Proventia Desktop software called "BlackICE" causes various problems with the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office, such as the following:

• When attempting to run a stored process, this message might appear

  "System.IO.IOException: Unknown Error (-1) in Addin for Excel"

• Selecting SAS ► Reports results in the this error message

  Unknown Error (-1)

• There is an inability to write files to the following locations:

  C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\SAS\SAS Directory Services\

  C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\SAS\Add-In For Microsoft Office\2.1\ActiveJobs

• Selecting SAS ► Tools ► Server Connections, enter configuration data, then attempt to connect will result in the this error message:

  Unknown Error (-1)

• Selecting SAS ► Help ► About SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office ► System Info results in this error message:

  Could not write output to C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\PleaseWait3656.htm

  Reason: Unknown Error (-1).

The problems noted with "BlackICE" running on a machine with SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office is not a problem directly with SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office. The problem is that "BlackICE" is preventing COM Addins in Excel from being able to write files, which is a necessary operation for SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office to run properly.

Stopping or disabling "BlackICE" resolves the problems it causes with SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office. This allows SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office to function properly.

Important: Proventia Desktop software is a suite of products that may include additional products besides BlackIce. Stopping the blackice.exe or blackd.exe processes may not prevent the errors. You should also examine the following services.

• "RapApp"
• "ISS Buffer Overflow Exploit Protection"
• "BlackIce"

If any of the above services are present and enabled, it can cause the issues outlined in this SAS note. Accessing Control Panel ► Administrative Tools ► Services and then disabling the services corrects the problem.

Note: It has been noted, but not confirmed by SAS, that disabling the PacketLog feature in the Proventia desktop policy might correct the behavior. To access the Proventia security settings, navigate to Security Settings ► Logging and Tracing ► Enable Packet Logging and deselect Enable Packet Logging.

Operating System and Release Information