I have my security settings in Internet Explorer 6 set at a level that is probably lower than it should be. I just hate some of the warning messages and prompts that come with the higher stock settings.
To compensate - hopefully - I do have the Spywareblaster site blacklist updated and loaded at all times, and I am running NOD32 2.7 from Eset, but I still get warnings from some testing sites that IE is configured in an unsafe manner.
A few of the most annoying "security" features that IE blows my way when configured safely are the script debugging warnings and prompt to start a debugger, and the always so popular Mixed content warning. You know, the one that tells you the site you are trying to go to has both secure and insecure content? And it will not allow you to navigate there until you click saying it is OK and that you are an ignorant, non-security-minded oaf? Well I have those all turned off in IE6's advanced settings. Which is a risk I happily take - I don't feel that I need Microsoft, of all entities, minding my security for me.
However most applications that invoke IE as part of their standard operation still show these pain-in-the-rear-end dialogs, requiring me to act in order to let them run. Most apps that invoke IE continually show the mixed content warning. And FileHamster - a program which I really like and would consider purchasing the Plus version - pops up the script error dialog asking if I want to continue running scripts on the page. And it gives me an option to... ugh... debug the script. No, No, No!! I NEVER want to debug a script! That will invariably open that dreaded (by me, at least) MS MDM service - the Machine Debugging Manager service. Once started, that service will simply not let go - ever - until I go into Services and manually stop it. But then it can be started at any time by other scripts, other applications. And it can really mess with programs that you don't want it to mess with. Anything it perceives as buggy will get a good going over to see if it needs to be debugged - MDM does not like to sit around idle all day, and it will get into trouble if given the opportunity.
Which is why I usually have the service disabled. I manually set it in Properties as Disabled. But requesting something to be debugged overrides my setting and starts it right back up. So, why would I ask it to debug something ever again, you might ask? When that dialog opens - the one that FileHamster causes to be opened - if it is behind something else when it opens and it tries to take focus but the very moment it does I am pounding away on the keyboard, typing into another program altogether - and it sees a key click on the Enter key as permission to go ahead and debug away....
Well that's usually how it gets started again - at least that's what I suspect. Or it could be a little trick that Microsoft has played on me many times in the past: It sends me a critical update and when it is installed it goes around and checks some of my settings and, yes, it changes them to what the Microsoft programmer thinks is best for my own - and the rest of the Internet world's own - good!
I guess I don't even have to say how much I HATE THAT!! Sorry.... but does anyone here know a way to truly disable those IE warning dialogs in programs that invoke IE? If so, I would greatly appreciate it if you would share!
Thanks.
Jim
