Microsoft Office 2007 is being pushed onto user desktops to keep up with the security arms race. It is intended to be user friendly. Yet many of the new safety features and enhancements create their own problems. Here is how to troubleshoot and fix a few of those "features".

User cannot download Excel 2007 spreadsheet from web page

There are several causes for the inability to download a spreadsheet from a web page.

1. Check pop up blocker settings within the browser. The website may be prevented from downloading files.

2. Check toolbar settings. Add-on tool bars may have settings that prevent pop-ups, which could include the pop up notice asking if you wish to download the file. When the permission prompt is blocked, the file by default cannot be downloaded.

3. For Windows 2007 users, it is possible that the web page was set up with an embedded Excel spreadsheet with the “view item” right only. This allows users to see a snapshot of the graphic. Users may be allowed only viewing but not download rights to the spreadsheet. Contact the webmaster in this case.

Microsoft Word Document Inspector didn’t prevent errors from being sent out

Microsoft “Document Inspector” looks for comments, XML code, macros, version information and identification references. It does not perform spell check, grammar check, or language consistency checks (everything in English versus English and French mixed). If someone receives a document, perform spell check and grammar check yourself.

Note: Document Inspector only identifies code and comments and clean up items for the current version. It does not prevent later users from changing the document and adding code or add in information later.

It was final!

Microsoft Word 2007 includes a new option of “mark as final”. This is used to note that a document has been finalized. This can be used with approval workflows or separately from approval workflows.

Marking a document as “final” does not prevent the owner or other users from making changes. Users can make changes and then save the document as a final version again. Users can also make changes and save the document as a new name.

Adding digital signatures, especially invisible ones, does prevent others from editing it. To make the final version truly final, add a digital signature after selecting the “mark as final” option to prevent subsequent changes.

Microsoft Word Workflows won’t work

Microsoft Word 2007 includes a new option of “workflows”. These workflows are used for approvals by a chain of users or stakeholder reviews. The workflows can also be used to collect feedback or required signatures prior to releasing a final version of a document. However, Microsoft Word 2007 workflows have several limitations.

1. The workflows only work if the computer has Office 2007 AND a sharepoint document library or database.

2. The sharepoint library or database must be running for the workflows to work.

3. If the sharepoint library or database is running, users should verify that they selected the “start” option after selecting the workflow. The workflow will not run until it is started.