Hello all,
When I run ThunderbirdPortable_3.0_English.paf.exe from my hard drive, I get the Open File - Security Warning dialog as if I'm trying to run the exe directly from a website. Previous versions (even the 2.0.0.23) did not do this. What might be causing this?
Cheers (and Happy New Year)
Ray
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you might give here info what operating system and what antivirus etc are you using.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
Windows XP SP3, no anti-virus running. Version 3.0 PAF pops up the notice, version 2.0.0.23 does not, same OS.
I have a screenshot of the notice at http://twitpic.com/wci8f
The TB 3.0 PAF is self-contained, right? If so, I don't understand why this notice pops up as if I am executing it over the internet.
You're just trying to run the Installer for the portable application.
This warning shows for all recently downloaded executables.
I also downloaded TB 2.0.023 portable at the same time. It does not have this warning. Is it more of a feature of when the PAF was created?
Could the message be changed to something less confusing? It is after all an executable running locally, not over the network or internet.
Sorry for all the questions, I wanted to try TB 3 last night, but this surprising warning ground everything to a halt already for half a day now, making me activate virus checkers and such. Just wanted to make sure things were okay.
Cheers,
Ray
Well every executable you download will give this warning and also shows it was created by Rare Ideas (the company behind PortableApps). Any experienced Windows (XP) user has encountered this kind of warning countless times, and it's just an extra message to have people be aware what they are doing. (Only run software from publishers you trust)
After you installed it the message won't show up everytime you start the application.
The only way this message wouldn't show up is if you downloaded the installer to a non-NTFS drive. When you download to an NTFS file system, Windows stores a flag along with the file that says "This came from the Internet" and thus warns you when you try to launch it. If you download to a FAT-based disk (FAT32, exFAT...), this message won't appear.
So, again, why is there a difference between the 2.0.0.23 version and the 3.0 version?
I have never heard of the "downloaded from the internet flag". And certainly this message has never appeared before for a downloaded file run from the local drive.
The only time I have ever seen such a message was when an executable was actually run directly over the internet. And that has never happened on my machine outside of a virtual box.
It is simply a confusing new behavior from the previous portable apps, with a misleading warning, is all I'm saying.
This is the first time such a message has ever popped up in my computer, in ANY version of Windows for a file I downloaded to the drive.
The only time I have ever seen anything like it was for an install directly via the web, not from the drive. I also stated before that the TB 2.0.0.23 paf.exe does NOT show this message.
Thus, I maintain, that there is something different between the 2 exe files. The message remains confusing and misleading, since the file is run locally from the drive.
Something is definitely different, but it's nothing with the file itself.
What file system is your drive using? If it's NTFS, Windows stores a flag along with the file that says "I came from the Internet" and warns you when you launch it. That's why it's saying you're launching from the Internet--you got it from the Internet, so the OS remembers that.
Some browsers don't support this feature and don't add the flag, but most mainstream browsers these days do (Firefox and IE both support it, not sure about Chrome).
If your drive is FAT, FAT32, or exFAT, then no, this message shouldn't appear. But if it's NTFS, then this is normal. If the message doesn't show up for TB2, then my guess is that it was either downloaded with an older browser, originally downloaded to a non-NTFS file system, or at some point you opened the properties for the installer and clicked "Unblock".
The drive is NTFS. I think the key word here is older browser.
Although you mentioned Firefox support for this internet flag, could it be that Firefox 2.x did not support it? It is possible TB 2.0.0.23 was downloaded with that originally. A new download today was binary equal, but I hadn't actually executed the redownload until your last message. Yes, the redownload does also show this warning.
A file search revealed that amazingly, although I had downloaded a few hundred things since transitioning to FF 3, I had only downloaded portableapps executables. That explains why I hadn't seen the message on anything else, nor on prior PA downloads, since I only now started upgrading my PA installs.
Great, it starts making sense now. It was such a quiet world before FF3
Thanks all for the info. And I can reassure one of the previous posters, not all experienced users see this message countless times. My system is so locked down, that using FF2.x was never a security risk, thus never showed this message.
As to experience, not to brag, but I have used Windows since it ran off 2 floppies (5 1/4 inch). Okay, bragging failure, because it's really kind of sad.
Thanks again everyone for the speedy responses, and for setting my head straight.
Cheers,
Ray
It was a new feature in XP SP2, but only IE supported it initially. Firefox didn't support it until 3.0, I believe. And I think Google added support for it in Chrome also in 3.0.
FF2 does *NOT* set "downloaded from the internet" flag. FF3 does.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
This always happens to me on my XP Home box. Nothing unusual, and nothing worrying unless I didn't try to open the file in question.
The file itself is irrelevant; the "problem" is actually good security, provided by a combination of Windows and NTFS.
"The question I would like to know, is the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. All we know about it is that the Answer is Forty-two, which is a little aggravating."