Disable "Do you want to open or save file"

How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops up on
the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF file? It seems
unnecessary and is annoying.

Thanks,

Oreally

On 24/05/2011 16:45, Alias wrote:
> On 05/24/2011 05:28 PM, OREALLY wrote:
>> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops up
>> on the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF file? It
>> seems unnecessary and is annoying.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Oreally
>
> Not a good idea to change that as you may get a file that wants to open
> that you didn't ask to be opened.
>

Agreed. Infected PDFs do exist:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/t...-trickery/6055

so a redirect etc on a webpage could infect the OPs PC without any user
interaction.
--
Rob

OREALLY wrote:

> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops up on
> the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF file? It seems
> unnecessary and is annoying.

You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on your
host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that filetype that
can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to save the file.

So Windows 7 has not really given us a choice here?




"VanguardLH" wrote in message news:irgmnb$a6r$...

OREALLY wrote:

> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops up on
> the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF file? It
> seems
> unnecessary and is annoying.

You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on your
host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that filetype that
can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to save the file.

On 24/05/2011 17:35, VanguardLH wrote:
> OREALLY wrote:
>
>> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops up on
>> the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF file? It seems
>> unnecessary and is annoying.
>
> You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on your
> host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that filetype that
> can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to save the file.

And can you, sir, please tell me what is the point of saving a file when
you have no program to open it with?
--
choro
*****

OREALLY wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote ...
>
> OREALLY wrote:
>
>> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops
>> up on the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF
>> file? It seems unnecessary and is annoying.
>
> You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on
> your host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that
> filetype that can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to
> save the file.
>
> So Windows 7 has not really given us a choice here?

Seems more like an IE thing. A web browser could always assume that a
direct link to a file means it gets downloaded or it gets opened (using
some defined filetype handler), or it could always assume the file link
gets loaded using the handler, or it could ask you. I don't have IE9 to
know if an option was added that lets you change from not assuming an
action to assuming one (which would be to either open using handler or
save as a file).

In IE8, and earlier, you don't get a choice. Under Internet Options ->
Advanced tab under the Downloads section, there is the option "Automatic
prompting for file downloads". If disabled, you get the yellow infobar
that appears where you have to right-click to get at the options to take
an action. If enabled, you get a popup window asking you what action to
take. In either case, you have to make a choice. IE isn't designed to
automatically shove files on your host without your permission just
because some site wants you to have their fluff or malware. It leaves
the choice and the responsibility up to you.

On 24 May 2011, "OREALLY" <> wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

> So Windows 7 has not really given us a choice here?

Windows 7 has nothing to do with it. It's your web browser that gives
you the option or not.

choro wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> OREALLY wrote:
>>
>>> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops
>>> up on the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF
>>> file? It seems unnecessary and is annoying.
>>
>> You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on
>> your host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that
>> filetype that can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to
>> save the file.
>
> And can you, sir, please tell me what is the point of saving a file
> when you have no program to open it with?

It was a test to see if having a filetype/media handler registered in
the registry is what caused the web browser (not the OS) to issue a
prompt to make a decision. Without a handler, there would be, as you
say, nothing to open/load the file so the web browser would only have
the other choice of saving the file. After all, just because you save a
file doesn't mean you'll be loading it with software on that host,
emailing it elsewhere, or that you might not be using a portable app on
a USB thumb drive.

Alternatively, just destroy the filetype association to see if not
having a handler defined in the registry for use by the web browser
would eliminate a prompt to make a choice. Could be the web browser is
hardcoded to ask for a choice and if you selected Open then you'd get an
error that no handler was defined for that filetype.

Diagnostics doesn't attempt to test every conceivable solution at once.
And what was *your* suggestion to the OP? Uh huh.

Apparently...according Microsoft Tech Support...there is no option to
disable this annoyance in IE9. Perhaps going back to IE8 would work.



"VanguardLH" wrote in message news:irh3s1$a30$...

choro wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> OREALLY wrote:
>>
>>> How do we disable this "Do you want to open or save file" that pops
>>> up on the bottom of IE9 in Windows 7, when clicking on, say, a PDF
>>> file? It seems unnecessary and is annoying.
>>
>> You could try removing any .pdf handler (program) you installed on
>> your host. Then there won't be a media type handler for that
>> filetype that can open the .pdf file so the only option would be to
>> save the file.
>
> And can you, sir, please tell me what is the point of saving a file
> when you have no program to open it with?

It was a test to see if having a filetype/media handler registered in
the registry is what caused the web browser (not the OS) to issue a
prompt to make a decision. Without a handler, there would be, as you
say, nothing to open/load the file so the web browser would only have
the other choice of saving the file. After all, just because you save a
file doesn't mean you'll be loading it with software on that host,
emailing it elsewhere, or that you might not be using a portable app on
a USB thumb drive.

Alternatively, just destroy the filetype association to see if not
having a handler defined in the registry for use by the web browser
would eliminate a prompt to make a choice. Could be the web browser is
hardcoded to ask for a choice and if you selected Open then you'd get an
error that no handler was defined for that filetype.

Diagnostics doesn't attempt to test every conceivable solution at once.
And what was *your* suggestion to the OP? Uh huh.

OREALLY wrote:

> Apparently...according Microsoft Tech Support...there is no option to
> disable this annoyance in IE9. Perhaps going back to IE8 would work.

No, as already mentioned, the option is to enable or disable the prompt.
Disable means you get the yellow infobar which means you STILL have to
make a decision to save or open. Enable means you get a popup where you
make a decision to save or open. Microsoft doesn't leave the decision
to the web browser. They leave the decision with the responsibile party
regarding the security in opening or saving files on their host.

Whether you select to open or save the directly linked file, you are
STILL downloading that file. The handler still needs a file to load, so
the web browser puts it in its temp file cache and then passes that file
to the handler. You are still downloading no matter which choice you
make. Only if the content is streamed does it mean it gets passed only
to the handler and you don't see a save to file prompt; however, you
asked about a directly linked file, not a streaming server source.

I believe some other web browsers let you configure how to handle file
downloads, like using a download manager or always saving to file.
Hopefully that is not the default action as that means any site with any
file could make any hypertext link making you think that you are
navigating to another page or frame also download files to your host.
You would be reducing security by electing to set the configurable
option to automatically download or to open (the downloaded) the files.

Have you looked through IE9's options to see if they added another
download option that lets YOU configure away from a default value
regarding the download of files (and whether to open them)?