I tried downloading a Microsoft Word .docx attachment to an email and saw the same Security Alert window, which stated "Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded."

The setting, which applies to all files rather than a particular type of file such as a Microsoft Word document, can be changed through the following steps in Internet Explorer (IE) 11:

1. Click on Tools.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Click on the Security tab.

   

4. Select the Internet zone, which is the left-most zone in the row of icons representing the four zones: Internet, Local intranet, Trusted sites, and Restricted sites.
5. Click on the Custom level button.
6. In the Security Settings - Internet Zone window that opens, scroll down through the settings list until you see Downloads. For the File download option, change it from "Disable" to "Enable"

   

7. Click on the radio button next to "Enable".
8. Click on OK.
9. When asked "Are you sure you want to change the settings for this zone?", click on Yes.
10. Click on the OK button to close the Internet Options window.

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[ More Info ]

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C:\>reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v  vers
ion | find "version"
    version    REG_SZ    9.0.8112.16421

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A webpage designer can choose to specify fonts and their size for a webpage or can rely on the user's browser to pick what is best for the user based on the browser's default settings. So some pages may be harder to read than others, if the webpage designer selected a font that is smaller than the default size.

You can do the same thing on a Mac system with Safari using the command and "+" key to zoom in or the command and "-" key to zoom out.

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http(s)://username:password@server/resource.ext

Using the syntax of http:// or https:// followed by username:Password@ and then the URL, you could supply a username and password in the address bar. This could be useful in cases where you had to script access to a webpage or file download from a password protected directory on a website. Using this technique you could use a command in a batch file to gain access to the protected resource.

However, after version 6.0 of Internet Explorer, Microsoft disabled this capability. The rationale for disabling the capability is explained at Internet Explorer does not support user names and passwords in Web site addresses (HTTP or HTTPS URLs). Microsoft states there that the capability was disabled, because it could be used by a malicious person to mislead someone into thinking he was going to a trusted side when in actuality he would be directed to another site.

E.g., other information, besides a username and password, could be placed before the "@", for example someone could use http://www.wingtiptoys.com@example.com. A user might only notice the http://www.wingtiptoys.com in the address bar, whereas the URL would actually be taking the user to http://example.com. In this case, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Internet Explorer 6 for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 only display "http://example.com" in the address bar. However, earlier versions of Internet Explorer display "http://www.wingtiptoys.com@example.com" in the address bar, but users might think they were going to www.wingtiptoys.com, whereas they would actually be taken to example.com.

If you want later versions of Internet Explorer to retain the behavior of prior versions, you can disable the new default behavior in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. To do so, create iexplore.exe and explorer.exe DWORD values in one of the following registry keys and set their value data to 0.

• For all users of the program, set the value in the following registry key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_HTTP_USERNAME_PASSWORD_DISABLE
• For the current user of the program only, set the value in the following registry key:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_HTTP_USERNAME_PASSWORD_DISABLE

On the support webpage, Microsoft states that, if users attempt to use the previously supported syntax with later versions of Internet Explorer, users will see a webpage that has the title "Invalid syntax error". When I used the technique to try to access a protected file on a site using Internet Explorer 8.0 on a Windows 7 system, I received a message stating "Windows cannot find" followed by the URL and then "Check the spelling and try again."

The syntax of http://username:password@example.com/directory/filename.ext still worked on the same system with Firefox 3.6

References:

1. Internet Explorer does not support user names and passwords in Web site addresses (HTTP or HTTPS URLs)
   Article ID: 834489
   Last Review: November 15, 2007
   Revision: 11.4
   Microsoft Support

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So, I decided to look for an add-on that might add similar functionality for Internet Explorer. I found a free add-on, IE7Pro, that offers that functionality as well as other enhancements for Internet Explorer. The developer states "IE7Pro includes Tabbed Browsing Management, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Inline Search, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, Greasemonkey like User Scripts platform, User Plug-ins and many more power packed features. You can customize not just internet Explorer, but even your favorite web site according to your need and taste using IE7Pro."

During the installation, which uses a Nullsoft Install System v2.33 installation program, you are given the option to select default settings, which are shown below:

Please select default settings:

[x] Enable ADblock
[ ] Enable Userscripts
[ ] Enable Plugins
[X] Enable Spelling Checker
[ ] Set EasyHome as Homepage

At the end of the installation, you are requested to set the default search engine to be IEPro's Google based search, to help finance further development of the software, but you don't have to do so. Selecting that option is certainly a small measure that you can take to make continued development of the software possible.

To simulate a system crash, I powered off the system. When I restarted the system and opened Internet Explorer, I saw a "Crash Recovery" window stating "Your last session crashed, Please review and open last URLs. All of the Internet Explorer 7 tabs I had open previously were listed and checked to be reopened. I could deselect tabs I didn't want reopened, if I wished. There were also Select All and Select None buttons. I chose to reopen all of the tabs I had open previously. Unfortunately, unlike Opera's crash recovery feature, I couldn't click on the backwards arrow button in Internet Explorer to view my history of previously visited sites in any tab. So, IE7Pro definitely offered an improvement over the total lack of crash recovery features in Internet Explorer, but also falls far short of the built-in crash recovery features of Opera.

References:

1. IE7Pro User Guide
   IE7Pro.com
2. IE7Pro FAQ
   IE7Pro.com

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But sometimes I run into difficulty with multi-page news articles. I don't want to have to furl each page individually. Some websites offer a "print" function, so that you can display a copy of all pages of the article at once to send them to the printer at once. But often, when the window opens that displays the entire article for printing, I don't see the Internet Explorer (IE) menubar with "File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tooks, and Help" on it. The link to furl pages is under "Favorites", so I don't then have access to that link.

One alternative is to right-click on the "print" version of the webpage, choose "Properties" and then copy the URL for the webpage, which you can paste into another IE window with the menubard displayed to access the page. Another method is to hit the Ctrl and "I" keys simultaneously, which will bring up the IE Favorites box.

Other IE shortcut keys to view and explore web pages are listed below:

To do this                                Press this key
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Internet Explorer Help or to      F1
display context Help about an item in 
a dialog box

Toggle between full-screen and other      F11
views in the browser

Move forward through the items on a       TAB 
Web page, the Address box, or the 
Links box

Move through the items on a Web page,     SHIFT+TAB
the Address box, or the Links box

Go to your Home page                      ALT+HOME

Go to the next page                       ALT+RIGHT ARROW

Go to the previous page                   ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE

Display a shortcut menu for a link        SHIFT+F10

Move forward between frames               CTRL+TAB or F6

Move back between frames                  SHIFT+CTRL+TAB

Scroll toward the beginning of a          UP ARROW
document 

Scroll toward the end of a document       DOWN ARROW

Scroll toward the beginning of a          PAGE UP
document in larger increments

Scroll toward the end of a document       PAGE DOWN
in larger increments

Move to the beginning of a document       HOME

Move to the end of a document             END

Find on this page                         CTRL+F

Refresh the current Web page              F5 or CTRL+R

Refresh the current Web page, even if     CTRL+F5
the time stamp for the Web version and 
your locally stored version are the same  

Stop downloading a page                   ESC

Go to a new location                      CTRL+O or CTRL+L

Open a new window                         CTRL+N

Close the current window                  CTRL+W

Save the current page                     CTRL+S

Print the current page or active frame    CTRL+P

Activate a selected link                  ENTER

Open the Search box                       CTRL+E

Open the Favorites box                    CTRL+I

Open the History box                      CTRL+H

In the History or Favorites boxes,        CTRL+click
open multiple folders

References:

1. Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
   Article ID : 306832
   Last Review : May 7, 2007
   Revision : 2.3
   Microsoft Help and Support

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