So, windows server 2003 R2 SP2 has the extra fussy sysadmin IE edition, the one designed to stop servers being 0wned by sysadmins accidentally downloading applications they shouldnt to it.

Its ironic then that getting windows update working involves one ActiveX download and then an update for Windows Update, which then posts me off to Microsoft Update, more activeX and more installs, including a reboot.

What's even more ironic is this: the security settings prevent me downloading firefox, as the 'high' security zone forbids downloads. OK, then, I will follow the instructions, slide down the slider and do the download. After all, once firefox is in, the sole roles of IE will be for windows updates and testing that my own web pages/sites work in it, ideally with selenium.

Only, when I pull down the slider, a dialog box pops up to tell me that I shouldn't pull move the slider from the high position, then, when I close the dialog, pushes it back up.

The fact that IE is stopping me fetch firefox 'for security reasons' is funny enough, the fact that the app has a slider with the text "move the slider" and the sole action being a dialog to tell me off is even funnier. Someone had to code that. someone else had to internationalise the "you cannot move the slider" message to all the supported countries, and then a third person test that when the slider is moved, that the dialog telling the user not to move the slider pops up.

There is an easier way in win32 to stop a slider being moved, its called ::EnableWindow(); pass in the HWND of the slider and it gets greyed out. No dialogs, no i18n, no testing. You do have to field the support calls "its greyed out, how to I install firefox" but those will be no less frequent or harder than the "I get told off for moving the slider, how do I install firefox" questions.

Updated to keep Gordon Weakliem and others happy, the solution is to go to 'custom' settings and turn file download on there. It's only the slider bar that is retrofitted with a refusal dialog.