Internet Explorer 6 does not display XHTML strict Web pages correctly

Consider the following scenario:

• You develop a Web page that uses Gzip HTTP compression or Deflate HTTP compression.
• The Web page is hosted on a server that uses Gzip or Deflate compression.
• You use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 to browse the XHTML strict Web pages on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).

In this scenario, Internet Explorer does not display the XHTML strict Web pages correctly.

This problem occurs if one or more of the following conditions are true:

• The size of the HTTP header is too large.
• The computer's workload is high.

This problem occurs because, when Gzip or Deflate compression is used by Internet Explorer 6 on a Windows XP SP2-based computer, Internet Explorer 6 may try to determine the MIME type of an XHTML document before Internet Explorer 6 receives enough data to distinguish between XML and XHTML.

If the first chunk of body content that Internet Explorer 6 receives contains only XML content, the MIME determination may report that the document is "text/xml" instead of "text/html." Therefore, Internet Explorer does not display the XHTML page correctly.

Security update information

To resolve this problem, install the most current cumulative security update for Internet Explorer. To install the most current updates, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more technical information about the most current cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note This fix was first included in security update 947864 (MS08-024). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix information

Prerequisites

You must have Windows XP SP2 installed on the computer.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

Registry information

After you apply this hotfix, you must enable the hotfix. To do this, follow these steps.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
4. Type the following name, and then press ENTER:
   FEATURE_COMPRESSED_XHTML_USE_CONTENT_TYPE_KB947195
5. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type iexplore.exe, and then press ENTER.
   
   Note If you want to enable an application other than Internet Explorer to use this hotfix, type the application name instead of "iexplore.exe."
7. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
8. Type 1, and then click OK.
9. Exit Registry Editor.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Windows XP with SP2, x86-based versions

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about XHTML, visit the following Web sites: For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: