Is there any way to set Windows to by default deny execution of all programs, until the user confirms each one?
When you download a program with IE, the first time you run it you get a message box with publisher information and it asks you if you really want to run the program. There is a tick box to remember your choice.
If you could make this action the default for all programs, installed via CD, via downloads in Firefox or whatever, it would make it much harder for viruses and spyware to get in.
I search on Google and in the MS knowledge base but there does not seem to be a way of doing it. IE must do something special to the files it downloads.