"Open File - Security Warning" each time I open WinExplorer on toolbar

Emma, i'm not following what you're recommending in the first paragraph.
I can go to C:\Users\milo\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar
and what I see there is shortcuts to all my toolbar items (including both "mozilla firefox" and "mozilla firefox (2) which is odd since there's only icon that shows up...but that's another story).
But what do you mean about checking my permissions there?
If you're suggesting that I right click the icon for Windows Exploring and select Properties/security on it, then for "System", every option is checked as "Allow" except "Special Permissions". Same permissions for "milo" and "administrators". there's a fourth one called HomeUsers which only has a couple of them checked.



But I just checked the Excel shortcut there (which doesn't give the annoying box) and the permissions are exactly the same for that one so likely those permissions are good, I'd guess.

good thought, but I just checked each folder (other than "milo") and they all have identical permissions: everything but "special permissions", whatever that is.


I've also tried pasting into the Start/Run box each of these:
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=d:\ /offwindir=d:\windows

and just
sfc /scannow


A black DOS box pops up for a fleeting second and disappears immediately.


I also tried opening the command prompt and typing in each of those (pasting doesn't work there, I found).
In both cases, DOS came back saying:


You must be an administrator running a console session in order to access the sfc utility

Hello again @miloshapiro. In order to utilize DISM.exe and sfc /scannow or sfc /scannow /offbootdir=d:\ /offwindir=d:\windows please navigate to Command Prompt, right-click it and select "Run as administrator" to start Command Prompt in an administrator console session. Also, if sfc /scannow doesn't work in Command Prompt, try PowerShell as an administrator. But before you do that, please start Command Prompt as an administrator like I mentioned before.

Another thing of note is that some things aren't applicable to your OS/OS edition or certain settings are blocking you from utilizing the command or the specific parameters, so please try the other DISM.exe commands as well [ DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth, DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth, DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth .]

Hope this helps, hope your issue gets resolved,
Emma Yazz Aza

"You must be an administrator running a console session in order to access the sfc utility"
Find Command Prompt (Start - all programs - Accessories - Command Prompt) RIGHT click - Run as Administrator
The CMD window will open with administrator rights. Type:
sfc /scannow

With the "run as admin", that worked. But as you can see in the image, it didn't reveal anything helpful. Not sure whether to be glad it found no problems or bummed that it didn't help solve this.

Would you try right clicking on the desktop icon and selecting "run as administrator?"

Sure. If i right click on the desktop icon and do RunAsAdministrator, instead of what I keep calling the "annoying box" (hereforward the A-box), i get the image below. When I agree on that, it opens Exploring. But having done that doesn't change anything. The icon on the toolbar still gives me the A-box and the next time I try the RunAs option, it asks the same thing.

Did you open the "Change when these notification appear"?

Sorry, but are you talking about way back at the 9th post in this long stream (the fifth one by me personally), where I explained where I have that slider now and what the lowest one warned against? I didn't move it down to the last one because, after describing the two lowest options (of which i was on the second-to-lowest), I didn't hear back that that sounded like the right thing to do and I didn't know if there were scarier implications of that which could leave me vulnerable.
~
If that's not what you're referencing, I need a little clarity, thanks. There's been so many varied advice so far.