A: To run normally, SendShield should be used on a PC with the following:

• Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2003
• Office 2007 or Office 2003
• Microsoft .NET 2.0 (free download from Microsoft)
• 600KB disk space
• 512MB RAM

A: SendShield can be purchased with maintenance and support. Please see the purchase page for instructions. We welcome feedback and bug reports, so don't hesitate to write us at: info@sendshield.com.

A: To uninstall SendShield:

• Exit Microsoft Outlook and other Microsoft Office applications
• Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs
• Click on SendShield for Outlook from the list provided
• Select the Remove button

A: SendShield is a client-only application. It does not require a server.

A: After you've purchased SendShield, you'll need to install your license key. The license key has two parts - your email address and a 10 digit key.

To install your license key, click on the "More" button which is in the SendShield toolbar in Outlook. Then click on the "License Key" item. From this point, a dialog box will open for you to type both your email address and the license key. As soon as this has been entered, press "OK" and your copy of SendShield will be unlocked.

GENERAL

A: SendShield integrates with Microsoft Outlook^® (not an application you use separately). As long as Outlook^® is running, SendShield is protecting your privacy when emailing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. SendShield quickly scans your Microsoft Office attachments, alerts you to Hidden Data, and allows you to clean them with the click of a button.

A: Microsoft Office applications Word, PowerPoint and Excel enable you to display or hide certain types of information. For example, Microsoft Word allows you to track the changes you make to a document, and it also allows you to hide those changes from view. As a result, you risk emailing that document containing revision history, thereby revealing all the changes you and others may have made to the document.

A: SendShield removes data that you may have forgotten to remove when preparing the file you're sending, and the way the data is cleaned depends on the type of Hidden Data.

A: SendShield integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook^® and activates as soon as you launch Outlook^®.

1. Simply attach and receive files as usual
2. Alerts will appear based on your default Settings
3. To review and clean hidden data, select the hyperlink on the alert

A: SendShield is fully integrated into Microsoft Outlook and only appears in your outgoing emails when you attach a file (subject to your preferences, which you can select in the Settings menu).

When a Microsoft Office file, such as Word, is attached and contains Hidden Data, SendShield produces an alert as follows:



To clean the file, select the hyperlink in the left hand side of the SendShield alert and choose your cleaning options. If all Hidden Data types are removed, the alert will be green, as follows:

A: SendShield only cleans the files which are attached to the email, not the original source file.
In general, when a file is attached to an email, Outlook takes a duplicate copy of the original file stored on your computer hard drive. SendShield only scans and cleans the attachment, the duplicate copy, so the original file is not modified. The next time you send that same original file, it will be identical to the first time you attached it.

If you want to save a cleaned version of the file on your hard drive, you may attach it to an Outlook email, clean it, send it to yourself and save that copy to your hard drive. Currently, SendShield's cleaning tools are not available for integration with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

A: SendShield alerts show up yellow, red or green, depending on the Hidden Data found in your attachments.

• Yellow alerts appear for attachments containing Properties (Author, Company and other personal information about the origins of the file).
• Red alerts appear for attachments containing Hidden Data other than Properties, such as Tracked Changes in Word, inserted Comments in PowerPoint or Hidden Sheets in Excel.
• Green alerts indicate that SendShield found no Hidden Data.

A: SendShield alerts contain a hyperlink with the name of the attachment. Clicking on the hyperlink will provide a detailed view of the Hidden Data found and cleaning options.

A: Absolutely! SendShield will only scan for the types of Hidden Data you choose for Excel, PowerPoint and Word. For example, you can set SendShield to ignore file Properties when scanning Word files.

Customizing SendShield scanning and cleaning defaults is easy:

• In Outlook, go to the SendShield Toolbar and select "More", then "Options" and then click on the "Configuration Options" button.
• Check the boxes for each type of Hidden Data you want to know about in the files you email using Outlook.
  
  

1. In Outlook, go to the SendShield Toolbar and select "More", then "Options" and then click on the "General Options" button.
2. Check the boxes (see below) to change your settings. You may:
• Disable SendShield completely
• Choose not to scan attachments in emails received from others
• Request no alerts for in which no Hidden Data was detected
• Choose to have all your attachments cleaned automatically
• Request that SendShield does not warn you when sending unclean attachments

A: Hidden Data in Microsoft Office files comes in many different varieties, depending on the file type:

HIDDEN DATA IN MICROSOFT WORD

Tracked changes
Tracked changes are used to revise a draft without changing the original document (they can be accepted or removed). They are added by first selecting Track Changes from the Tools menu and then making changes to the file. Tracked Changes can be reviewed using the Reviewing Pane, available from the Reviewing Toolbar, or by selecting Markup from the View menu

Comments
Comments are used to comment on a draft without changing the original document. They are added by selecting Comment from the Insert menu. Within Word, Comments can be reviewed using the Reviewing Pane, available from the Reviewing Toolbar, or by selecting Markup from the View menu.

Excel objects
Charts and other graphics can be pasted into Word files as Excel Objects, in which case they contain all of the background data (numbers, formulas, notes and other data) from the spreadsheet that was used to generate the chart or graphic. This data is revealed by double- clicking on the Excel Object from within Word. Annotations
Annotations are generated using Tablet PCs using the Insert Ink Drawing and Writing button on the Word standard toolbar. Annotations allow users to mark-up documents for editing purposes or for adding graphics, such as signatures to cover letters.

Macros
A macro is a series of commands that is recorded so it can be played back later. Word macros are created using the macro recorder or Visual Basic Editor, available when selecting Macro from the Tools menu.

File Properties
File properties are details about a file that help identify it, such as: a title, the author's name, the subject, and other keywords. Microsoft Word automatically creates initial information about the file and always updates properties to include statistics, such as file size and the dates files are created and last modified. Within Word, File Properties can be viewed by selecting Properties from the File menu.

HIDDEN DATA IN MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

Speaker Notes
Speaker Notes are text which is attached to specific slides but are not visible on the slide itself. Notes can be added, edited and viewed in the Notes Page or the Normal (Notes Pane) options under the View menu.

Comments
Comments are used to comment on specific slides without changing the original presentation. They are added by selecting Comment from the Insert menu. Comments appear in the upper left hand corner of the slide once the Markup option is selected from the View menu.

Excel objects
Charts and other graphics can be pasted into PowerPoint files as Excel Objects, in which case they contain all of the background data (numbers, formulas, notes and other data) from the spreadsheet that was used to generate the chart or graphic. This data is revealed by double- clicking on the Excel Object from within PowerPoint.

Annotations
Annotations are generated using Tablet PCs using the Insert Ink Drawing and Writing button on the PowerPoint standard toolbar. Annotations allow users to mark-up documents for editing purposes or for adding graphics, such as signatures to cover letters.

Macros
A macro is a series of commands and functions that are stored in a Microsoft Visual Basic module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task. PowerPoint macros are created using the macro recorder or Visual Basic Editor, available when selecting Macro from the Tools menu.

File Properties
File properties are details about a file that help identify it, such as: a title, the author's name, the subject, and other keywords. Microsoft PowerPoint automatically creates initial information about the file and always updates properties to include statistics, such as file size and the dates files are created and last modified. Within PowerPoint, File Properties can be viewed by selecting Properties from the File menu.

HIDDEN DATA IN MICROSOFT EXCEL

Hidden rows & columns
Rows and Columns can be formatted as Hidden under the Format menu. Once hidden, they remain out of sight until reformatted as unhidden.

Hidden sheets
Sheets can be formatted as Hidden under the Format menu. Once hidden, a sheet remains out of sight until reformatted as unhidden.

Comments
Comments are inserted in specific cells within a worksheet to provide additional information by the author or an editor about the cell or worksheet, such as how a formula was calculated. Cells containing comments are marked with a red rectangle in the upper, right hand corner. Comments can be viewed by selecting Comments from the View menu.

Tracked Changes
Tracking Changes in Excel logs details about workbook changes each time you save a workbook. You can use this history to understand what changes were made, and to accept or reject revisions

Macros
A macro is a series of commands and functions that are stored in a Microsoft Visual Basic module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task. Excel macros are created using the macro recorder or Visual Basic Editor, available when selecting Macro from the Tools menu.

File Properties
File properties are details about a file that help identify it, such as: a title, the author's name, the subject, and other keywords. Microsoft Excel automatically creates initial information about the file and always updates properties to include statistics, such as file size and the dates files are created and last modified. Within Excel, File Properties can be viewed by selecting Properties from the File menu.

Links to external files
Excel worksheets can be made to include links to external or internal website addresses, other spreadsheets and/or databases.

A: Yes! The default is that SendShield does not clean your attachments, but you can change your settings so that all attachments are cleaned automatically upon being sent:

• In Outlook, go to the SendShield Toolbar and select "More", then "Options" and then click on the "General Options" button.
• Select "Automatically clean attachments when sending" and choose OK

A: Once an attachment has been cleaned, the action cannot be undone.
If an attachment has been cleaned, and you would like to undo the action, follow these steps:

• Detach the cleaned file
• Select the Cancel button on the SendShield alert (the X on the right hand side)
• Reattach the file you would like to send

A: Currently, SendShield is for English language settings only.

ENTERPRISE DEPLOYMENT

A: Yes.
To run the installer silently, use the "/S" switch:

  SendShield-1.0.0-setup.exe /S

A: Yes. Installed with the program is the SendShield.adm file which plugs into Microsoft's Group Policy management tools. This file allows administrators to control about 20 different settings for SendShield, including:

• Toolbar enable/disable and configuration of menu items
• Required scan settings
• Central license key installation
• Display of the first-run wizard and welcome email
• More

LICENSING AND PURCHASING

A: We want you to know for certain that SendShield works for you before you buy. As such, SendShield can be installed on any computer and be used with full functionality for 30 days. After 30 days have elapsed, you can continue to use SendShield indefinitely to scan incoming and outbound documents. However, SendShield will no longer clean or convert documents to PDF until a license is purchased.

If SendShield 'saves' you during this time, we hope you'll buy!

A: If you do not see any alerts, it's probably because:

• SendShield has not been properly installed on your computer, in which case we suggest you re-install the program from www.sendshield.com
• OR
• SendShield is properly installed but is encountering problems, in which case, please report the problem - we'd appreciate it! The best way to inform us of problems is by selecting the "Send Feedback" button in the SendShield Options menu. Go to your Outlook Inbox, find the SendShield Toolbar and select More > Send Feedback button. If possible, please include a description of the problem. Thank you!

A: To invite friends to try SendShield,

A: SendShield has been tested in many desktop environments, but we have not tested all possible configurations of Outlook and/or compatibility with all other Outlook-related applications, such as other Outlook add-ins or plug-ins. We have tested with many of the popular plug-ins, including: X-1, Plaxo, Qurb, Microsoft Business Contacts Manager. If SendShield is not operating normally, please feel free to contact us, and we'll take a look!

A: Unfortunately, there are a few. We're continuing to work on these.

• Read Only Recommended Word Documents SendShield cannot clean Read-Only Recommended documents. Remove the Read-Only Recommended status and clean.
• Password Protected Documents SendShield will prompt the user for a password to most password protected elements. However, if the password cannot be identified for a particular file, cleaning it will not work.
• Operation Failed In some rare cases, OL2003 users using Word as Editor and Rich Text mode can generate a "Operation Failed" messages from Outlook after having cleaned the attachment. This is an Outlook issue, and we are still investigating a solution.
• Word Documents with Checkboxes Cleaning a Word document containing a Checkbox can generate errors from Word when scanning those documents.

A: We have two sales sheets available for download: