TECH SUPPORT - FAQ

Expired Certificates for Excel Macros

For Customers with Crystal Ball 2000.1, 2000.2 or 2000.2.2 and with Office 2000 or XP

If you have your Excel security settings on High, then you may experience one of the following when you launch Crystal Ball: (1) nothing happens, or (2) Excel alerts you that the macros will not be loaded because the certificate has expired.

What Is Software Certification?

When you use Excel with a file or add-in that uses an unsigned VBA macro, Excel's response to the macro depends on your macro security setting. If the security setting is High, then Excel will not permit the uncertified code to run. In this case, Excel will display a message stating that the program CB.XLA contains macros with a certificate (signing or issuer) that has expired. If Excel security is set on Medium, a Security Warning will ask the user if he or she wants to enable or disable this unsigned or expired code.

How do you have high security and still run a program like Crystal Ball? Microsoft's answer is certificates for add-ins. The certificates, which are issued on an annual basis, contain company information that you can view to identify the source of the program. When high security encounters this certificate, it displays this information and informs users of the origin and integrity of the program. Users can then accept the certificate and not worry about dealing with the high security message again.

The advantage of certificates is that they can protect you from harmful code and from malcontents posing as honest software developers. By adding certificates, developers can build a trusted relationship with users, who then have confidence in the signed software that they download from a publisher. While most unsigned add-ins (add-ins without valid certificates) are okay to use, you should be cautious, since an unsigned add-in comes from an uncertified source and could possibly contain a software virus.

Resolving the Issue

Users experiencing this problem have two options:

1. If security level is not an important issue, then you can change your settings to a lower level. In Excel, select Tools > Macro > Security > Security Level. Set the level to Medium.
   
   
2. If you wish to remain at a high security level (recommended), contact our technical support Help Desk for a Crystal Ball 2000.2.3 patch to resolve this issue. This patch is only for customers with this specific problem.