Bypass NTLM auth when using Watir/Selenium to automate testing - ruby

Question

I understand that Watir and Selenium have issues with NTLM auth when trying to login to web pages for testing. My research indicated that there are two normal work around. 1. add the credentials into the URL 2. use an auto auth plugin/extension. I currently don't have the option of using an extension in my environment, though I'm working on that. So, I'm left with passing credentials.
The problem I have is as follows.
Chrome:
In Chrome I pass the credentials manually (as in I type it into the browser directly) as http://password:user#example.com/ and it opens the page, but does not populate the popup. If I try to manually pass it as http://example.com?username=usr&password=password, it populates the auth pop up but does not proceed.
If I try to automate with ruby using the following code all I get is unknown user name and password. I have confrimed that the usr and pwd are correct.
browser.goto("http://example.com?login=usr&password=password")
browser.goto("http://password:usr#example.com/")
IE
IE behaves a bit differently.
In IE I pass the credentials manually as http://password:user#example.com/ and it returns an error that it can't find the page. If I try to manually pass it as http://example.com?username=usr&password=password, it logs in correctly.
If I try to automate with ruby using the following code the first example throws an page can't be found error. The second example opens the page, but does not populate the popup. I have confirmed that the usr and pwd are correct.
browser.goto("http://example.com?login=usr&password=password")
browser.goto("http://password:usr#example.com/")
What am I doing wrong?
My environment is Windows 7 Pro, IE 11 and Chrome 60.
Found an article that indicates MS removed auth in URL. So it makes sense that pwd:usr# doesn't work. Article ID: 834489

Answer 1

Ok, I have found the answer. After discussing it with my company's senior architect, there is no way to access an NTLM Windows authentication form by design. It's literally designed so that it can't be automated that way as a security measure.
The one workaround that he did suggest as a way to deal with the authentication issue is to use something like C# (our standard) and open the browser with the assumption that the user is already logged in. This will completely bypass the authorization pop up rendering the issue null. I'm unclear exactly how to do this, but I hope this provides a useful direction for others.