Fix downloaded programs that prompt for permission to run (i.e. Internet Zone files)

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Sometimes, when you download programs from the internet, Windows get really smart and flags them as Internet Zone files ([1]). On Vista this means that from then on, one must accept responsibility of running a possibly hazardous application on your PC every time you want to use it. Needless to say, this can be rather irritating. Fortunately, there is a simple workaround to this:

  1. Download Mark Russinovich's Streams tool;
  2. Extract streams.exe to your path;
  3. Type WinKey + R, then type: cmd + Enter;
  4. Then, cd to the application's directory and run:
C:\app> streams -d app.exe

Streams v1.56 - Enumerate alternate NTFS data streams
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

C:\app\app.exe:
  Deleted :Zone.Identifier:$DATA

That's it; you can now run the application without any nagging dialogs.

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