Outlook/Word 2013 - Cannot open ANY docs due to Protected View

Hi:

The normal workaround for trouble printing directly from an attachment or link would be to first save the document locally on the computer (e.g. desktop) and then print it.
That usually works when attempts to print just do nothing...

HOWEVER HOWEVER from the warnings you're seeing, it sure sounds as if, in this case, you may be dealing with a potentially malicious file.
Email attachments are a common means of ransomware transmission these days.
But it could contain a malicious macro distributing a range of malware.
As such, I do NOT suggest downloading or saving or opening or printing the document in question without more data.

Disabling security features and lowering Trust Center settings sounds like a dangerous strategy, until more information can be obtained.
Those security settings are in place to help protect you.

I'm also not quite clear of the scope of the issue. At first it sounded like you reported only a problem with "Quick Print" of a specific attachment. Then you said you "cannot find any way to print any Word doc to any printer'.

So, perhaps you could please clarify for us a bit?

Also, what happens if you use the workaround (save the document to the desktop and then try to print) using a KNOWN, SAFE document attachment (as opposed to the one(s) that is/are throwing up the security warning)??

Thanks,
MM

Thanks for the clarification.

For the record, even "known" senders can have their emails hijacked/spoofed. So knowing the sender is not a 100% guarantee of safety these days. Even "safe" emails can contain malicious attachments.
If it were a simple compatibility issue with Outlook and your PDF printer application, I would expect an error message, but not a security warning.

However, IFFFF the security warning is not real, then it suggests a problem between MS Office and your 3rd-party PDF printer.

I merely suggested the workaround step of first saving the document and then printing it as a means to troubleshoot.
But if you're not willing to try it to help isolate the issue, then I'm out of ideas for now.

Perhaps someone more facile with Outlook and PDF Factory Pro will be better able to assist you.
Sorry I could not resolve your issue.

Good luck,

MM

@ Vocalpoint. You mentioned that this problem occurred after an Office 2013 Update, via Windows Update. Office 2013 updates do not come via Windows Updates. The click to run versions of Office, which Office 2013 is, run in the background, from time to time.

This leads me to suspect that you may have more than one version of Office installed. That is not a problem but you can only have one version of Outlook on a computer. Other versions of Office such as 2007 & 2010 do update vis Windows Update, but Office 2013 does not.

I use Office 2013 Pro & I have it set to receive updates automatically, so I am never aware that it is updating. You can check when your Office 2013 last updated, if you have it set for automatic updating, by opening Control Panel, select Programs & Features, scroll down to Microsoft Office 2013 & it should show the last version & the date it was installed.

I am not confusing Office 2013 updates in any way. Office 2013 does not update via Windows Updates. Are you sure you have Office 2013 installed. What you have described about Office & Windows Updates is what happens with older versions of Office such as Office 2010.

According to this MS website the last version of Updates for Office 2013 was in August 2016. It also tells you how to get the latest updates & how to get auto updates set as well.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/...013-365-update

Thanks for getting back. It seems that you have the business version of Office 2013, which installs updates in the usual Windows Updates way. My apologies for not realising this point. There are 2 versions of office 2013, one is the Click to Run version which is probably the one most home & small business users would install & the other is the MSI version, which is probably the version most large businesses, that have a Volume Licence, would install, as it allows for selective programs like Word etc. to be installed, but allows non installation of ones that aren't wanted.

As you have the list of updates that were installed on the 9/9/2106 in Windows Updates, you could uninstall each update until you find the one that might have caused your Outlook problem. Even if you have uninstalled most of them & you have found the one that caused the problem, then you can ask your computer to Check for Updates & it should show all the office updates that you have just uninstalled ready to be installed again. Check through those & Hide the one that caused the problem & reinstall the rest.

Yep, there are at least a few ways to go about this, for isolating and (perhaps) resolving the issue.

First thing I would try (as it requires only a few mouse-clicks) would be the suggestion I already made -- save the document locally and try to print both with the 3rd-party PDF printer and a physical printer.

Another easy thing to try would be printing directly from the attachment to a physical printer, rather than the PDF printer.

Those two steps would help to narrow down the cause of the issue.

And one might also check with PDF Factory Pro to be sure one has the most current version and that it fully supports Office 2013.

The most definitive, but most complicated, test would be to follow @Ranger4's suggestion of uninstalling the individual patches, to try to determine which one (if any) caused the issue. One would then need to hide it from further reinstallation, as mentioned. One would need to weigh the benefit of doing so vs. the risk of hiding a security update.

Another approach would be a different 3rd-party PDF handler.

Good luck,

MM