TechNote (Archived)

Internet Explorer security message when you view files locally with JavaScript or Flash content

Issue

Due to updates from Microsoft to the Internet Explorer browser in April 2006 (updates madeas part of the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XP SP2) update), the following security message appears in the Internet Explorer yellow Information Bar when you view a web page locally that needs to run active content or scripting:

Examples of active content include Flash or Shockwave movies. Examples of scripting include client-side JavaScript or VBScript.

Note: In Dreamweaver, if you add a Behavior to your web page, client-side JavaScript code is added to the page.

This security message only occurs if you are viewing web pages directly from your hard drive. For example,C:\myFiles\myFile.htm. (Ref. 178644)

Reason

As part of the XP SP2 Local Machine zone lockdown, Internet Explorer on XP SP2 blocks active content and scripting that tries to run in the Local Machine zone. Attackers have tried to take advantage of the Local Machine zone, so Microsoft has tightened the restrictions on what can run in this zone by default. For more information,see the following article on the Microsoft website, and refer to the section titled "Local Machine Zone Lockdown":Windows XP Service Pack 2 Enhancements to Internet Explorer 6

Solution

You haveseveral options for dealing with this security message:

1. The options in the Internet Explorer Information Bar allow you to enable active content or scripting that you are trying to run in the browser on a case-by-case basis. When the yellow Information Bar appears (shown above), click on it and select Allow Blocked Content to run the active content or scripting.
   
2. To allow active content or scripting to run in a web page without the Information Bar appearing, you can add "Mark of the Web" code, so that the file is run in a zone other than the Local Machine zone, for example the Internet zone or the Intranet zone. The following code is an example of a Mark of the Web:
   
   <!-- saved from url=(0022)http://www.yoururl.com -->
   
   To include the code above in your projects, change the URL to point to your domain, and change the number (0022) to the correct number for your domain. This number indicates how many characters are in your domain name (beginning with the "h" in "http", and ending with the last letter of your domain;for example, the "m" in ".com").
   
   A generic way of writing the Mark of the Web code is as follows:
   
   <!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->

about:internet will place the page in the Internet zone, allowing the page to bypass the Local Machine zone lockdown.
   
   Dreamweaver 8 and later includes a new feature that adds generic Mark of the Web code to your files. To use this feature, selectCommands > Insert Mark of the Web. This extension can also remove Mark of the Web code if you want to take it out before pushing a file live. To remove Mark of the Web code, selectCommands > Remove Mark of the Web. For more information, see Previewing active content in Internet Explorer (Windows) in the Using Dreamweaver help documentation.
   
   Adobe has also created a Dreamweaver extension for previous versions of Dreamweaver that you can use to add generic Mark of the Web code to your files. It works the same way as the Dreamweaver 8 Mark of the Web feature described above. This extension is only compatible with the Windows versions of Dreamweaver MX 2004 and Dreamweaver MX.
   
3. Developers can use a remote server to preview web pages or use a local web server,such asMicrosoft IIS or Apache Web Server (http://localhost). The key to this workaround is to use the http:// protocol to view web pages instead of using the local hard drive (C:\)

Additional information

For more information on local active content restrictions and Mark of the Web, see the Microsoft article Windows XP Service Pack 2 Enhancements to Internet Explorer 6 and refer to the section titled "Local Machine Zone Lockdown".

For more information on Dreamweaver specific issues, see Dreamweaver and Windows XP Service Pack 2. Also refer to Previewing active content in Internet Explorer (Windows) in the Using Dreamweaver help documentation.

For more information onAdobe products in general,visitthe AdobeXP Service Pack 2 Support Center.

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