File Download Dialog Box Appears When You Browse an ASP File (261223)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
This article was previously published under Q261223

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to browse a .asp file, the File Download dialog box is displayed (instead of displaying the .asp file in the browser).

CAUSE

The .asp file has an error in it, which invokes the custom error handler for 500;100 HTTP error messages.

The custom error handler for 500;100 HTTP error messages has been set to open 500-100.asp as a file rather than a URL. Therefore, when Internet Information Services (IIS) encounters the error in the .asp file, it tries to open the file associated with 500;100 error messages instead of browsing it.

It is not apparent to the user that IIS is attempting to open the 500-100.asp file rather than the .asp file that was specified in the browser.

RESOLUTION

Add the folder that contains 500-100.asp file as a virtual directory, and then change the Custom Error page for 500;100 HTTP errors to invoke the 500-100.asp file using a URL instead of a file path. To do this, perform the following:
  1. Start the Internet Service Manager (ISM), which loads the Internet Information Services snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
  2. Right-click the appropriate Web site, click New, and then click Virtual Directory.
  3. In the Virtual Directory Creation Wizard, click Next. In the Alias text box, type IISHelp, and then click Next.
  4. When you are prompted for the path to the content directory, click Browse, select the WINNT\Help\IisHelp folder, and then click Next.
  5. On the Access Permissions page, accept all the defaults, click Next, and then click Finish.
  6. Right-click the Web site again, and then click Properties.
  7. On the Custom Errors tab, select the 500;100 error line, and then click the Edit Properties.
  8. In the Error Mapping Properties dialog box, change File to URL in the Message Type list box, and then type /iisHelp/common/500-100.asp in the URL text box.
  9. Click OK twice to return to the ISM.
(c) Microsoft Corporation 2000, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Kevin Zollman, Microsoft Corporation.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/28/2004
Keywords:kbpending kbprb KB261223
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.