[thelist] Free tip - IE download problems
aardvark
roselli at earthlink.net
Fri Feb 2 12:28:45 CST 2001
thanks to michele for one of the links...
have a client who couldn't complete a file download while using IE4
on wintel... no other browser experienced this problem... so, after
some digging (and a post to the list), i found this handy info...
ultimately it's a bug in IE4 and the way it handles some HTTP
headers...
<tip type="browsers">
===========================
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q196/5/05.ASP
The information in this article applies to:
* Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack
1, 5 for Windows 95
* Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows 98
* Microsoft Windows 98
SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to download a Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlm, .xlc,
.xlt), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt), Microsoft Word (.doc, .dot), or
Adobe (.pdf) file from the Internet, you may receive the following
error message:
Internet Explorer could not download <filename> from <Web site>.
The downloaded file is not available. This could be due to your
Security or Language Settings or because the server was unable to
retrieve the requested file.
NOTE: Other extensions may be affected as well.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if the file is located on a computer running
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0 with either of the
following configurations:
On the HTTP Header tab in Default Web Site properties, the
Enable Content Expiration option is set to expire immediately.
On the HTTP Header tab in Default Web Site properties, the
Enable Content Expiration option is set to expire on a past date.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, contact the Web site administrator and
request that the Enable Content Expiration option be changed to
expire on or after a future date.
===========================
http://bugs.apache.org/index.cgi/full/4118
When Internet Explorer receives a "Vary: Host" header, or a "Vary:
*" header, the system will improperly report "file not found". The
exact error message is: "Internet Explorer cannot download from
the Internet site viewer.zip from palm.dahm.com. The downloaded
file is not available. This could be due to your Security or
Language settings or because the server was unable to retrieve the
requested file."
[...]
Mod_rewrite (and others) add the "vary" header, so this could be an
important client issue.
[...]
Server workaround:
Add the following option to the apache config file:
Header unset Vary:
This may have adverse consequences for other proxy servers.
[...]
Another workaround:
A workaround is to add the following to your server's configuration
files:
BrowserMatch "MSIE 4\.0" force-no-vary
(This workaround is only available with releases after 1.3.6 of the
Apache Web server.)
===========================
</tip>
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