How to prevent an account from downloading in Windows 7

Question

Is there a way to prevent accounts from downloading files in Windows 7?

Solution

Yes and No.

You can prevent this in Internet Explorer by going to Control Panel or Tools menu, then Internet Options.

Go to the Security Tab and under Internet choose Custom Level.

From here, you can disable File Download

However, this can easily be overwritten by someone who knows what they are doing, you may want to consider locking down the machine through Group Policy if on a domain or the Local Security policy otherwise.

Comments

[Svante]

Happy to accept Wil's answer below as I am happy to have only Internet Explorer on the machine.

[Svante]

Update: have just found that Windows Live Family Safety lets you block downloads for accounts that it monitors.

[Svante]

Thanks Wil, that would be just perfect. How could I prevent this being overwritten using Local Security Policy?

[William Hilsum]

@Sean Kearon - without the whole user being locked down, it will still be possible to overwrite this restriction, however, the easiest guide I can show you is this - malektips.com/internet_explorer_7_0037.html

[Svante]

Wil - you're a star, much appreciated :)