Home → Troubleshooting → All Products: Startup → "@RISK cannot be started because of the following Office security setting ... automationsecurity=3"
Applies to: All products, releases 7.0.0 and newer
(This article is written in terms of @RISK, but the same problem could happen with any of our add-ins.)
The software installed just fine, but when I launch it I get
product cannot be started because of the following Office security setting in the registry:
software\policies\microsoft\office\common\security!automationsecurity=3
You, or more likely your IT department, have set a Group Policy setting that does not let @RISK or our other software run.
This policy setting called "Automation Security" determines whether an add-in is allowed to add helper add-ins. Our initial Risk.xla add-in loads helper add-ins, and so do our other procducts. The normal value of the "Automation Security" setting, as recommended by Microsoft, is 1. But if it is set to 3, then Excel will not allow add-ins to load other add-ins, and @RISK fails with the message above. (This setting was always a problem, but beginning with release 7.0.0 our software diagnoses it for you.)
The solution depends on whether you're dealing with a Group Policy setting or a direct edit to the System Registry:
Run Regedit, if your Windows login has permission. Check the two keys HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security. Under each one, delete AutomationSecurity or change its value to 1.
If you can't make that change, or if it doesn't stick when you restart Windows, talk to your IT department and get them to make the change for you. They may also need to remove the "Automation Security" policy setting from the Group Policy editor or Office Customization Tool.
As a temporary workaround, you can try enabling @RISK for each session of Excel. Follow this procedure:
Close Excel if it's open, to purge the failed @RISK startup. Reopen Excel.
Press Alt+F11 and then Ctrl+G to go to the Immediate Window. Paste
Application.AutomationSecurity = msoAutomationSecurityLow
into the Immediate Window and press Enter. (Notice that there is no question mark at the start of this command, as you would use to display values.)
Close the Visual Basic Editor but keep Excel open. Launch @RISK from the desktop icon or via Start » Programs » Palisade DecisionTools.
See also: Group Policy and Office Customization Tool Settings: Technical Reference
Last edited: 2016-05-19