MinimServer download triggers Smartscreen Filter security warning!

[haggis999]

My first experience with MinimServer was not encouraging. As soon as I initiated the download of the Windows x86 version, using IE 10 under Windows 7, I got the following Windows Internet Explorer Smartscreen Filter warning:

Publisher: Unknown
Smartscreen Filter reported that this program is not commonly downloaded and is not signed by its author.

I've downloaded plenty of software in my time but I have never seen this particular warning before. Why is this software not signed by its author?

David

[simoncn]

(06-09-2013 20:24)haggis999 Wrote:  My first experience with MinimServer was not encouraging. As soon as I initiated the download of the Windows x86 version, using IE 10 under Windows 7, I got the following Windows Internet Explorer Smartscreen Filter warning:

Publisher: Unknown
Smartscreen Filter reported that this program is not commonly downloaded and is not signed by its author.

I've downloaded plenty of software in my time but I have never seen this particular warning before. Why is this software not signed by its author?

David

Thanks for letting me know about this problem. From a brief web search. it seems that in order to prevent the "not signed" message, I would need to sign the Windows MinimServer downloads with a Microsoft-approved digital certificate (costing about $200/year). Even if I do this, I believe SmartScreen Filter would still produce a warning until MinimServer has achieved a sufficient positive reputation with Microsoft. The process by which this reputation would be achieved is not clear to me.

MinimServer is distributed free of charge and I don't feel able to commit to the $200/year cost of a Microsoft-approved digital certificate. I am signing the Mac OS X MinimServer downloads with a self-signed certificate (at no cost), but I don't think this would be sufficient to pass the SmartScreen Filter checks. I will continue to investigate what I can do to improve this situation.

[haggis999]

Hi Simon,
I've no idea if Mac oriented certificates work in a Windows environment. Perhaps you need a separate certificate for each operating system. There has to be some reason why this Smartscreen Filter warning has never appeared before on my system, which contains a huge number of separate software packages from different authors.

I vaguely remember creating a self-signed certificate at no cost for some Windows-based software I wrote about six years ago. It would be disappointing if such an option has now disappeared.

David

[simoncn]

(06-09-2013 22:43)haggis999 Wrote:  Hi Simon,
I've no idea if Mac oriented certificates work in a Windows environment. Perhaps you need a separate certificate for each operating system. There has to be some reason why this Smartscreen Filter warning has never appeared before on my system, which contains a huge number of separate software packages from different authors.

I vaguely remember creating a self-signed certificate at no cost for some Windows-based software I wrote about six years ago. It would be disappointing if such an option has now disappeared.

David

I believe the Smartscreen Filter is a new "feature" that is enabled by default in IE10. How many other freeware/shareware packages from individual developers have you downloaded using IE10 without getting this message? If you can give me any pointers to such packages, I can look at whether/how they are signed.

[haggis999]

I am a relative newcomer to computer-based audio and video and only made a start on ripping my collection of CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays a few months ago. My primary tools have been dBpoweramp and MakeMKV, which are commercial packages, but the following freeware/shareware software was all recently downloaded to assist this task (though not all have proved useful to me).

SupRip
BDSup2Sub
MediaInfo
MKVToolNix
Aegissub32
ASSDraw3
MKVExtractGUI
Bliss

[simoncn]

(07-09-2013 09:41)haggis999 Wrote:  I am a relative newcomer to computer-based audio and video and only made a start on ripping my collection of CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays a few months ago. My primary tools have been dBpoweramp and MakeMKV, which are commercial packages, but the following freeware/shareware software was all recently downloaded to assist this task (though not all have proved useful to me).

SupRip
BDSup2Sub
MediaInfo
MKVToolNix
Aegissub32
ASSDraw3
MKVExtractGUI
Bliss

Thanks very much! I will install IE10 on a test machine and try downloading some of these to see whether I get any warnings.

[haggis999]

If a permanent solution proves elusive or you have to wait for some indeterminate number of further downloads before Smartscreen Filter is pacified, I would recommend that you add a comment about this matter to the MinimServer download page. That would go a long way towards allaying the fears of any other cautious new users.

[simoncn]

(07-09-2013 11:47)haggis999 Wrote:  If a permanent solution proves elusive or you have to wait for some indeterminate number of further downloads before Smartscreen Filter is pacified, I would recommend that you add a comment about this matter to the MinimServer download page. That would go a long way towards allaying the fears of any other cautious new users.

I installed IE10 on Windows 7 and accepted the default security settings (to enable SmartScreen Filter). I tried a few downloads from the list you posted and they worked OK. I then tried to download MinimServer and this also worked OK. Have you modifed the IE10 default security settings?

[haggis999]

I checked the Tools/Options/Security tab of IE10.0.9200.16660 and I am running with all zones at default level.

[haggis999]

I have tried a fresh download of SubRip_v150_beta_4zip.exe (the first item on my list of other software) and all was well. This was immediately followed by a new download of MinimServer-0.72-install-x86.exe, which once again triggered the Smartscreen Filter warning.

EDIT: As you can see above, I accidentally downloaded an app called SubRip instead of SupRip! However, this still provides a potentially useful comparison with MinimServer. I have now done my intended new download of suprip-1.16.rar and it also triggered no warning.