Tool to fix IE nags and restrictions

I posted this in the IE group, but not many people
go there, so I'm posting here as well.

Announcing: An updated version of a free tool.
The IE MD (Internet Explorer Doctor)

The IE MD has been around for years, but wasn't
formerly updated for IE 7/8 in Windows Vista/7 until
now.

IE MD is an HTA powered by VBScript. It's designed
to be a simple, one-stop method to eliminate nags,
download restrictions, etc. Most of the settings it
changes are normally hidden. Things like removing
the information bar, stopping security nags, stopping
messages that say things like, "Your current settings
don't allow downloading this file", shutting off the Local
Machine Lockdown restrictions, disabling risky behavior,
etc.

It's free, no-strings; being made available simply
because people shouldn't have to go through the
tedious work that it takes to find these settings and
change them.

http://www.jsware.net/jsware/iemd.php5

For scripters and "power users":

An HTA is basically a webpage that runs in an IE
browser window. Since the IE MD is just a scripted
webpage, if you know HTML and VBScript you can
edit, modify, or extend the utility as you like.

"Mayayana" wrote in
:

I posted this in the IE group, but not many people
go there

I wonder why.

so I'm posting here as well.

And we could not be more grateful.

Announcing: An updated version of a free tool.
The IE MD (Internet Explorer Doctor)

The IE MD has been around for years, but wasn't
formerly updated for IE 7/8 in Windows Vista/7 until
now.

Funny, no mention of it anywhere in Google. OR on the jsw site.

As much as we all enjoy spam, and attempts to send us to a
malware site, this is pretty pathetic. Most people here are
smart enough not to use IE.

Not to mention NO "doctor" will fix IE.

And the page you provide the link to claims my browser, about a
thousand times better than IE, OffByOne, is a download manager.
This is possibly because they know OB1 is immune to their evils.
AT best, even if this is not the case, it gives me an idea about
the author. WHAT could I possibly want to DL from his site? That
kind of attitude is acceptable on sites with 10,000+ files (OK,
500 files and monthly traffic limits).




--
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at
it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named
Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found
out that you had already stolen it."
Bill Gates to Steve Jobs, around 1983

|
| And the page you provide the link to claims my browser, about a
| thousand times better than IE, OffByOne, is a download manager.

That's based on the userAgent string. Download managers
are blocked because most of them are very sloppy, some
are spyware, and none are necessary. It's not unusual to
see a download manager download the same file dozens of
times over, for no reason. The only way to filter them out
is by typical UA string patterns.

"Mayayana" wrote in
:

|
| And the page you provide the link to claims my browser,
| about a thousand times better than IE, OffByOne, is a
| download manager.

That's based on the userAgent string. Download managers
are blocked because most of them are very sloppy, some
are spyware, and none are necessary. It's not unusual to
see a download manager download the same file dozens of
times over, for no reason. The only way to filter them out
is by typical UA string patterns.

This is the string:

UserAgent=Mozilla/4.7 (compatible; OffByOne; &sys)

Anything here scream "download manager" at you?


--
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at
it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named
Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found
out that you had already stolen it."
Bill Gates to Steve Jobs, around 1983

| UserAgent=Mozilla/4.7 (compatible; OffByOne; &sys)
|
| Anything here scream "download manager" at you?
|

&sys? I assume by that you mean that it reports the
OS version, like "Windows XP", "Windows 98", "Windows 7".
That's a problem because it's actually very rare, except
when used as a spoof UA by download managers. Firefox
and Opera both end their UAs with a version number, and
while the IE UA used to end with the Windows version at
one time (thus the download manager spoofs), these days
Microsoft encrusts the IE UA with all sorts of things.

I'm sorry about the inconvenience. All I can suggest it that
you use another browser of adjust your UA.

"Mayayana" wrote in news:j8rhj1$mr7$1@dont-
email.me:

I'm sorry about the inconvenience. All I can suggest it that
you use another browser of adjust your UA.


USER-AGENT can help, but I think many sites watch for behaviour, using
timers, filters, etc. As the difference is like that between asking for a
caller to show a printed name card when cold calling at a door, and having a
simple burglar alarm that uses more than one of a group of basic triggers,
the second method is entirely more capable of not being fooled. It doesn't
have to be very smart either, it just needs wise choice of triggers,
thresholds, durations... Google Maps use this to spot grabs on map tiles in
bulk. I doubt they care about U-A but they're VERY sharp at spotting anything
that moves in ways they're not happy with.

"Mayayana" wrote in
:

| UserAgent=Mozilla/4.7 (compatible; OffByOne; &sys)
|
| Anything here scream "download manager" at you?
|

&sys? I assume by that you mean that it reports the
OS version, like "Windows XP", "Windows 98", "Windows 7".

You assume correctly.

That's a problem because it's actually very rare, except
when used as a spoof UA by download managers.

Hmm. I found that a little hard to believe, so I checked this:

http://www.useragentstring.com/pages...gentstring.php

I opened the "all" page, all (sic) 1.5 MB of it, did a search,
and '&sys' was not found anywhere, so you are correct.

Although - of course - neither OffByOne nor my 2 DLMs, FileHound
and Webcow, are listed anywhere on that site.

Firefox
and Opera both end their UAs with a version number, and
while the IE UA used to end with the Windows version at
one time (thus the download manager spoofs), these days
Microsoft encrusts the IE UA with all sorts of things.

I'm sorry about the inconvenience. All I can suggest it that
you use another browser of adjust your UA.

I appreciate your attitude considering my OR, but I would rather
be cut to pieces with a 2x4 than use IE. All this was caused by
various childhood problems and purely academic.


--
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at
it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named
Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found
out that you had already stolen it."
Bill Gates to Steve Jobs, around 1983

On 11/1/2011 10:32 PM, Mayayana wrote:
|
| And the page you provide the link to claims my browser, about a
| thousand times better than IE, OffByOne, is a download manager.

That's based on the userAgent string. Download managers
are blocked because most of them are very sloppy, some
are spyware, and none are necessary. It's not unusual to
see a download manager download the same file dozens of
times over, for no reason. The only way to filter them out
is by typical UA string patterns.



Small ding here, but *every* browser is just a fancy DOWLOAD MANAGER
itself.

FYI...
'Noid' has a good nose for things like this and oodles of background in
spotting things like this plus doing research

I thought there was something wrong with this "Internet
Explorer Doctor" myself, same reasons.

'Noid' beat me to it.




--
"**** this is it, all the pieces do fit.
We're like that crazy old man jumping
out of the alleyway with a baseball bat,
saying, "Remember me mother****er?"
Jim “Dandy” Mangrum

| Small ding here, but *every* browser is just a fancy DOWLOAD MANAGER
| itself.
|

I'm talking about actual download manager software.
That's not the same thing as a browser. (An email program
downloads files. That doesn't make it a download manager.)
In general download managers are not necessary in the first
place.

I find that the typical download manager behavior is
to download 2 or 3 full copies of everything. It doesn't make
any sense. The programs are supposed to help speed up
downloads and ensure they don't get cut off. But they
jump in on 1 MB downloads and download 3 copies!
Then there are the "scraper" variety. People go to a website
and auto-download everything in sight. They're busy
hoarding website content that they could never possibly
use. In fact, they don't even take the time to figure out
what the downloads are before grabbing them. (I'm not talking
about personal opinion here. I can see how the software
works in my own server logs.)

Some download managers are much worse than either of
those two cases. I first decided to start blocking them when
I saw in my website server logs that someone had downloaded
36 MB worth of a 300 KB file. I'm not certain, but I think the
program used was GetRight. It just kept calling for the same file,
over and over again every 6 seconds, 100+ times in all.

It's a lot like browser toolbars: Very little value. Potentially
spyware. And often badly written. But download managers look
techy and sophisticated to the uninformed.

Unfortunately, blocking such software is not 100% reliable
because while some identify themselves, some others use
spoof UA strings. So occasionally someone like thanatoid causes
a "false positive".

"Mayayana" wrote in
:

| Small ding here, but *every* browser is just a fancy
| DOWLOAD MANAGER itself.
|

I'm talking about actual download manager software.
That's not the same thing as a browser. (An email program
downloads files. That doesn't make it a download manager.)
In general download managers are not necessary in the first
place.

I find that the typical download manager behavior is
to download 2 or 3 full copies of everything. It doesn't
make any sense. The programs are supposed to help speed up
downloads and ensure they don't get cut off. But they
jump in on 1 MB downloads and download 3 copies!

PEBKAC

Although I will not deny DL managers is a very fuzzy category,
and when they first started becoming popular, they were stupid
bloated crap which was often full of adware and spyware. Mine,
FileHound, is neither, and it works great, and it only DL's more
than 1 copy of anything IF I TELL IT TO.

Then there are the "scraper" variety. People go to a
website and auto-download everything in sight. They're
busy hoarding website content that they could never
possibly use. In fact, they don't even take the time to
figure out what the downloads are before grabbing them.
(I'm not talking about personal opinion here. I can see how
the software works in my own server logs.)

Yes, dl'g your site WOULD BE a sign of insanity.

Some download managers are much worse than either of
those two cases. I first decided to start blocking them
when I saw in my website server logs that someone had
downloaded 36 MB worth of a 300 KB file. I'm not certain,
but I think the program used was GetRight.

Famed for its being refried rat ****.

It just kept
calling for the same file, over and over again every 6
seconds, 100+ times in all.

It's a lot like browser toolbars: Very little value.

I could not agree more. But excellent for adware and spyware.

Potentially
spyware.

Sorry, I don't read the posts in their entirety first, I just
reply as I go. It's torture enough as it is.

And often badly written. But download managers
look techy and sophisticated to the uninformed.

Unfortunately, blocking such software is not 100%
reliable
because while some identify themselves, some others use
spoof UA strings. So occasionally someone like thanatoid
causes a "false positive".

I sincerely apologize for ever having arrived on this planet,. I
certainly did not ask to be born, and I very much regret
/having/ been born.

Regards.

And, gang:

Keep on using IE, the BEST and SAFEST browser in the world,
straight from the nice folks who brought you BOB, BOB v.2
(Vista), and "Our Own Spyware Update Monday".


--
There's nothing here to attract existing fans of either bands.
Instead, all [Rhino's compilation] "Total" does is to reinforce
the idea that Joy Division/New Order was a hugely exciting
source of music between 1978 and 1990 and New Order has been a
pitiful shadow of their once-visionary selves ever since.
John Meagher, The Irish Independent