Error message when you visit a Web site that is hosted on IIS 7.0: "HTTP Error 404.12 – URL_HAS_HIGH_BIT_CHARS"

You have a Web site that is hosted on Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0. When you visit this Web site, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:This problem occurs when the URL of the Web site contains high-bit characters. For example, you experience this problem when the URL contains Spanish characters or German characters.

This problem occurs because the allowHighBitCharacters property of the requestFiltering XML element has a value of false.

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:

1. Open the ApplicationHost.config file. The ApplicationHost.config file is located in the following folder:
   %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv\Config
2. Locate the requestFiltering XML element.
3. Set the value of the allowHighBitCharacters property to true.