Download of File from IIS 4.0 Fails on IE 4.01 Client

 Last reviewed: March 20, 1998
Article ID: Q181228
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 for Windows NT
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 for Windows 95
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 for Windows 3.1
  • Microsoft Internet Information Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When you connect an Internet Explorer (IE) version 4.01 to a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0, and the IE 4.01 client attempts to download a file from the IIS 4.0 system via a Web page, the download may fail with the following error message: 

   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.

CAUSE

This is specific to IIS 4.0 and IE 4.01. When the Internet Information Server 4.0 computer responds to the IE 4.01 client, the IIS 4.0 system responds with a specific HTTP header response that causes the IE 4.01 client to fail when attempting a file download:

  1. HTTP/1.1 200
2. Cache-control: private 3. application/x-unknown

IIS 4.0 supports HTTP/1.1 200 by default, so it always sends this information to the IE 4.01 client. Also, IIS 4.0 sets the Cache-control directive to private by default. If the requested URL has no associated MIME type, then all three conditions are met, and the IE 4.01 client fails with the error message above.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Internet Explorer 4.01 build 2106. A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information. 

Keywords          : iegeneral iisgeneral
Version           : WINNT: 4.0
Platform          : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type        : kbbug

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Last reviewed: March 20, 1998
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