Description of the Excel 2002 update: October 4, 2001 (306606)

SUMMARY

Microsoft has released an update to Microsoft Excel 2002. This update addresses a vulnerability that may allow malicious code to run in an Excel file without warning. Under normal circumstances, you receive a warning in Excel 2002 when you open a document containing macros. However, it is possible for a malicious user to modify the macros in such a way that a macro can run with no warning being issued. This scenario may cause damage to data or allow unauthorized retrieval of data from your system when you visit a Web site or open an e-mail message. After you apply this update, you will receive a warning before you open an Excel file containing macros.

For more information about this issue, see the Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-50: Malformed Excel or PowerPoint Document Can Bypass Macro Security

This article explains how to download and install the Microsoft Excel 2002 Update: October 4, 2001.

NOTE: This Public Update is part of the Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 1 (SP-1), but for your convenience the Public Update also is available individually, as described in the "More Information" section of this article. If you already applied Office XP SP-1, you do not need to apply this Public Update. For additional information about the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP service pack

MORE INFORMATION

How to Download and Install the Update

Client Update

If you installed Office XP from a CD-ROM, you have two options:

Use the Office Product Updates Web site to automatically install all of the latest updates that includes all available Service Packs and Public Updates.
-or-
Install only the Public Update by using the steps described later.

Both options require that you have your Office XP CD-ROM available throughout the installation process.

Office Product Updates

To have the Office Product Updates Web site detect the required updates that you must install on your computer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/ProductUpdates/default.aspx

After detection is complete, you receive a list of recommended updates for your approval. Click Start Installation to complete the process.

Install Only Excel 2002 Update

Follow these steps to download and install the client update:

Use your Web browser to browse to the following Microsoft Web site:
Click here to download the Client Update
Click Download Now, click Save this program to disk, and then click OK.
Click Save to save the Exc1001.exe file to the selected folder.
In Windows Explorer, double-click Exc1001.exe.
If you are prompted to install the update, click Yes.
Click Yes to accept the License Agreement.
Insert your Office XP CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive when you are prompted to do so, and then click OK.
When you receive a message that indicates that the update was applied successfully, click OK.

NOTE: After you install the public update, you cannot uninstall it.

For more information about the Client Patch, click the link below for the Office Tools on the Web article.

http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2002/exc1001.aspx

Administrative Update

If you installed Office XP from a server location, the server administrator must update the server location with the administrative public update and then deploy that update to your computer.

If you are the server administrator, follow these steps to download the administrative update:

Browse to the following Microsoft Web site:
Click here to download the Administrative Update
Download the file to your desktop.
In Windows Explorer, double-click the Exc1001a.exe file.
Click Yes to accept the License Agreement.
In the Please type the location where you want to place the extracted files box, type C:\Exc1001a, and then click OK.
Click Yes when you are prompted to create the folder.
Click Start and then click Run. Type the following commands in the Open box
msiexec /a admin path\MSI file /p C:\exc1001a\excel_admin.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
msiexec /a admin path\MSI file /p C:\exc1001a\eurotool_admin.msp SHORTFILENAMES=1
where admin path is the path to your administrative installation point for Office XP (for example, C:\OfficeXP), and where MSI file is the MSI database package for the Office XP product (for example, ProPlus.msi).
To deploy the update to an existing client installation, click Start, and then click Run on the client computer. Type the following command in the Open box
msiexec /i admin path\MSI file REINSTALL=EXCELFiles,GRAPHFiles,ExcelAddInEuroToolFiles,ProductNonBootFiles REINSTALLMODE=vomus
where admin path is the path to your administrative installation point for Office XP (for example, C:\OfficeXP), and where MSI file is the MSI database package for the Office XP product (for example, ProPlus.msi).NOTE: All features following the REINSTALL property are case-sensitive.

For additional information about how to update your administrative installation and deploy to client workstations, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301348 How to install a public update to administrative installations of Office XP

This article contains standard instructions for installing an administrative public update.

Or, browse to the following article in the Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/journ/xlxp10-4.htm

How to Determine Whether the Public Update Is Installed

The following files are modified by the update:

excel.exe
graph.exe
msoeuro.dll
eurotool.xla

The version of Excel 2002 that is displayed when you click About Microsoft Excel on the Help menu is updated to 10.3207.2625.

Issues Fixed by the Update

The update fixes the issue described in the following Knowledge Base article:

303836 Cannot access the Templates dialog box from a VBA macro in Excel 2002

In addition, the following issues are fixed:

Change in Binary File Can Bypass Macro Controls:

An Excel workbook stream can be altered in such a way that the macros in the file will run without prompting a macro warning or being stopped by macro controls.

Microsoft Graph Error After Changing Chart Type:

If you change the chart type in Microsoft Graph to pie or 3-D pie, and then attempt to enter data, Graph displays the following error message:

Graph9.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created.

Then, Graph quits.

Incorrect Sorting Order in Czech:

Excel incorrectly sorts the "ch" character that should be treated as one character in Czech and should be sorted after "h." Excel treats it as two characters and therefore sorts it incorrectly.

Updated Msoeuro.dll and Eurotool.xla with Support for Greek:

The original tools to handle the Euro currency do not support the Greek drachma.