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WinXPTutor's XP Resources

Windows XP Tips, Illustrations and registry edits

Information bar appears while downloading a file - Windows XP SP2

When you visit a site which uses the automatic download prompt, the Information bar appears instead of the download window. This is due to a security enhancement in Windows XP SP2 to protect the users from automatic download prompts generated by rogue websites. To download the file you need to click the Information bar and select Download file option to download the file. This is the safest workaround you can follow.

What if I don't want to see the Information Bar at all ?

To prevent the Information Bar from being displayed for a particular website (safer)

To prevent the Information bar from being displayed while downloading files, try adding the website to the Trusted Zone in Internet Options, Security dialog. Automatic Prompting for file download is enabled by default for Trusted Zone domains. You must add a website to Trusted Zone only if you know and trust the website.

To prevent the Information Bar from being displayed for all websites (use only in valid cases)

This procedure will allow Web sites to automatically prompt you when downloading files and software (bypassing the Information Bar).
  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
  3. On the Security tab, click Custom Level.
  4. Do one or both of the following:
     
    • To turn off the Information Bar for file downloads, in the Downloads section of the list, under Automatic prompting for file downloads, click Enable.
       
    • To turn off the Information Bar for ActiveX controls, in the ActiveX controls and plug-ins section of the list, under Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls, click Enable.


More Information

To make the changes via the registry, modify the values for 2200 and 2201 accordingly.

Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT. Navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings \ Zones \ 3

In the right-pane, double-click 2200 and set it's value to 0 (REG_DWORD)

In the right-pane, double-click 2201 and set it's value to 0 (REG_DWORD)

Value data for 2200

  • 0  - Automatic prompting for file downloads is Enabled
  • 3  - Automatic prompting for file downloads is Disabled

Value data for 2201

  • 0  - Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls is Enabled
  • 3  - Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls is Disabled