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Locking Down an Office Configuration

Disabling Password Protection

Several of the Office 2000 applications give users the ability to protect documents by setting a password. You can disable the command bar buttons and menu bar items that are used to set passwords in Access, Excel, and Word by setting a policy.

To disable password protection for Access, Excel, and Word

  1. In the System Policy Editor, double-click the Default User icon.
  2. In the Properties box, click the plus sign (+) next to the application you want to change.
  3. Click the plus sign next to Disable items in user interface, and then click the plus sign next to Predefined.
  4. Select the Disable command bar buttons and menu items policy.
  5. For Access, select the Tools | Security | Set Database Password check box in the Settings for Disable command bar buttons and menu items box.

    For Excel, select the Tools | Protection, Tools | Protection | Protect Sheet, Tools | Protection | Protect Workbook and Tools | Protection | Protect and Share Workbook check boxes in the Settings for Disable command bar buttons and menu items box.

    For Word, select the Tools | Protect Document check box in the Settings for Disable command bar buttons and menu items box.

Users of Word and Excel can still set password protection

In Word and Excel, users can still set passwords for a file by using the Save As command (File menu). Setting a policy to lock down the command bar buttons and menu bar items for password protection does not prevent users from taking advantage of this alternative.

For example, in Word, users can set a password for a document by clicking Save As on the File menu, and then in the Save As dialog box, clicking the Tools menu and then clicking General Options. The Save tab is displayed and includes two options that allow users to set a password for the file: Password to open and Password to modify. Excel makes similar options available through the Save As command (File menu).

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See also

You can use system policies and the System Policy Editor to lock down many other Office options. For more information about using the System Policy Editor, see Using the System Policy Editor.


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Friday, March 5, 1999
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