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I'm trying to update a 32 bits IE toolbar to work under Win 8.1 64 bits RTM/IE11.

Without any specific change, my toolbar is seen as "incompatible" by IE11 and is disabled.

I've discovered this is because Enhanced Protected Mode is activated by default on IE11 (I could have been in same situation with Win 8 if EPM was activated in IE10). If I desactivate EMP in IE>Internet Options>Advanced>Security, my toolbar works as expected. But because this option is ie wide (it's applied to every BHO, toolbar and ActiveX), it's not a viable workaround.

I've seen Eric Law's Understanding Enhanced Protected Mode, but I've yet several questions:

  1. Is there a way to deactivate EPM for only one toolbar?
  2. What are the requirements to support EPM?
    • Be registered as CATID_AppContainerCompatible?
    • Have both 32 and 64 bits binaries (is it mandatory)?
    • Use localhost instead of 127.0.0.1 if I need to communicates with already running proces on same machine?
    • Prevent any access to local ressources (file, registry, ...) either in write or in read?
    • What else?

Which constraint will apply to IE11 under Windows 7 (no AppContainer)?

MuiBienCarlota
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  • Did the toolbar work in IE10 on a 64bit build of Windows? The main IE process was 64bit back in IE10 if your OS was 64bit. If that's the case, there is no work around simply because you cannot run 32bit add-ons within the 64bit main process. – TravisO Sep 17 '13 at 19:36
  • @TravisO Yes, My plugin works under Win8/IE10 and Win7/IE10. IE main process is 64 bits/Medium integrity and because my plugin is 32 bits only, it's hosted by a 32 bits/low integrity iexplorer.exe process. This is also what happend in Win8.1/IE11 when I desactivate EMP in IE>Internet Options>Advanced>Security – MuiBienCarlota Sep 20 '13 at 08:41

2 Answers2

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This is by-design, as my blog you cited notes.

  • Yes, you must include both 32bit and 64bit versions of your code when running on 64bit PCs even in a 32bit process.
  • Yes, you must register in the AppContainerCompatible category.
  • All resource ACL'ing restrictions apply (e.g. don't expect READ access to the registry or filesystem).
  • Loopback network connections will always fail
EricLaw
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  • I misread your blog post. I was hoping to be able to communicate from my IE toolbar in an AppContainer to my desktop process. Is there any IPC mechanism to permit it? – MuiBienCarlota Oct 12 '13 at 17:14
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    Yes, if your IPC is ACL'd appropriately. See e.g. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18982221/is-there-a-way-to-create-a-named-pipe-from-an-appcontainer-bho-on-ie11 – EricLaw Oct 13 '13 at 04:02
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8.1 runs browser in 64 bit. You will have to wait until the toolbar programmers release a 64 bit version.

user2850058
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    Thanks but I'm the programmer of this toolbar and make a 64 bits versions is a big job. But it's not true: even in Windows 8.1 64 bits, IE 11 start 32 bits process to be able to load 32 bits components. – MuiBienCarlota Oct 07 '13 at 11:31