Event 1061 - Application Protocol
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista
The Application Protocol Handler Dialog security feature protects users from accidentally running an application with dangerous content. Before starting an application that is registered to handle an application protocol, Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 will display a dialog box to the user. The user must confirm that he or she intended to start the application.
What Is A Protocol?
In the context of this security feature, the protocol is referenced by the prefix of the URL. For example:
https://microsoft.com. References the HTTP protocol.
javascript:alert('hello world'). References the JavaScript protocol.
For Internet Explorer 8, developers can register their own application to a URL protocol, which enables the application to have a new URL. For more information, see Registering an Application to a URL Protocol.
When Is This Event Logged?
This event is logged when an application that is registered to a URL protocol attempts to start. Note that binary protocol-registered handlers, such as http:, https:, file:, mk:, ms-help:, and ftp: will not be logged, because the information is being read by the computer instead of presented to the user.
Note
For more information and examples, see the Event 1061-Application Protocol topic from Internet Explorer Application Compatibility.
Remediation
To avoid the dialog box prompt, the user can clear the Always ask before opening this address check box, which appears on the first prompt. Clearing that check box results in the dialog box no longer appearing. However, the event will still be logged each time you start the registered application, regardless of whether the dialog box appears.