Hi JD,

It's always "safe" to refuse to accept any macros. The tradeoff is
that you will lose any functionality provided by macros that really
are safe to run.

In my opinion, the extreme paranoia about macro viruses expressed by
the Help is unwarranted. The expletive deleted lowlifes who delight
in others' misery seem to have discovered that hacking Internet
Explorer is easier or more satisfying than messing with Office macros.
Running antivirus software that looks for virus signatures is less
intrusive than summarily disabling all macros. If the idea of the
faint possibility of a macro virus bothers you, though, feel free to
block macros.

There are a few things you can accomplish in Word only by using a
macro. These are rare, and if you find that you need them you can
enable them each time.

You may run into trouble with third-party software that tries to
integrate with Office by supplying macros in global templates. By
disabling their macros, you lose that integration. You may see toolbar
buttons that don't do anything when clicked, etc.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 06:05:15 -0700, "JD" wrote:

I'm confused about this issue. I read the following in Word Help:
Security Because macros can contain viruses, be careful about running them.
Take the following precautions: run up-to-date antivirus software on your
computer; set your macro security level to high; clear the Trust all
installed add-ins and templates check box; use digital signatures; maintain
a list of trusted publishers.

It also instructed me how to "remove" a macro publisher from the Trusted
list.

So I cleared the indicated checkbox and deleted two "trusted publishers,"
(both Gateway and both "expired"). Then when I opened an old document I got
a pop-up asking if I wanted to enable or disable a macro that this document
"contained." It suggested that if I "disabled," I might have trouble with
the document. So I clicke "enable." The "publisher" in this case was
Microsoft--though the permission installed showed that it "expired" in
November, 2003!

My question is, since I know nothing of macros and have no interest in using
them, is it safe for me to refuse to accept any?