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Excel Viruses 2
- Thread starter Rougy
- Start date
born2btechnical
IS-IT--Management
Can you be more specific? Do you have a name for the virus? What problems are being produced?, etc.
s-)
s-)
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2
- #3
Not recently, but I've helped users clean up after lots of them. Generally, Excel viruses are macro code that runs an "auto-open" (97) or "document open" process. What happens is, the macro is set to automatically run when you open the file. The code tells the macro to copy the file into the XLSTART directory. Any files that are stored in the XLSTART directory automatically open when Excel is launched. This is BY DESIGN. Also, under Tools-Options, General tab in Excel, there is an option to enter a folder name for an Alternate startup directory. Any files in there launch automatically too. Sometimes, when people put their files in the XLSTART directory, or enter a location in the alternate startup (because they don't know what it does or because they think Excel will now go there when you hit File-Open), they now think they have a macro virus because suddenly, they launch Excel and it opens all these files. It will even try to open Word documents and any other kind of file that is sitting in these folders.
Hence, if you think you have a macro virus, remove the path (if any) in the alternate startup box and remove/delete any files from the XLSTART folder on your PC (may be on network drive at work--but not usually), and then relaunch Excel. That should do it.
If you get stuck because Excel just tries to open too many files and you'd like to keep it from doing so until you're done resolving the problem, holding the Shift key down while double-clicking Excel's shortcut will bypass any files being opened on launch.
Other things I've found that have led people to believe they have macro viruses:
1. They've got something checked under Tools-Addins and it doesn't need to be--most people do NOT need to have these checked. Those that need them should know it.
2. They've created a personal.xls file in the XLSTART directory because perhaps they created their own macro and inadvertantly saved it there--again, not knowing what they're doing.
Similarly, Word macro viruses generally save themselves in the normal.dot file, which Word uses as its blank document template. A "bad" normal.dot can keep you from running Word altogether. Renaming or deleting normal.dot while Word is closed generally gets rid of macro viruses.
Nuf said? Brainbench MVP for Microsoft Word
techsupportgirl@home.com
Hence, if you think you have a macro virus, remove the path (if any) in the alternate startup box and remove/delete any files from the XLSTART folder on your PC (may be on network drive at work--but not usually), and then relaunch Excel. That should do it.
If you get stuck because Excel just tries to open too many files and you'd like to keep it from doing so until you're done resolving the problem, holding the Shift key down while double-clicking Excel's shortcut will bypass any files being opened on launch.
Other things I've found that have led people to believe they have macro viruses:
1. They've got something checked under Tools-Addins and it doesn't need to be--most people do NOT need to have these checked. Those that need them should know it.
2. They've created a personal.xls file in the XLSTART directory because perhaps they created their own macro and inadvertantly saved it there--again, not knowing what they're doing.
Similarly, Word macro viruses generally save themselves in the normal.dot file, which Word uses as its blank document template. A "bad" normal.dot can keep you from running Word altogether. Renaming or deleting normal.dot while Word is closed generally gets rid of macro viruses.
Nuf said? Brainbench MVP for Microsoft Word
techsupportgirl@home.com
- Thread starter
- #4
I appreciate your help.
Tell me, are there any add-ins that make the left-click mouse button stick to a cell, sheet, object, and not unstick until Excel is closed?
Are there any add-ins that randomly lock the personal.xls file and subsequently deny you access to it?
Let me know,
Rougy
Tell me, are there any add-ins that make the left-click mouse button stick to a cell, sheet, object, and not unstick until Excel is closed?
Are there any add-ins that randomly lock the personal.xls file and subsequently deny you access to it?
Let me know,
Rougy
To my knowledge, there are no Excel add-ins that will do these things. However, people create custom add-ins all the time. It's more likely, however, that you've got some code in the file.
The personal.xls file is probably available to you. If you have a personal.xls file and it resides in *the* XLSTART directory on a PC, it should open every time you open Excel. There probably isn't anyone denying access to it, you just can't see it because, by design, they're hidden. To see it, you just launch Excel, hit Window-Unhide and choose personal.xls. You probably won't see anything there either--you'll probably need to hit Alt-F11 to see any visual basic code someone might have put in a personal.xls file.
Suppose you use macros all the time and you use the same ones in various workbooks. You store these macros in your personal.xls file, put it in your XLSTART directory. Hide the file, close Excel, tell it to save your personal.xls. When you open Excel, you've got Book1 and your personal.xls is running in the background to allow you access to your macros. Brainbench MVP for Microsoft Word
techsupportgirl@home.com
The personal.xls file is probably available to you. If you have a personal.xls file and it resides in *the* XLSTART directory on a PC, it should open every time you open Excel. There probably isn't anyone denying access to it, you just can't see it because, by design, they're hidden. To see it, you just launch Excel, hit Window-Unhide and choose personal.xls. You probably won't see anything there either--you'll probably need to hit Alt-F11 to see any visual basic code someone might have put in a personal.xls file.
Suppose you use macros all the time and you use the same ones in various workbooks. You store these macros in your personal.xls file, put it in your XLSTART directory. Hide the file, close Excel, tell it to save your personal.xls. When you open Excel, you've got Book1 and your personal.xls is running in the background to allow you access to your macros. Brainbench MVP for Microsoft Word
techsupportgirl@home.com
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