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Our intranet currently uses UNC paths to open documents for editing, rather than downloading/editing/reuploading.

The paths are in the format of \x.x.x.x\share\path\to\file\file.pdf

After having updated to Windows 8.1, and being given IE11, it no longer seems capable of opening these links, and simply says Page cannot be displayed. Make sure web address is correct, refresh etc.

Does anyone know if this functionality was removed in IE11?

Eds
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1 Answers1

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Access to file shares was limited in IE9.0.2: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ieinternals/archive/2011/08/12/internet-explorer-9.0.2-update-changes-file-protocol-and-cookie-naming.aspx

...but if this is new behavior you're only seeing on Win8.1, you're likely hitting a problem whereby the target URLs are treated as "Internet Zone" and thus inside Enhanced Protected Mode (EPM).

EPM imposes network access restrictions and restrictions on release of your credentials. See the "Networking" sections here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ieinternals/archive/2012/03/23/understanding-ie10-enhanced-protected-mode-network-security-addons-cookies-metro-desktop.aspx

The fix would be to ensure that the syntax you're using to access these file shares is recognized as "Intranet" or "Trusted" zone, which you can do by either using an undotted short hostname (\sharename\share\whatever) or by updating Tools > Internet Options > Security zone settings for the target IPs.

EricLaw
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  • Ok I am not sure if I had changed something before, or if the way IE11 determines what zone is what, but adding the IP addresses of the servers with the shares into trusted sites, resolves the issue. – Eds Oct 22 '13 at 10:06
  • Prior to IE11, Enhanced Protected Mode (and hence AppContainers) was not used for desktop IE. – EricLaw Oct 22 '13 at 18:33