You receive a security warning message when you open or when you save a document in Word 2003

When you open a document in Microsoft Office Word 2003, you receive the following security warning message:

When you save a document in Microsoft Office Word 2003, you receive the following message:Note When you click Yes in either of these messages, the document is saved as expected.

This behavior may occur when any one of the following conditions is true:

• You have Word 2003 and Microsoft Office Word 2002 installed on the same computer.
• In Word 2003, you saved your document as a Microsoft Office Word 6.0/95 (*.doc) document. To do this, on the File menu, click Save As, and in the Save as type box, click Word 6.0/95 (*.doc).
• Word 2003 prompts you with the error messages that are mentioned in the "Symptoms" section when it is using file converters that have not been digitally signed. The prompt is expected and it is typical. Because the file converter in question is not signed, the prompt occurs with the following text converters:
  • Text with Layout (*.ans)
  • Microsoft Excel Worksheet (*.xls)
  • Microsoft Word 6.0/95 (*.doc)
  • Microsoft Word 4.0 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
  • Microsoft Word 5.0 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
  • Microsoft Word 5.1 for Macintosh (*.mcw)
  • Microsoft Word 2.x for Windows (*.doc)
  • Microsoft Works 2000 (*.wps)
  • Microsoft Works 4.0 for Windows (*.wps)

This problem was previously fixed in a hotfix that is contained in a service pack. If you installed the latest Microsoft Office 2003 service pack, you do not have to install the hotfix.

Service pack information

This problem is corrected in Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Because this change can modify existing behavior and it can cause compatibility issues, a design change was made so that you can revert to the old behavior. This hotfix will disable the security check that Word 2003 performs when it is about to use an unsigned file converter. We recommend that you only use this option if you require compatibility with the old behavior.

Hotfix information

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Word 2003 Hotfix Package that is dated March 1, 2004. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section to set the DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
This problem was first corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 1.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To enable this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Quit Microsoft Word.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click to select the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Options
4. After you select the key that is specified in step 3, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click DoNotConfirmConverterSecurity, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.