Ever run into the message "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer?" It's been around forever and showed up around the XP days (if I remember correctly). Many users are not even aware there is a way to unblock it. My CTO repeatedly called me to remind him what to do. It's super annoying on compressed files (e.g. zip, rar, etc) and should be easier to permanently unblock than it is. The unblock should be in the message itself as a prompt.

Unblock Individual Files

To individually unblock it:

  1. Right click the file
  2. Go to Properties
  3. At the bottom of the first General tab, you will see the following option:
  4. Check the Unblock option and Click Ok (or Apply).

Windows Pro (Permanent Unblock)

If you have a Pro version of Windows it's easy to do permanently:

  1. Hit the Windows Key+R and type gpedit.msc
  2. Go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Attachment Manager
  3. Enable: Do not preserve zone information in file attachments

Windows Home (Permanent Unblock)

If you're running a Home version of Windows it's not so easy. You have to go into the registry. However, I have exported my registry key and attached it. Just download and double click the reg file and the settings will be in place. You might need to reboot in order for you to see the changes on files previously downloaded. However, on new files downloaded, it should just automatically work.

ChangeSaveZoneInformation.reg (330.00 bytes)

 

Please comment if you have any issues.

 

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