Member Avatar for Phaelax

This started awhile ago. When I click to d/l a zip file, instead of it asking to be saved or opened, it just automatically starts to open it. The real problem is when it's finished downloading. It can't open the zip because i get an error which says "Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied". The path is the zip file in the IE temp folder. The OS is win2k and I am admin. I can manually go the temp folder, access that way isn't denied. Any thoughts?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Yzk

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Short summary and practical steps

As describes, Internet Explorer on Windows 2000 can auto-launch a downloaded .zip and then fail with "Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied" while pointing at the Temporary Internet Files copy. 's hint about Internet Options is on target: the problem is usually one of these categories — the IE file-type auto-open setting, a zip handler or antivirus locking the file while it is still being written, or an ACL/registry problem for the compressed-folder handler.

Quick, low-risk fixes

  • Save instead of letting IE open: right-click the download link -> "Save Target As..." and open the saved copy from a known folder (Desktop).
  • Make IE prompt before opening: Control Panel -> Folder Options -> File Types tab -> locate the .zip entry (Compressed/ZIP) -> Advanced -> check "Confirm open after download". That forces the Open/Save dialog.
  • Clear the cache: Tools -> Internet Options -> General -> Browsing history -> Delete Files.

Deeper troubleshooting (next steps)

  • Try copying the temp copy from %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files to Desktop. If the copy succeeds, the ZIP handler or a lock is the likely culprit.
  • Temporarily suspend on-access scanning in any antivirus to see whether the AV is blocking the handler. Re-enable protection after the test.
  • Verify NTFS permissions on the Temporary Internet Files folder (SYSTEM, Administrators and the user account should have access).
  • Repair the compressed-folder shell if needed by re-registering the DLL: regsvr32 zipfldr.dll (Run as an admin).

Notes and caution
Avoid changing permissions blindly. Moving the Temporary Internet Files folder (Tools -> Internet Options -> General -> Settings -> Move Folder) or disabling shell integration for third-party zip tools (WinZip/WinRAR) can also resolve handler conflicts. If the issue persists after these checks, the fault usually shows up in whether the file can be copied out of the cache or whether disabling AV removes the error — those two tests narrow the cause quickly.

Member Avatar for Yzk

I did that, messed up the dl read good. It's a long time ago, but I think there is a solution in the extra-->internet-options.

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