How to Unblock Downloaded Files Blocked by Windows
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Article ID: 286941
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Updated On:
Products
Carbon Black App Control (formerly Cb Protection)Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint Standard (formerly Cb Defense)Carbon Black Cloud Enterprise EDR (formerly Cb Threathunter)Carbon Black EDR (formerly Cb Response)
Issue/Introduction
Files may be blocked by default by Windows Local Group Policy when downloaded from the internet.
Environment
Microsoft Windows: All Supported Versions
Resolution
How To Unblock Manually:
Go to Downloads
Locate the downloaded file
Right-click on the file and select Properties from the menu
Click Unblock on the General tab
Click OK
How To Unblock Via Group Policy (not recommended)
Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
Browse to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Attachment Manager
Locate the policy for: Do not preserve zone information in file attachments
Choose to 'Enable' the policy and click OK
As the description explains, if you enable this policy setting, Windows does not mark the file attachments with their zone information.
Restart the machine.
Additional Information
Perform this check as soon as the file is downloaded and prior to extraction
Unblocking zip files (and other files as well) ensures that there are no issues with the files once extracted and installed
This is not a way to bypass functionality of Cb Defense, Cb Response, or Cb Protection