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Good old IE9 apparently doesn't know that small businesses have fewer customers than it takes to make a 'commonly downloaded file'.download manager

So I get these errors. I'm not sure if the first error is related to the second one. I've been pumping my download through a hidden iframe so I can manage security more directly and log downloads. It's worked for quite a while and continues to work in all other browsers, but I always get 'download was interrupted' in IE9 (so do our clients), but pressing resume works.

However, the most obnoxious thing is that you get 2 opportunities to delete the file downloaded and one extra opportunity to just ignore it. So, our tech support dept gets calls from 99% of the confused IE users.

Sorry for the two part question, but I'd imagine this all has something to do with smart screen filter since other file types (PDF, DOC, XLS) can download just fine without being 'interrupted'.

  1. Why was the download interrupted
  2. How do I make my program 'commonly downloaded' whatever help there is from Microsoft is quite misleading, set me off for an hour looking for an option that didn't exist.

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There's an MSDN blog post explaining how to build "reputation" for your download, but overall this is at least somewhat out of your control. It seems to be a rather unpopular feature(also see comments there), and I expect it'll receive some adjusting or even removal soon.

I hate to say this, but is it out of the question to put a notice on the download screen telling people this might happen, to at least avoid the confusion(sometimes, if they read)?
It's hideous, but the sort of thing that's had to be resorted to in the past.

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    That answer was the exact opposite of what the person asking the question wanted! This is another gem From the warning page, you can choose to report this site as a safe site. Click More information, and then click the Report that this site does not contain threats link to go online to the Microsoft feedback website, and then follow the instructions. So it would be easier to get my download off the naughty list than the uncommonly downloaded list. Oct 6, 2011 at 21:26
  • Actually ignore that first bit from me(and I've removed it). Sorry; I'd been looking at a different(even more useless) info page that I'd pulled up while looking around. But it does seem like other than jumping through various hoops to make yourself look better, there's no way to explicitly say "this is not malware." Which unfortunately makes a certain amount of sense because why should they just believe you?
    – Su'
    Oct 6, 2011 at 21:34
  • I'm going to try the sign tool, but there is the other half of the question about the 'interrupted download' maybe I should split the questions into two? Oct 6, 2011 at 21:39
  • The first error is, on the surface, just a plain download failure notification, and doesn't really tell us much, kind of like a 500 error for a CGI web app. There's nothing about it that a user should suspect you for, anyway, as opposed to the second message. It's interesting that it happens at the same time, but there's very little to work with. I'd concentrate on the thing you know is coming from SmartScreen for the moment, and if the first also resolves, great. If it doesn't, then you at least definitely know there's another problem to deal with. (Yay?)
    – Su'
    Oct 6, 2011 at 21:51
  • Yeah, good advice, I'm working on figuring out how to use signtool.exe right now, give my downloads some credibility. Oct 6, 2011 at 21:58

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