4 ms·

Microsoft disables File Explorer preview for downloaded files by default

13 points by kirenida 11mo ago

compressedgas 11mo ago
Seems they can't just sandbox it.
drawfloat 11mo ago
Aren’t most files used on an operating system day to day downloaded from the Internet? This feels like it completely kills that feature’s utility.
sunaookami 11mo ago
>For example, if you accidentally download a malicious file, and it contains links, File Explorer would try to preview it, and it’ll also follow links inside the file as part of the process. Huh, is this true? Seems like a major risk and entirely unexpected (OTOH it's Microsoft so doing insecure stuff is unsurprising)
- emi2k01 11mo ago
  Maybe this is about doing GET requests to render images in documents or something similar? Not just arbitrarily requesting every link in a file
phito 11mo ago
So they keep extra file metadata god-knows-where to flag internet downloaded files, to disable their preview because their preview sucks and is insecure? How about they make their preview, I don't know, just render local documents without following URLs? What a shit OS. I can't believe there are still so many tech oriented people willing to put up with this crap just to keep their habits.
- nom 11mo ago
  Let me ground you a bit. This feature is 20 years old. The data is stored in NTFS alternate data streams. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_the_Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_the_Web
  - phito 11mo ago
    Interesting, thanks
  - childintime 11mo ago
    Wow, it contains forensic info: "As of Windows 10, the contents [...] include the keys HostIpAddress, HostUrl, and ReferrerUrl.[...] they typically contain the domain name and exact URL of the original online download location".
Bedlow 11mo ago
This is in the most recent Windows 10 update, a lot of my PDF downloads have stopped previewing. It affects any PDF, not just PDFs downloaded since the update. It seems completely random, as some PDFs still preview.
jbverschoor 11mo ago
Orrr run it in a sandbox?
timnetworks 11mo ago
imho good riddance, but lots of people used it. it'd be all sorts of crazy to let local files just be local files though. new generation of devs are vaping kool aid.
LocalH 11mo ago
Good thing I don't use Explorer to manage files :)

13 points by kirenida 11mo ago

Seems they can't just sandbox it.

Aren’t most files used on an operating system day to day downloaded from the Internet? This feels like it completely kills that feature’s utility.

sunaookami 11mo ago

>For example, if you accidentally download a malicious file, and it contains links, File Explorer would try to preview it, and it’ll also follow links inside the file as part of the process. Huh, is this true? Seems like a major risk and entirely unexpected (OTOH it's Microsoft so doing insecure stuff is unsurprising)

emi2k01 11mo ago
Maybe this is about doing GET requests to render images in documents or something similar? Not just arbitrarily requesting every link in a file

phito 11mo ago

So they keep extra file metadata god-knows-where to flag internet downloaded files, to disable their preview because their preview sucks and is insecure? How about they make their preview, I don't know, just render local documents without following URLs? What a shit OS. I can't believe there are still so many tech oriented people willing to put up with this crap just to keep their habits.

nom 11mo ago
Let me ground you a bit. This feature is 20 years old. The data is stored in NTFS alternate data streams. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_the_Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_the_Web
- phito 11mo ago
  Interesting, thanks
- childintime 11mo ago
  Wow, it contains forensic info: "As of Windows 10, the contents [...] include the keys HostIpAddress, HostUrl, and ReferrerUrl.[...] they typically contain the domain name and exact URL of the original online download location".

Bedlow 11mo ago

This is in the most recent Windows 10 update, a lot of my PDF downloads have stopped previewing. It affects any PDF, not just PDFs downloaded since the update. It seems completely random, as some PDFs still preview.

jbverschoor 11mo ago

Orrr run it in a sandbox?

timnetworks 11mo ago

imho good riddance, but lots of people used it. it'd be all sorts of crazy to let local files just be local files though. new generation of devs are vaping kool aid.

LocalH 11mo ago

Good thing I don't use Explorer to manage files :)