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selfcert error

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Mike Blake-Knox

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Nov 29, 2001, 8:48:24 AM11/29/01
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I'm using a new laptop with Windows XP Pro. I have a few VBA macros
that I digitally signed using a certificate from selfcert.exe. When I
made a change to the VBA code, I got an error dialog "There was a
problem with the digital certificate. The VBA project could not be
signed. The signature will be discarded."

I tried using selfcert again to create another certificate. I get an
error dialog "Selfcert Error Could not create a certificate".

I've found that other people have had what seems to be the same
problem. The only one who resolved the problem did so by reinstalling
IE 5.5. I can't do that as I'm using Windows XP.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

Mike


Mike Blake-Knox

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Dec 3, 2001, 7:01:51 AM12/3/01
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In article <VA.0000001...@mindspring.com>, Mike Blake-Knox wrote:
> I tried using selfcert again to create another certificate. I get an
> error dialog "Selfcert Error Could not create a certificate".
>
> I've found that other people have had what seems to be the same
> problem. The only one who resolved the problem did so by reinstalling
> IE 5.5. I can't do that as I'm using Windows XP.
>

In case it helps the next victim, I resolved the problem without finding out what
selfcert.exe's problem was. I used makecert.exe to create a new certificate directly with the
following command:

makecert -n "CN=mbk" -sk myNewRootKey -r -ss myNewRoot

I then used the Certificates Snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console to select the
certificate in the myNewRoot tree entry, copied it then pasted into the Personal store. At that
point, I used VBA to choose the new certificate and sign the VBA project.

Mike

Nick Michell

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Dec 30, 2001, 9:53:28 AM12/30/01
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Mike,

Thanks for this - just what I've been looking for, having had the same
problem with Selfcert.

Could you expand on:-


>I then used the Certificates Snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console to select the
>certificate in the myNewRoot tree entry, copied it then pasted into the Personal store. At that
>point, I used VBA to choose the new certificate and sign the VBA project.

I have looked at the MSDN library for this, but got a little lost!

Will the resultant cert be good for (manually) signing a Word VBA
project? I intend to use it to sign a Project I distribute on a
commercial basis. I know this is not strictly it's intended purpose,
but I used the Selfcert sig successfully in this way. I know also that
I should get a "proper" certificate from Thawte or the like, but my
income from this product does not justify the expense - I just want my
users to be able to run with Macro Security set to High, having
installed and "trusted" the code.

Thanks in advance for any comments/advice you or others can give on
this subject.


--
Nick Michell
ni...@avnet.co.uk

Mike Blake-Knox

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Jan 1, 2002, 12:21:35 PM1/1/02
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In article <3c2f1908...@news.aviators.net>, Nick Michell wrote:
> Will the resultant cert be good for (manually) signing a Word VBA
> project? I intend to use it to sign a Project I distribute on a
> commercial basis.
>


I haven't done that so I can't offer you any advice. I suspect you'll
have a fairly complex installation procedure.

Mike

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