That hyperlinks warning

[rickym]

Is there any way to get rid of that *&^( thing?? I have started linking
certain of my programs to start running (as part of my todo lists), also have
linked to certain IRS pages (for online forms and such).

It is a pain in the rear to have to go through those warnings everytime I
click a hyperlink.

I created the hyperlink .... I KNOW I should only click on hyperlinks from
"trusted sources" and YES I want to continue.

Then I have to get the lecture about how files can contain viruses and that
I need to make sure it's from a trustworthy source.

For heaven's sake people, I'm linking to programs I've installed and used
for ages or to pages that I need to go to on a regular basis.

Please tell me there is some way to shut off this extremely annoying double
warning before I blow my brains out.

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

That warning cannot be turned off in the current version.

 

[rickym]

Well, then please tell me that:

(1) it can be in the next version and
(2) the next version is coming out soon

Or

(3) my suicide will be on the heads of the OneNote programmers.

 

[EMRhelp.org]

I consider this a MAJOR GAFF in OneNote. The fact that this did not
get fixed in SP1 is very odd. The fact that MS won't release a fix is
embarrassing.

Nothing will be done about this until the next version which is 9-12
months away.
This complaint surfaces in 2003. It's now 2006.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

I consider this a MAJOR GAFF in OneNote. The fact that this did not
get fixed in SP1 is very odd. The fact that MS won't release a fix is
embarrassing.

Nothing will be done about this until the next version which is 9-12
months away.
This complaint surfaces in 2003. It's now 2006.

The complaint is inevitable. If they don't warn then people open unsafe
links and get themselves infected then blame Microsoft for not doing enough
to protecet them. I don't like the warning either, but they were browbeaten
into it. I think I can safely say that Chris and Owen don't like the
warning either -- if I'm wrong I'm sure they'll correct me.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[RK Henry]

Is there any way to get rid of that *&^( thing?? I have started linking
certain of my programs to start running (as part of my todo lists), also have
linked to certain IRS pages (for online forms and such).

It is a pain in the rear to have to go through those warnings everytime I
click a hyperlink.

I created the hyperlink .... I KNOW I should only click on hyperlinks from
"trusted sources" and YES I want to continue.

Then I have to get the lecture about how files can contain viruses and that
I need to make sure it's from a trustworthy source.

For heaven's sake people, I'm linking to programs I've installed and used
for ages or to pages that I need to go to on a regular basis.

Please tell me there is some way to shut off this extremely annoying double
warning before I blow my brains out.

Could this help at all?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829072
I haven't tried this mod myself, since I haven't bothered with running
executables from hyperlinks in OneNote. I set up a hyperlink to an
executable just to see what you were talking about. I can see how it
could get annoying.

Of course, observe the usual cautions about making changes to the
registry. Messing up the registry can render the system unusable, but
that's a less serious problem than blowing one's brains out.

RK Henry
Happy OneNote user

 

[rickym]

Well, fine ... then you leave the stupid warning for the idiots who don't
have enough sense to come in out of the rain, and you bury a "turn the damn
thing off switch" somewhere nice and deep so that people like me can SWITCH
IT OFF!!

Can you imagine what the internet would be like if EVERY time you clicked on
a hyperlink you got not one but TWO warnings about how dangerous it is to
click on a hyperlink??

Doesn't it even occur to people at Microsoft that there isn't much point in
building a function into a program if you are going to make it impractical
(if not near impossible) to use? And, honestly, if it is going to be another
9-12 months before another version comes out, I really think someone owes us
a patch to get rid of these idiotic warnings.

Heck, I'm an attorney ... make us sign a waiver absolving MS of any
liability for any nasty links we decide to click if we turn off the warnings.

I mean, really, how am I supposed to recommend this program to the students
at my seminars if it is driving me stark raving mad???

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Doesn't it even occur to people at Microsoft that there isn't much point
in
building a function into a program if you are going to make it impractical
(if not near impossible) to use? And, honestly, if it is going to be
another
9-12 months before another version comes out, I really think someone owes
us
a patch to get rid of these idiotic warnings.

I'm rather surprised an attorney would have to ask that question. Just
about every warning or disclaimer we see in American society is there
because the lawyers said it needed to be.

I mean, really, how am I supposed to recommend this program to the
students
at my seminars if it is driving me stark raving mad???

Like I said, nobody at Microsoft stood up at a meeting and said "Hey,
wouldn't it be great if we hassled our users with a warning about links?"


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[rickym]

Corporate counsel like to put the fear of God into everyone, and what they
have done in this case is screw up a damn good program.

Someone should tell the idiot attorneys that they could put a vew zillion
disclaimers in the terms of service, or, have the hyperlinks warning run once
with a nice check box that says "Don't show this warning again." Either or
both would serve the same purpose without making the program less useful.

So, since what I'm hearing from you is that MS probably won't do anything
about this, I'm going to have to screw around with my registry. Oh, what
fun. MS can't figure their way to put a check box in a warning dialog and so
I have to run the risk of screwing up my entire PC.

Lovely.

 

[rickym]

Thanks for the tip ... at least I won't have to muck about in the registry
without some guidance. I hope this works.

It's sad that the consumer has to go to this much trouble for what should be
a really simple fix from the programmer's end.

But, that's the state of "customer service" in the computer world I'm afraid.

 

[rickym]

Tried it for the exe files, but no joy. I still get the stupid warnings.
It's so sad, this could be a spectacular program except for the way it has
been crippled by its creators.

I'll go on using it, but I'm also going to look to see if there is anything
better out there. I want to give the various student groups to whom I give
these seminars to get the best program for the job. And, if it's not
OneNote, then it's just not.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Corporate counsel like to put the fear of God into everyone, and what they
have done in this case is screw up a damn good program.

Yeah, well lawyers are useful but sometimes they ruin stuff.

Someone should tell the idiot attorneys that they could put a vew zillion
disclaimers in the terms of service, or, have the hyperlinks warning run
once
with a nice check box that says "Don't show this warning again." Either
or
both would serve the same purpose without making the program less useful.

Having it in the terms of service wouldn't do any good. The problem isn't
that users have never been warned about potentially dangerous material. The
problem is that they insist upon opening it anyhow. Saying "We told you
when you installed the program 17 months ago that some content is dangerous"
isn't going to quiet the "Microsoft has no security" crowd.

Basically Microsoft is in a no-win situation. Either people are going to
whine that Microsoft didn't do enough to protect its users or they're going
to whine that Microsoft is doing too much to protect their users. The
people who think the warnings are a hassle are less likely to sue, however,
so Microsoft has fallen back to the warnings. Maybe they'll find a way to
make them less obtrusive, though on some level the point is that they're
supposed to be obtrusive. My hope is that we may be able to find a way to
disable the warnings for links to local files, even if not for external
sites.

In the end it's impossible to please everybody. I once heard an Office PM
at Microsoft say that "Making Microsoft Office is like ordering pizza for 40
million people."

So, since what I'm hearing from you is that MS probably won't do anything
about this, I'm going to have to screw around with my registry. Oh, what
fun. MS can't figure their way to put a check box in a warning dialog and
so
I have to run the risk of screwing up my entire PC.

You don't have to, you're choosing to. Remember that if something does get
screwed up and you're tempted to blame Microsoft for it.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[rickym]

I've never even been tempted to blame someone else ... even when I've felt
forced to do something. And, I do feel forced to at least try to get rid of
the dual hyperlink warnings.

However, the registry fix did not work. The stupid things keep coming up
anyway.

It's really sad because I hope to be recommending programs to as many as
20,000-30,000 new law students every year, and I can't see myself really
recommending a program that looks like it's (1) going to drive me nuts and
(2) going to be treated like a step-child by the company.

Unfortunately, I could cite you a ton of law that would demonstrate those
warnings don't make a bit of difference come a lawsuit anyway.

 

[Kathy Jacobs]

Ricky,
My two cents... If the warnings bother you here, I am guessing you don't use
PPT at all. Why that guess? Because the frequency of the (obnoxious warning)
messages in OneNote are nothing compared with the frequency of the messages
in PPT. Microsoft isn't going to change this. Does this mean that you are
going to seriously tell your students that they should not use any part of
Office because of these messages? To me, that is a very unrealistic
approach. It is better to let Microsoft know (as you have) that the messages
are annoying and let it go at that.

As I said, just my two cents.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint and OneNote information at www.onppt.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

 

[rickym]

If by PPT you mean PowerPoint, yes I do use it and I haven't noticed any
warnings that I could not turn off.

What I will explain to my students is that OneNote is at this time an
extremely limited program. It has some good points, but it is severely
flawed in this one respect. If I am able to find a program or program suite
that functions more effectively, then that is what I will recommend.

As for not using any part of Office, I don't believe that I said that. I
said that I would not recommend OneNote for law students to maintain and
organize their notes and research because they need to have an effective
means of hyperlinking to cases on the internet, as well as local files such
as research papers and class outlines.

I will be recommending Outlook for the calendar and email functions, both of
which I like very much. I will also be recommending Word (although I still
use and prefer WordPerfect) because it is my understanding that more law
offices use Word and the students should learn to use legal formatting in
Word as early as possible.

However, while I would normally suggest OneNote as absolutely necessary for
every law student, there are a few things that still have me looking for
something better. The constant and annoying hyperlink warning is one, and
the inability to create more highlighters (in light colors) is another.

What I might have to do, if I can't find any better program, or some other
work around, is suggest that the students maintain their case law and local
file hyperlink references in another program that does not have these
particular problems.

 

[RK Henry]

For what it's worth, I tried the registry key and found that it did
indeed eliminate ONE of the two annoying warnings on the test page
that I set up in ON.

Without the registry key, I get two warnings message boxes. One says
"Hyperlinks can be harmful to your computer and data...." and once I
click ok on that message I get another one that says "Some files can
contain viruses or otherwise be harmful to your computer..."

With the registry key change, I get only the "Some files can contain
viruses or otherwise be harmful to your computer..." message.

So it does seem to help a little, leaving it just half as annoying as
before.

Unfortunately, according to another KB article I found, the "files can
contain viruses" message can't be disabled. Too bad.

One workaround that might help is that the viruses message doesn't
appear when the hyperlink is to an associated document file. For
example, a hyperlink to a PDF doesn't show the viruses message as it
launches Acrobat. With the DisableHyperlinkWarning registry key turned
on, there are no messages at all when launching a hyperlink to a PDF.

RK Henry

 

[rickym]

In fact, I am also looking at an interesting notetaking program called
"Evernote". Now, it has some short comings as well (weak in the highligher
end of things -- a bit too keystroke oriented for my taste), but adding full
internet pages to a note is a snap, and hyperlinking - whether to an internet
site OR a local file or program is as smooth as can be. No stupid warning
signs.

And, it automatically adds paper as you write your notes, which can be very
nice in a classroom or meeting situation when you have a lot to put down
quickly.

What I might recommend is the use of both programs ... I know, that sort of
defeats the idea of "everything in one place", but sometimes one program
simply won't do the job, and I fear that OneNote may not be sufficient to do
the job that a student really needs done.

 

[rickym]

Well, I'll give that a try just as soon as I finish restoring my registry. I
don't know if there is any connection, but suddenly certain aspects of my
browser stopped functioning. (I use Maxthon which is based on IE.)

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

I've never even been tempted to blame someone else ... even when I've felt
forced to do something. And, I do feel forced to at least try to get rid
of
the dual hyperlink warnings.

Well I'm sorry you feel that way, but it really isn't the truth. Thousands
of people use OneNote every day (including absolutely every member of my
company) without ever having touched the registry (at least not with regards
to OneNote).

You're choosing to do it and that's your prerogative, of course.

I've explained to you, as best I can, why the warnings are there. I'm sorry
they annoy you so much but, in the words of Mick Jagger, you can't always
get what you want.

Maybe the next version will be more accomodating. If it isn't it certainly
won't be because the OneNote dev team really likes warning messages.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[rickym]

I do wish the next version were "more accomodating", but I have serious
doubts. Microsoft is not known for making changes like that. Unfortunately,
when you are the big gorilla, you don't have to accomodate anyone.