Outlook Security warning after sp3

After installing office XP SP3, I am now constantly getting a security warning - where a box comes up telling me that some program is trying to access my outlook contacts, asking me to allow for a max of 10 min. I've had this issue in the past, but it was resolved during a later patch from microsoft. It used to only happy when I synched my palm, but this warning comes up every time I click another e-mail. My system is clean from viruses. Would appreciate any info or suggestions.

 

What other software, aside from the Palm Pilot, interacts with Outlook. I've seen some anti-spam software do this as well.

 

Several other software packages sit on top of Outlook. I have encountered the same problem with a contact management system that we use. Microsoft's knowledgebase lists no solution to this problem, just acknowledges that it is intentional behavior.

 

Since Outlook98, Microsoft has made available a security update which does two basic things.

1. Strip out any incoming attachments that can be opened and run by themselves. This would include file extensions like .exe, .com, .bat, .pif, .vbs, and .scr. Since most viruses are spread through self-executing attachments, this seems like a pretty good idea.

2. It also warns when a program is trying to access Outlook, particularly the contacts. This is again to help stop the spread of viruses. Since many spread by e-mailing themselves to everyone in the contact list, this is also a good idea.

This security update continued with Outlook2000 and is encorporated into OutlookXP and Outlook2003.

The problem comes from software that is not updated to work with the security features of Outlook.

This is the reason you might want to find the actual program and see if there are any patches or updates available.

 

I have found a freeware utility that appears to fix this. Express ClickYes from ExpressSoft sits in the Windows TaskBar and its job, in effect, is to click "Yes" when the Outlook Security Guard opens that dialog box that says a program is trying to access Outlook and asks if you want to allow it. It works great!

I can't post the URL because of site rules, but you can google for "Express ClickYes" and it should be the first site returned.

Of course this circumvents the "security" that Outlook is trying to provide, but I'm not terribly concerned about it.

Jeff