Internet Explorer changing dots to underscores when downloading files

Internet Explorer changing dots to underscores when downloading files

There are some settings in IE that can cause IE to change the name of a file being downloaded from a website.  Typically if a file contains more than one dot in the name then depending on the settings, it may get changed to an underscore. 

For example my-file.1.2.3.txt  has more than one dot in the name.  Depending on the setting it may get saved as my-file_1_2_3_txt

Microsoft has a few settings that can cause this.

Check if Enhanced Protected Mode is checked, if it is uncheck it.
Internet Options> Advanced> Security> Enable Enhanced Protected Mode*

The other setting is the MIME Sniffing.
Internet Options> Security> Internet Zone> Custom Level> Miscellaneous section> Enable MIME sniffing> enable.

Another is - Do not save encrypted pages to disk option.
Internet Options> Advanced> Security> Do not save encrypted pages to disk.


Microsoft also has a Fit IT page for helping to fix common IE problems: http://support2.microsoft.com/mats/ie_performance_and_safety/en-us