Microsoft® Office Word 2007 Plain & Simple

Controlling Macros, Add-Ins, and ActiveX Controls

Macros are programs you use to automate actions in Word—repeating a series of commands, for example. Add-ins are programs or other items—more smart tags, for example—that you can add to Word to extend its capabilities. ActiveX controls are items that provide extra functionality—displaying special dialog boxes or toolbars, for example. Unfortunately, sometimes these items either are so poorly written that they cause operational problems or are written maliciously with the explicit intention of causing harm. To combat these risks, Word provides very strong protections against malfunctioning and malicious macros, add-ins, and ActiveX controls. However, these protections sometimes prevent good and ...