Always ask before opening

I was trying to automate a WinZip file download via Internet Explorer, and un-checked the "Always ask before opening this file" but the file opens in the Temporary Internet Files folder, which is not what I wanted.

The solution is to open Windows Explorer and then click Tools ~ Folder Options ~ File Types and then scroll down to the ZIP extension, click on it and then click Advanced.

At the "Edit File Type" dialog box, click the "Confirm open after download" checkbox; then click OK and then Close to return to the Windows Explorer window.

As it turns out, I actually had to do this twice to fix the problem - the box was checked, imagine that. So I un-checked it, closed out, then returned to that dialog and checked it again. Now, IE will display the expected Open / Save / Cancel dialog when clicking on a WinZip.

Norton AV uninstall - a better way

This is a follow-up to my prior post about uninstalling Norton AV.

My previous approach for my ThinkPad was to simply go into Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, but apparently that was the reason for the 16-bit snafu.

Norton provides its own uninstall program via the Start Menu, and when I used that method on my HP desktop, it did not create the 16-bit problem that I encountered on the ThinkPad.

After the uninstall, I found that I still had to go into Add/Remove Programs to remove the Norton WMI Update and the Live Update components, but after doing that I did not have any further issues.

Norton AV uninstall breaks 16-bit apps

I decided not to renew my Norton Anti-Virus for my ThinkPad, so I uninstalled it from Control Panel and replaced it with the AVG 7.5 Free Edition. I had already tried AVG on my Vista test PC, and felt quite comfortable with it.

Unfortunately, I discovered that the Norton uninstall left a fragment behind in the registry - when I would launch a 16-bit program I got a message about the 16-bit subsystem not being able to initialize S32EVNT1.DLL and had two buttons: Close and Ignore. But if I clicked Ignore the 16-bit app worked just fine.

I Google'd about and found lots of similar complaints, but no real solutions - only that a VDD entry in the registry was calling for a Symantec file that no longer existed. Luckily I have another XP Pro computer that still has Norton AV, so I found the bad entry at:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers

Name: VDD
Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
Data: C:\PROGRA~1\Symantec\S32EVNT1.DLL

...all I had to do was right-click on VDD, click Modify, and erase the entry. Problem solved.