In Helptopics, frequent requests to run scripts

[Stan Brown]

Win XP Pro SP2, Word 2003

When I do a search in MS Word help I get a list of topics. I click
on one and the response is a dialog box "scripts are usually safe
to run. Do you want to enable scripts?" So I say yes, and I get to
see the text, but the same thing happens next time I try to view a
topic.

How does this correlate to MSIE options or Control Panel ->
Internet options? (I looked in those dialogs but found many script
permission settings, all with very similar descriptions, and I
cannot guess which one is the one I need.) What setting do I need
to change to stop this REALLY stupid warning without allowing all
scripts to run?

(If it makes a difference, Mozilla is my default browser so the
only time MSIE runs is when some other Microsoft program ignores my
browser choice and invokes it.)

 

[TF]

Stan

This is a function of your Firewall utility. You need to add Microsoft to
the Safe List.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

: Win XP Pro SP2, Word 2003
:
: When I do a search in MS Word help I get a list of topics. I click
: on one and the response is a dialog box "scripts are usually safe
: to run. Do you want to enable scripts?" So I say yes, and I get to
: see the text, but the same thing happens next time I try to view a
: topic.
:
: How does this correlate to MSIE options or Control Panel ->
: Internet options? (I looked in those dialogs but found many script
: permission settings, all with very similar descriptions, and I
: cannot guess which one is the one I need.) What setting do I need
: to change to stop this REALLY stupid warning without allowing all
: scripts to run?
:
: (If it makes a difference, Mozilla is my default browser so the
: only time MSIE runs is when some other Microsoft program ignores my
: browser choice and invokes it.)
:
: --
:
: Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
: http://OakRoadSystems.com/

 

[Stan Brown]

: Win XP Pro SP2, Word 2003
:
: When I do a search in MS Word help I get a list of topics. I click
: on one and the response is a dialog box "scripts are usually safe
: to run. Do you want to enable scripts?" So I say yes, and I get to
: see the text, but the same thing happens next time I try to view a
: topic.

This is a function of your Firewall utility. You need to add Microsoft to
the Safe List.

Thanks. I didn't notice the little combo box saying I was searching
for online help. I changed it to offline and the problem went away.

But I don't understand how this is firewall related. And also,
having logged in as administrator and looked at the Windows
Firewall settings, I don't understand how I would add Microsoft to
a safe list -- the list contains programs not sites.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I don't have Windows XP, so I'm not familiar with the firewall, but if it
lists programs, then my guess is that you would select Microsoft Word to
give it permission to access the Internet (in general, not just to go to a
specific Help site). This is pretty much what happens with ZoneAlarm Pro:
the first time a program tries to access the Internet, I get a popup saying,
"Microsoft Word is trying to access the Internet." I can choose to either
allow it or disallow it and, either way, check a box making that the default
("Don't ask me again") setting.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Stan Brown]

I don't have Windows XP, so I'm not familiar with the firewall, but if it
lists programs, then my guess is that you would select Microsoft Word to
give it permission to access the Internet (in general, not just to go to a
specific Help site). This is pretty much what happens with ZoneAlarm Pro:
the first time a program tries to access the Internet, I get a popup saying,
"Microsoft Word is trying to access the Internet." I can choose to either
allow it or disallow it and, either way, check a box making that the default
("Don't ask me again") setting.

Thanks Suzanne, for your reply.

With certain programs I did get that pop-up, "Program ___ is trying
to access the Internet" (or similar). With MS Word I get
specifically a dialog box about scripts, so I truly don't believe
this is a firewall message.

(Other MS applications are also giving me this script warning. I'll
see if I can notice some commonalities.)

 

[Andy]

Other MS applications are also giving me this script warning. I'll

see if I can notice some commonalities

There was a tweak published a few months ago in Brian Livingston's
newsletter that added "My Computer" to the list of Security zones in
the Internet Options dialog. If you then followed his directions to
make certain options more restrictive, the script warnings show up in
the help screens you mention. Not a great tweak.

In your Internet Options dialog, under the Security tab, is My
Computer shown to the right of the other 4 zones: Internet, Local
intranet, Trusted sites, and Restricted sites?


Andy

 

[Stan Brown]

There was a tweak published a few months ago in Brian Livingston's
newsletter that added "My Computer" to the list of Security zones in
the Internet Options dialog. If you then followed his directions to
make certain options more restrictive, the script warnings show up in
the help screens you mention. Not a great tweak.

Thanks for the pointer. I did some searching both at Google and at

In your Internet Options dialog, under the Security tab, is My
Computer shown to the right of the other 4 zones: Internet, Local
intranet, Trusted sites, and Restricted sites?

No, only the four that you mention.

 

[Andy]

Thanks for the pointer. I did some searching both at Google and at

his site <http://www.brianlivingston.com/> but couldn't find this
one.

Like I said, it wasn't a real good tweak, maybe he vanished it <g>.
Try WindowsSecrets.com/041118.

Below is the excerpt that describes how to display the Local Machine
Zone (the My Computer icon I was talking about) so you can edit the
settings under the Security tab. Be careful! Write down the default
settings since there's no option to re-set them (learned the hard
way)! If your problem is the script settings, this might be a way to
get to them. Do this at your own risk! There are probably
ramifications I'm not aware of, so make sure you can undo any changes
you make.

When I followed his recommendations regarding the settings to the
Local Machine Zone, I began getting script warnings like you
described. I had to re-set the Local Machine Zone settings to
"Medium" or "Low" to stop the warnings.


=================================================

If you can't or don't want to use commercial software to tighten the
security of the Local Machine Zone, you should at least lock it down
manually, which costs nothing.

Although the Local Machine Zone is a security zone used by Internet
Explorer, by default it is hidden from users. That means when you
click Tools, Internet Options in IE and select the Security tab (as
described earlier), the Local Machine Zone doesn't show up as one of
the zones you can configure.

Microsoft documents in its online Knowledge Base a Registry setting
that makes the Local Machine Zone visible. This doesn't affect its
security, it simply makes it possible for you to alter the security
settings of the zone.

Before altering the Registry, first make sure you back it up and know
how to restore it if you make a mistake.

Then click Start, Run, type regedit and click OK. In the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder, find the following Registry key:

SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings \
Zones \ 0

In that key, the Flags value, which is a DWORD, controls whether or
not the Local Machine Zone is visible in IE's Security tab. Set the
data value to 47 (in hexadecimal) to display the zone or 21 (in
hexadecimal) to hide it.

Microsoft's description of this procedure is in KB article 315933.

=================================================


Andy

 

[Stan Brown]

Like I said, it wasn't a real good tweak, maybe he vanished it <g>.
Try WindowsSecrets.com/041118.

Thanks, Andy. http://www.windowssecrets.com/041118/ looks like the
goods, and I'll give it a try.