1
2
I have a Windows XP Home Edition guest and a Linux Mint 13 host. I use VirtualBox and the ~/Public
directory is shared with the guest. It sometimes happens that I use IE on the guest system to download files (until I get a better Windows browser).
All of the downloaded files go the the L:\
drive (the ~/Public
directory). When they are finished downloading, Windows Explorer adds a :Zone.Identifier
file for each file I download. When I extract a downloaded ZIP archive on the guest (on drive L:\
), Windows creates a :Zone.Identifier
file for every file in the extracted directory. This even occurs if I use the host to move a file to the ~/Public
directory.
The shared ~/Public
directory is on an ext4 partition and the colon character is supposed to be illegal in file names in Windows, but not on the ext4 partition. Is there any way to stop Windows from putting all this rubbish on my filesystem? (I might have to create a shell script to clean up after Windows' act.)
Here is what I see in Windows Explorer:
By the way, if I were running a Mac OS X host (where colons are illegal file name characters) this would be even more horrendous.
I was going to start using Avant Browser on Windows anyway. By the way, the alternate streams (forks) are also created when I copy a file to the
~/Public
on Linux. That means it is not just Internet Explorer's fault for putting all this charabia on my filesystem. I already know that the forbidden characters are in the Win32 API. I still need to know how to disable this so-called 'security' feature. – Jonathan Reno – 2012-10-01T14:33:16.290By the way, I thought that the
:
character can only be used with a drive letter on Windows. Looks like the 'colon-forking' feature is just another Microsoft kludge. – Jonathan Reno – 2012-10-01T14:34:25.540Windows Explorer might be creating default zone identifiers when it detects a new file without one, similar to how it does thumbnails. If that's the case, then your best bet is to use an alternative, such as xplorer2 if there's nowhere to turn it off (WE doesn't have an option, but try looking through the IE settings. IE and WE are actually one in the same deep down) – Darth Android – 2012-10-01T14:36:44.663
I already know that. This is one reason I don't like to use Windows. Why does a trashy browser have to be integrated into Windows so that one cannot remove it without seriously damaging system files? – Jonathan Reno – 2012-10-01T14:40:24.880
+1, The
:Zone.Identifier
stream is exactly what causes Explorer to prompt on open. IE creates them on any downloaded files, and Explorer will propagate the flag when unzipping the archive. Going to the file's properties in Explorer and clicking theUnblock
button will delete the stream. Other Windows web browsers will do the same thing by default, so don't expect a different browser to have different behavior. – afrazier – 2012-10-01T14:56:42.387I'll give you the tick mark for giving me a good explanation of this problem. I still need to know how to disable this IE anti-feature though. – Jonathan Reno – 2012-10-01T22:12:03.443
1Creation of
ZoneIdentifier
streams can be disabled by setting the policyDo not preserve zone information in file attachments
toenabled
. The policy is located underUser Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Attachment Manager
. For crippled Windows versions creating a DWORD registry valueSaveZoneInformation
with value1
in[HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments]
should have the same effect. – Ansgar Wiechers – 2012-10-01T22:41:03.787I use Windows XP Home Premium. Therefore I cannot set user policies. – Jonathan Reno – 2012-10-02T00:00:24.083