File Upload May Not Work with File Upload Add-On

ID: Q169546

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 for Windows NT 4.0
Microsoft Internet Information Server versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0

NOTE: This article applies only to Internet Explorer 3.02 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 with the File Upload Add-On installed. For information about the availability of this add-on, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q165287 Description of Internet Explorer 3.02 File Upload Add-On

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following error message when you attempt to upload a file using a form on a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) Web page:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://<site>/.
The connection with the server was reset.

where <site> is the location of the file upload script on the IIS server.

CAUSE

This error message can occur if Windows NT Challenge\Response (NTLM) authentication is enabled on the IIS server and Basic authentication is either enabled or disabled.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, disable NTLM authentication on the IIS server and enable Basic authentication if it is not already enabled. Note that Basic authentication sends passwords as clear text (unlike NTLM, which uses password encryption), and prompts you for authentication information when you connect to the server.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 for 32-bit platforms running on Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95.

A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.

MORE INFORMATION

If an IIS server reports that NTLM is enabled, it is used as Internet Explorer's preferred authentication method. However, if NTLM is enabled when you attempt to upload a file to the IIS server, authentication does not succeed and the file is not uploaded. If the IIS server reports that only Basic authentication is enabled, the file upload works correctly using the File Upload Add-On.

The ability to upload data files using an HTML form is possible under the Request For Comments (RFC) 1867 specification. RFC 1867 proposes a method in which data files can be submitted through an HTML form. For more information about RFC 1867 support in Internet Explorer, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q161395 Form-Based File Upload Support in Internet Explorer

This problem does not occur with Internet Explorer 3.02a for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbtool msiew95 msient
Version : WINDOWS:3.02; winnt:1.0,2.0,3.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type :