Brynn
Newbie
Joined: 16 Apr 2008
Last Visit: 23 Oct 2008
Posts: 3
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject: IE Security/Web Content Zone issues (can't download .exe) |
 |
|
Hi Friends,
I have long used the suggestions offered by Eric Howes for making IE more secure, from this page
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/btw/ie/ie-opts.htm
Not too long ago I suddenly became unable to download .exe files. I would get a message box saying
| Quote: |
| Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded. |
Even Microsoft tech support could not solve the problem, and advised me to create a new user account and delete the old one. It seemed that my current admin user account's user permissions had somehow become corrupt, and could not be fixed. Fortunately for me, I took my time setting up the new user account, so as not to accidentally lose settings or data when the old account was deleted. I say 'fortunately' because when I set up the IE Security/Web Content Zones in the new admin user account, with the same settings as in the current, supposedly corrupt admin user account, the new admin user account began exhibiting the exact same error message when I tried to download .exe files. You can follow my attempts to resolve the problem in these 2 threads here and here. Warning, the 1st one is long.
Finally (as you will see near the end of the 2nd thread) someone informed me that the "Launching programs and files in an IFRAME" setting had to be "Prompt" or "Enable" to permit the downloading of .exe files. According to the instructions on the SW page mentioned above, the setting should be "Disable" for ideal security. But as I have found the hard way, that setting will no longer allow .exe files to be downloaded. I don't know if you might want to update that page OR if I'm missing something? Anyway, I ended up deleting the new admin user account, as changing this setting "fixed" the old account.
In case it's not clear from the reference threads above, this problem happened all of a sudden, and not too long after I installed IE 7. My original thought was that a Windows Update for IE 7 had changed something. Because I had been using IE for years, with the IFRAME setting Disabled, without any problems.
And likewise, with my most recent problem. You see, I've recently become unable to download .exe files AGAIN. I'm getting the exact same error message as before. (The 1st time, I could still get Windows Updates through the Automatic Updates (which bypasses the IFRAME). This time though, I canNOT download Windows Updates.) And once again I am in communication with MS tech support. I expect they will ultimately tell me to use the Default settings for IE 7 (because they have before). Meanwhile, I undertook, by trial and error, one setting at a time, to determine the source of the current problem.
Now I have discovered that the "Launch applications and unsafe files" setting is the culprit. I might mention here that there are some new IE Security/Web Content Zone settings for IE 7, which are not addressed on the above mentioned SW page. And this is one of them. So for perhaps obvious reasons (the word "unsafe"), I've chosen to use Disable for that setting. And ever since installing IE 7, it's been set to Disable, without any problems. But now I find that it must be set to either Enable or Prompt, for downloading .exe files. All of a sudden, the Disable setting for "Launch applications and unsafe files" is a problem. And again, I suspect a Windows Update for IE 7 has caused this.
(If it matters, I might be able to determine exactly which update caused this recent issue, because it's so recent. But the 1st issue is way too old for me to remember.)
From my point of view, Microsoft has caused this problem -- both problems. However, I realize MS is not going to accept responsibility, even IF it is their fault. (Heck, they've told me to use the Default settings for the Zones....basically to ignore this part of their own software!) I'm hoping that you can explain this situation to me, in an honest way, so that I can understand why MS would....more or less cripple its own software with an update. I fully realize there may be some alternate explanation, from a perspective and/or knowledge which I don't currently have, which might make all this make sense. Something must surely make sense to MS, after all.
[Please note - this is not a passive-aggressive way of setting up a MS bashing thread. These are purely my own thoughts and feelings, as they relate directly to this problem I'm describing.]
Could you venture a guess as to what MS is up to? I don't understand why "Launch applications and unsafe files" should be anything but Disabled. What other word should I replace "unsafe" with, to make sense of this? Why do I have to allow the launching of "unsafe" files, in order to download Windows Updates?
In both these cases, both settings, there is a "Prompt" option, which still provides me with some measure of protection. But what happens when MS decides to cripple a setting which only has two options, Enable or Disable? I mean, what reason do I have to think more settings aren't going to become affected by whatever this is. I wonder if MS has long term changes underway, which will affect the Zones more than they have already? Since the information about making IE more secure is still present here on your website, I assume you currently still stand by it. But I have to wonder if this is bound to change, due to changes MS seems to be making?
What's up with MS making these changes which negatively affect the use of these Zones? And is there anything I can do to avoid future problems like this?
I guess what I really want to know is, is it still a good idea to use the IE Security/Web Content Zones with Custom Level settings? I've been using them successfully for several years, but if it is no longer advisable to use them, I'll want to look into some other means of appropriate security. And just to be clear, I'm not looking for suggestions for appropriate alternate security at this time, unless you tell me it's no longer advisable to use the IE Security/Web Content Zones.
Or do I have it all wrong? Is MS somehow not responsible for the problems I've had with Zone settings and downloading? Could you venture an explanation for the problems I've tried to describe here? Is there any way for me to avoid these issues in the futue (beside simply not using the Zones). And finally, do you know if there is any way to contact MS, and reach someone who will actually answer questions like this? I suppose MS depends on support forums like this, to answer such questions  
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to be as clear as possible. Thanks for your patience.
And thank you very much for any comments! |
|
