MOICE update for Office 2003 and the 2007 Office system
Updated: May 24, 2007
Applies To: Office Resource Kit
This Office product will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see , Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14
Microsoft has released an update for the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. This update provides the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment (MOICE) feature to open binary format files in Word 2003, Excel 2003, PowerPoint 2003, Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 more securely.
We recommend using MOICE in conjunction with the File Block functionality for Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Both features are designed to help protect customers from Office files that may contain malicious software, such as unsolicited Office files that are received from unknown or known sources. MOICE provides new security mitigation technologies that are designed to convert specific Microsoft Office file types. File Block provides a mechanism that can control and block the opening of specific Microsoft Office file types.
MOICE
While it is best that you do not open files that you receive as attachments to e-mail messages or from people that you do not know, you can use MOICE to help reduce the security risk that you may encounter when you open those files.
MOICE uses the converters in the 2007 Office system to convert Microsoft Office binary format files into the Microsoft Office Open XML format. This process helps to remove the potential threat that may exist if the document opens in the binary format. MOICE converts incoming files in an isolated environment to help protect against potential security threats. For more information about Microsoft Office Open XML file formats, see Overview of the XML file formats in the 2007 Office system.
Use MOICE on computers that run Office 2003 with the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Office Word 2007, Office Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats or computers that run 2007 Office system.
For more information about the requirements, installation instructions, and commands for enabling MOICE, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 935865: Description of the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment update for the Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Format (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91478).
File Block
The File Block functionality for Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Office system enables administrators to restrict specific Office file types that can or cannot be opened, via registry and Group Policy. Blocking specific Office file types enables administrators to temporarily deny users the ability to open certain files, such as when a threat of attack from a specific Office file type exists.
For more information about how File Block can help protect users in your IT environment, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 922849: You receive an error message when you try to open or to save a file type that was blocked by your registry policy settings in Word 2007 or in Word 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91484).
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 922848: You receive an error message when you try to open or to save a file type that was blocked by your registry policy settings in Excel 2007 or in Excel 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91485).
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 922847: You receive an error message when you try to open or to save a file type that was blocked by your registry policy settings in PowerPoint 2007 or in PowerPoint 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91486).
For additional information about blocking file types, see Plan block file format settings in the 2007 Office system.
See Also
Concepts
Plan block file format settings in the 2007 Office system
Overview of the XML file formats in the 2007 Office system
Other Resources
Description of the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment update for the Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats