Note: This article is only applicable to those who have installed certain popular malware/anti-virus system, and are frustrated having to wait for Word 2007 to perform virus-scanning prior to open document file. |
Yes, it can overwhelming frustrating and impatient to watch and wait for MS Word 2007 to virus-scan any open document. It is even more so when one is accessing frequently used document that is unlikely to be infected. The scanning waiting time is directly proportional to the size of the document and hence, opening many large documents can feel very intrusive and inefficient in the long run.
The good news is that Vista itself together with Window Defender does not perform any virus scanning in tandem with Word 2007. The bad news are that most users are probably be affected too because most computers, notebook and desktop alike from respectable vendors (eg HP, Lenova, Acer), are pre-installed some sort of malware/anti-virus system that by turn on by default, which force Word 2007 to virus-scan any open document.
In the past, anti-virus system can be easily defeated in earlier version of Word since the scanning is actually initialized by Word macro/add-in, that can be turned off either manually or by opening “rogue” document that run macro to disable virus-scanning.
Unfortunately this time round, to combat the ease of tampering with the security, third-party vendors develop more sophisticated and in-apparent approach that “work” outside of Word 2007. No longer can anyone nor “rogue” document turn off scanning within Word 2007 anymore, rather one has to disable the option explicitly in the third-party anti-virus system, which unfortunately tends to be hidden in deep sea of menu system. Hence, user no longer has centralised way to turn off virus-scanning in Word 2007, and turning off such option varies from vendor to vendor.
Disable Virus-Scanning in Word 2007 by setting Norton Internet Security 2007
Increasingly computer vendors are pre-installing Norton Internet Security, one of the best security internet suites around. However, the Virus-Scanning of Word 2007 is turned on by default. So if you are using Norton Internet Security package, you should follow the following steps to disable the option. The following screenshot is taken from Norton Internet Security 2007.
- Click on the System Tray to launch the Center.
- Go to [Norton Internet Security] tab, and scroll to [Additional Options] under [Settings] panel. Click on the [Virus and Spyware Protection Options]
- Select [Miscellaneous] option, and uncheck [Turn on scanning for Microsoft Office documents] checkbox. Voila ! You have finally turn off virus-scanning in Word 2007 !
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