A couple of days ago Windows suddenly stopped asking me whether it should save or open download zip files. Instead it was just sticking them into the "temporary internet files" storage and then attempting to open them with Winzip.

This was frustrating on a few levels. One was that I couldn't control where the file was being stored until after it had been openned in Winzip. Another was that Winzip couldn't always open them from temp storage to start with -- for example, a .gz file couldn't be openned because Winzip couldn't figure out where to put the temp directory it needed to make. Once it got opened I couldn't do a "save as" without some goosing around issues of the "file already being opened by".... and so on.

Apparently I or some "helpful" website had changed the settings for all Winzip file types so that I was no longer asked before the file was given to Winzip to open.

The fix is this:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window and to to the "folder options" on the Tools menu.
2. Select the "File Typles" tab and
3. scroll down to any "Winzip" file type.
4. Click the "Advance" options button.
5. Check the "Confirm Open after download" checkbox.
6. "OK" all the way out.

That should fix the problem for all your Winzip file types and you will once again be asked what to do with your files before they are downloaded. (*whew*)