how to unblock an .exe file?

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Supposedly I can right click on it and select "unblock" in the properties menu, but there is no such option. My machine won't unzip it because it is blocking it, and I would like to run it!

Perhaps you sould restart your computer.

I suspect your firewall or similar is blocking it. You may need to change settings.

What antivirus and version of Windows are you using? It doesn't seem like it should be blocked unless it has a nasty surprise inside...

that's what i was thinking.

....except don't most anti-virus programs catch the .exe before the user even tries to execute it? basically...as soon as it exists on the computer, the antivirus catches it, doesn't it? or are there others that simply block the opening of such programs but not the downloading there of?

how about a plunger? - works on toilets!

I'm using AVG free edition and Windows XP. I restarted the computer and tried the plunger! Neither worked.

Neither XP nor AVG would normally prevent execution of a .EXE file unless there was something strange with it (damaged .EXE, non-EXE misnamed to .EXE, another extension besides .EXE, or something like that). Some anti-spyware programs would...

How are you trying to execute the file, and what exactly happens when you try? If you're getting a dialog box or some other message, that would go a long way towards narrowing this down.

When I try to extract the files, it tells me it is being blocked for my computer's safety, and that if I want to unblock it, I should go to the properties of the file and select "unblock," but there is no such option in properties.

It is just a bridge building game for my son that someone sent me... not anything malicious.

see it the file is read only. If it is, uncheck the box so it is not read only.

Hi Anapatura,

The most common route for a virus onto a machine is "a game someone gave to me".

Typically, the game is genuine and the person passing it on is unaware that the file actually is a Trojan.

I would guess you have (AVG) a better, more up-to-date virus checker than them.

It may be possible to "clean" the trojan out of the file, or find an alternative source that has an un-infected copy of it.

All GOOD virus checkers will occasionally give false positives - i.e. block programs that are, in reality, quite benign. I'd rather they occasionally erred that way round, rather than the reverse.

Interestingly, maybe, I was shown today what appears to be a false site for AVG free - I'm checking it out as I type this... the site is www,freegrisoft,co,uk where I've purposefully put commas, so as to NOT make it too easy to get there! It seems to consist only of links back to itself. Somewhere in there, I suppose there has to be something nasty. I can't quite see what, but maybe that's because I'm using SeaMonkey/Ubuntu rather than IE/Windows.

The real AVG free comes from the real place.

You might take a look at this, and see if it's the same game. It doesn't sound 100% resolved whether or not the problem cited means that there are trojaned copies floating around, or if a particular file just causes a false alarm sometimes, but I would proceed with caution.

http://www.bridgebuilder-game.com/cgi-b ... ;f=3;t=146