The Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC) that is turned on by default on Windows Server drives me crazy. Being unable to download files, and constantly being prompted to add URLs to be viewed, is super-annoying. So, my SOP now is to disable that setting for Administrative users on servers (note: these are generally test servers that I use; consult your overall security policy before disabling this feature.)

So, how do you turn off IE ESC? First open the Server Manager then click on Local Server. Once there you can see IE Enhanced Security Configuration shown, but if you are like me, you may have missed that there is more content to the right of the screen. So to actually control this setting, scroll to the right:

Click where it currently (by default) shows “on”:

Then just select the Off radio button and “OK” to turn off the feature.

Now close Server Manager and restart any browser sessions that you might have open. Life is now so much easier for you to administer the server and obtain files that may be needed to complete your custom configuration.

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