SmartScreen filter on IE 9+ blocking app

[Stephen G.]

Microsoft's Internet Explorer SmartScreen filter is preventing my .exe from running freely.
I even purchased a code signing cert which shows my company as publisher info whenever someone clicks the .exe file to run the app.

If I zip the file, it will download, but when they run it, the message says "This program might harm your computer, SmartScreen Filter reported that this program is not commonly downloaded"

If I don't zip the file and they click download, the same message appears. It is scaring my customers away.

Does anyone have a fix?

[Ulrich]

I believe that there is no fix. Until the file was downloaded by "a significant number of other Internet Explorer users" and was not flagged as unsafe, it is unknown if the file is a threat or not. From the FAQ:

When you download a program from the Internet, SmartScreen Filter will check the program against a list of programs that are downloaded by a significant number of other Internet Explorer users and a list of programs that are known to be unsafe. If the program you're downloading isn't on either list, SmartScreen Filter will display a warning that the file isn't "commonly downloaded." It doesn't necessarily mean the website is fraudulent or that the program is malware, but you probably shouldn't download or install the program unless you trust the website and the publisher.

I also believe that it does not take an absurd amount of downloads to have a file cleared as safe. First, you could submit your site to be checked by Microsoft for harmful software. I don't know how long this would take.



After a few downloads, your customers shouldn't be warned any longer. I know that I haven't a huge user base of the SUF Script Explorer, for example. Today it is shown as safe:



Ulrich