

[Brian]

I agree, but since my boss wants to find a technical solution.......Soooo
that's what I need to try to find.

 

[ward376]

Yes, this is a management issue, not technical.

 

[JLGWhiz]

In the absence of a technical solution, you can make it a basis for dismissal
if a user if found with illegal software on their system. To do that,
without running into a bunch of labor disputes, you will have to define the
legal software as that which is procured by the company, as modified by tech
services. The modification would be to remove any games that are included in
the software package from the vendor. For new software purchases, you can
specify that games are to be omitted or disabled at the time of purchase.
This will only reduce the frequency of employees playing games, since they
will still have access to the internet and the thousands of games available
there.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I don't understand.

Do you think that the Network Admin will be able to insert a new hidden sheet in
each workbook that contains a game that shouldn't be run--then distribute that
version to each user?

If that's the case, then the admin shouldn't distribute the workbook with the
game.

I would imagine that these workbooks with games are distributed between users,
brought from home, downloaded from the internet. And the admin wouldn't know or
even guess at what sheets are in all these workbooks.

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Brian,

Be diplomatic, because telling your boss that he's an idiot is a difficult
proposition even with the best of bosses.

There is no strictly technical solution. Tell your boss that Excel is a tool
that allows his employees to create custom solutions to very specific
problems, and it is that flexibility which precludes a strictly technical
solution to his problem, since there is no way to tell a game spreadsheet
from any other Excel file except by manual examination. Even then you will
not find them all.

But, there's a quick solution to the problem. Require every employee to
situate their computer screen so that the screen is visible to all
passers-by. Don't allow office doors to be closed. And then have him (the
pointy-haired boss) walk around a lot, looking at the screens, trying to
catch employees being bad. He will only lose the workers who are good
enough to be able to find other jobs, but those who remain (the un-skilled,
the un-motivated, the deadbeats, etc.) should be able to run the business
into the ground quickly enough that his worries about game usage will be
over in a short time.

Bernie

 

[srinivas v]

hai hello,

i want know how to play games in exel format when i am free at office i
want play games so give me the solution please








your's trully
srinivas

 

[jaf]

No.
Get back to work.