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Would this proposed registry change affect anyone's PC they take care of, or any software you are involved in creating or supporting? If I proceed, it's possible you would see this change on a PC you manage or support.
What dire unintended consequences will I create for other users or applications if I add this registry setting whenever we install? Adding this registry change prevents this warning message from ever appearing. Since there's a "FixIt" button on Microsoft's KB article here, I'm assuming no one will mind, it is safe to make the change, and no one is relying on that message to be operational:
From https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/175500
I'm running both and Active X and an MSHTA.exe page, and occasionally some long running scripts cause this message to appear: "A script on this page is causing Internet Explorer to run slowly". Worse, the message blocks use of the page until the question of, "to allow script to run, or terminate the script", is answered. The message never times out, even if the script completed hours ago, and cannot be cleared except by the user. But, the killer message is the dire warning, "If it continues to run, your computer may become unresponsive. Do you want to abort the script?" At this point, the message would prompt most users to never run that application again, and uninstall it if possible.
Although we could handle the error I believe the best way to handle this is to apply this fix, from: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/175500
It essentially disables the error message completely by adding this key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Styles]
"MaxScriptStatements"=dword:FFFFFFFF
Does anyone object to adding this key for a large number of users's PCs, which might include PCs you are running your software on?
DaaBoss
Posted 2015-07-01T21:48:39.480
Reputation: 1 931
Please help improve this question, or If you believe it should be posted on StackOverflow instead of SuperUser, I'd be grateful for your advice. – DaaBoss – 2015-07-03T14:15:18.893
Why would anyone be affected other than users of systems on which you make this change? Why would you make the change on any system but your own or ones requested? Why the great concern about a Microsoft recommended fix? The last sentence is asking strangers for pure opinion. – fixer1234 – 2015-07-03T18:49:33.313
Ah... Now I see the issues! -- We've shipped software that was included by OEMs in their hardware, and I'm contemplating including this as an incredibly small part of software that may be installed very widely. There's a great chance users here or PCs they see, might be affected. Microsoft is providing the "Fix-it", but that may or may not mean it should, or would ever be changed in all new or older versions of Windows. The "strangers" I'm asking here, fix not only their own PCs, but also act as system admins, and product managers. – DaaBoss – 2015-07-03T20:29:03.383
Just an opinion: 1) Don't make changes like this to software/OS not of you creation on other people's systems. 2) If your software commonly causes this condition, fix your software so that it doesn't. 3) Display your own prompt if user's will need guidance or reassurance. 4) Include a script and instructions for end users to implement this if they choose. – fixer1234 – 2015-07-03T20:39:55.760
@fixer1234 Most of the software we make does, by its nature, improve, and therefore changes others' systems to some extent. Many of these are why they chose to license and ship our software to their users. Our software is not causing this issue at all. If you use IE, you've probably seen this message often, caused by any number of unidentified sources. It's our responsibility to make intelligent choices that only positively affect users. This question was an effort to improve the likelihood this will be a positive change and won't affect other software. – DaaBoss – 2015-07-03T21:02:38.553
1I guess I'm missing the point of why you want to modify Windows. Seems like that should be Microsoft's job. I would even wonder if that might violate Microsoft's terms. People who buy a Windows system expect to get the "default" baseline Windows that behaves as documented, not someone else's idea of how Windows could be made better. – fixer1234 – 2015-07-04T00:00:09.247
Follow the KB article link, and I think you'll agree this fix/registry change is a pretty common "modification", since very few KBs have both a KB article AND a FixIt button. Changes are expected and necessary to any Windows installation, or no one would ever need or want a "fresh Windows install". PC OEMs make considerable changes, installing most software, hardware, add a network, changes the "default", as a hidden and expected process. Changes never violate MS terms, unless enabling "Only-at-Extra-Cost" features. – DaaBoss – 2015-07-04T15:45:47.983
You requested opinions and whether anyone objects. I hope you're not basing a decision on random input from one site. However, one data point: my opinion. Bundling software, drivers, etc., and a certain amount of customization, is expected. Changing unrelated default settings involves tradeoffs. Features/behaviors are there for a purpose. Some people will want it to operate as designed and some won't. MS offers a fix for situations where it is needed but if it was an actual bug, the fix would be installed in an update. My opinion: inappropriate for you to make the change. – fixer1234 – 2015-07-04T16:37:10.140
2I strongly recommend against shipping the fix it and/or making the underlying changes yourself: 1) If you change a system, you're responsible for supporting that change. It's no fair to mess around with someone's machine and then point back to MS if the change doesn't work correctly. 2) There's no guarantee that the underlying change won't break at some point in the future (as in next patch Tuesday), meaning you'll need to research the change and then adjust your install, 3) Lawyers ('nuff said, I hope). Instead, point to the fix in your README and let users maintain their own systems. – Lance Leonard – 2015-07-17T17:31:15.717
That's exactly what alpha and beta tests are for. Do those before a mass rollout. And be prepared to fix and issues. Save the registry before you install your program and be prepared to back out the change if your users complain. – DavidPostill – 2015-08-02T16:57:43.063
2"Although we could handle the error" - why don't you handle it then? That's much better than blindly changing the registry of millions of PCs. If MS thought the correct thing to do was to make that change they would have done it already. – DavidPostill – 2015-08-02T17:00:42.107