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About macros and macro viruses (How does a computer get a macro virus?
T EC H NO L O G Y H EL P Ne e d He lp? Ge t Starte d Te aching & Le arning Safe Computing A nti-Virus Virus Prote ction at BC Macro Virus Protection
Windows
Your computer gets a macro virus when you open any document or template that has a macro virus attached to it. As soon as the document is opened, the virus runs, corrupts files, and copies itself into other documents. It is possible to get a macro virus by opening attachments in emails that you are not expecting.
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1. Making a copy of the infected Microsoft Word document. Make sure Microsoft Word is closed. In M Computer locate the file named Normal.dot. Once you find it, rename it from Normal.dot to Normal.old. Make a copy of that infected document or template and then start Microsoft Word. 2. Deleting the macros from the document. Go to File > Open and select the infected file. When you click on Open, make sure you are holding down the Shift key until the file is fully loaded to prevent macros from starting. Under the Tools menu, select Macro, then Macros. The Macros window should appear. Select All active templates from the Macros in field. C lick on the suspected macro and then click Delete. When asked if you want to delete the macro, select Yes. Repeat this step for all the macros you suspect are infected. C lose Macros dialog box. 3. Recovering your infected document. In the document, press control+end to go to the bottom of the document. Then press control+shift+home to select the entire document except for the last paragraph mark. Under the Edit menu, select Cop . Under the File menu, select New. In the new document, paste the contents of your old document. Repeat step 2 to see if ensure that you did not copy any macro viruses into your new recovered document. Save your recovered document. Learn what else to do if your computer has a virus.
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To prevent getting macro viruses in the future, here are a few helpful tips: 1. Do not open file attachments if you are not expecting to receive them. 2. Make sure macros is disabled in your office programs. Learn how to disable macros. 3. Hold down the Shift key every time you open a file that you suspect may be infected by a macro virus. This prevents any auto macros from being run, therefore the virus will not affect your computer. 4. For Windows, set the macro security level for Microsoft Office programs. In your application, select Options from the Tools menu. C lick the Securit In the Securit tab, then the Macro Securit button.
5. For Macs, set up a notification for when a file contains macros. In your application, select Preferences from the menu. Select the Securit or General option (depending on which version of the application you are using) and check Warn before opening a file that contains macros or Macro virus protection button (depending on the version). When asked if you want to Enable Macros or Disable Macros when you open a file with macros present, it is safer to disable the macro. If after you disable the macro and realize you need it, you can save the file (saving all the macros) and reopen it. 6. Make sure your virus protection is up-to-date and do regular virus scans.
Update d: April 20, 2010 Maintaine d by: ITS Training and C om m unications
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