PDA

View Full Version : Cannot download attachments from P-CIS


Dan in Saint Louis
March 7th, 2009, 06:29 PM
Windows XPPro/SP3, Firefox 3.0.7, IE 7.0.5730.13.

I cannot download attachments from PCIS (I guess I should call it "MCIS" now?). Other sites behave normally.

From Firefox the symptom is that two files, for example "NYTimes1999.pdf.part" and "NYTimes1999.pdf" both appear on my Desktop, both 0 bytes. Files with other extensions trigger the same symptom.

From IE the symptom is a "Security Alert" window stating "Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded."

These symptoms appear only on my desktop computer, and only when attempting attachment downloads from CompuServe. Two nearby laptops can download the same files just fine. Both of those laptops have my entire Firefox profile folder copied to them from the desktop machine.

So far I have tried:

1) Turning off Adblock Plus and NoScript (both Firefox only). No change.

2) Turning off the Windows firewall. No change.

3) Setting all the choices at "Control Panel, Internet Options, Security" to the least restrictive level. No change.

The hints I get from Googling that security warning all point back to step 3) above.

Possible additional clue. The "Windows Security Center" window appears to be missing several lines of text under "Manage security settings for:" where four different security areas should be listed.

What shall I try next? Thank you!

Judy G. Russell
March 7th, 2009, 07:36 PM
What shall I try next? Thank you!Reboot, of course. That's the last line of defense with anything Windows.

sidney
March 8th, 2009, 05:26 AM
The "Windows Security Center" window appears to be missing several lines of text under "Manage security settings for:"

That missing text is in the antivirus section, and your antivirus software would be responsible for blocking the download of files that have a virus signature. Could this be something gone wrong with your antivirus program?

Dan in Saint Louis
March 8th, 2009, 11:22 AM
Could this be something gone wrong with your antivirus program?
Anything is possible -- after, this is Windows! However, attachments download just fine from everywhere except P-CIS.

Further clue: I re-booted and logged in as "Administrator" and both IE and Firefox had no trouble downloading the P-CIS attachments. However, the text is still missing from the bottom of the Security Manager window. "Switched Users" to my usual account and the symptom is still there.

I'm wondering about the advisability of trying this (http://www.techimo.com/forum/security-privacy-issues/146417-your-current-security-settings-do-not-allow-file-downloaded-2.html#post2107810).

Dan in Saint Louis
March 10th, 2009, 08:19 PM
I'm wondering about the advisability of trying this (http://www.techimo.com/forum/security-privacy-issues/146417-your-current-security-settings-do-not-allow-file-downloaded-2.html#post2107810).
The advice that I linked to about importing the registry key "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings\Zones" was insufficient. It neither helped nor hurt.

After duly exporting the entire "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings" to a backup location just-in-case, and importing the same from my Administrator account, I can once again download M-CIS attachments.

I have not tried to compare the "good" version to the "bad" side-by-side, but "good" is 74KB and "bad" is 127KB, so it is quite possible that it picked up some corrupted settings somewhere.

If it lives for 48 hours I'll call it fixed!

Judy G. Russell
March 10th, 2009, 10:22 PM
If it lives for 48 hours I'll call it fixed!Fingers and toes crossed, Dan!

Dan in Saint Louis
March 11th, 2009, 09:23 AM
Fingers and toes crossed, Dan!
I've had them crossed since I began that registry surgery. I've never done an organ transplant in the registry before.

Judy G. Russell
March 11th, 2009, 10:50 PM
I've had them crossed since I began that registry surgery. I've never done an organ transplant in the registry before.It's usually not a big deal, but the name of the game always is BACKUP.

Dan in Saint Louis
March 12th, 2009, 09:01 AM
It's usually not a big deal, but the name of the game always is BACKUP.
Or, in my case BACKUPS.

Judy G. Russell
March 12th, 2009, 12:46 PM
Or, in my case BACKUPS.My method as well (alternating external hard drives, one kept offsite, and one in-progress online backup to Carbonite, which may be completed sometime in April... (uploading 500Gb is slooooooooooow).

Dan in Saint Louis
March 15th, 2009, 11:41 AM
Ta-Da!!

I think I have found the culprit.

Every time I restore the "Internet Settings" keys in the registry, I can download P-CIS attachments until the next time I use CS2000 6.0.2.4111.50. I had to install that here to maintain my parents' email account.

I guess I'll have to create a new user and only run CS2000 from that account.

So CS2000 modifies the registry in such a way that I cannot use Web-based P-CIS to download attachments. Bah, humbug.

Mike
March 16th, 2009, 03:25 AM
Every time I restore the "Internet Settings" keys in the registry, I can download P-CIS attachments until the next time I use CS2000 6.0.2.4111.50. I had to install that here to maintain my parents' email account.
You do know you can access CS2K email using a web browser, yes? CS2K not needed.

Fastest access is on the CompuServe Home Page (http://www.compuserve.com).

Dan in Saint Louis
March 16th, 2009, 08:40 AM
You do know you can access CS2K email using a web browser, yes?
Yes, I guess I could. It only took a few seconds to create a new account that I will use only for CS2000, so that will be a suitable work-around.

Thanks!

Mike
March 17th, 2009, 02:38 AM
You're welcome.

Dan in Saint Louis
March 17th, 2009, 09:37 AM
You're welcome.
Well, the separate account turned out to be a necessity. I tried Web access of my parents' CS2000 account and it added cookies for my browser such that when I later tried to use P-CIS, it tried to log me in as them!

Even after I logged out I was instantly redirected to an AOL login page and it again logged in automatically as my parents. I had to toss my cookies and re-bake them.

Lindsey
March 17th, 2009, 11:03 PM
Well, the separate account turned out to be a necessity. I tried Web access of my parents' CS2000 account and it added cookies for my browser such that when I later tried to use P-CIS, it tried to log me in as them!

I seem to remember the same thing happening to me when I logged into P-CIS with a Netscape account. I had to set up a separate profile in Mozilla to keep those insidious cookies from messing up my CompuServe login.

Mike
March 18th, 2009, 02:20 AM
I tried Web access of my parents' CS2000 account and it added cookies for my browser such that when I later tried to use P-CIS, it tried to log me in as them!
<sigh> I know that AOL doesn't want people to log out, but that's past the point of being a security risk!

Dan in Saint Louis
March 18th, 2009, 10:42 AM
<sigh> I know that AOL doesn't want people to log out, but that's past the point of being a security risk!
Remember the Roach Motel? You can check in, but you can't check out.

Mike
March 19th, 2009, 02:55 AM
Remember the Roach Motel? You can check in, but you can't check out.
Or the Hotel California: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."