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FIX: "Content-Disposition: Attachment" Fails for Known Content Types

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Article ID:267991
Last Review:May 11, 2006
Revision:4.0
This article was previously published under Q267991
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SYMPTOMS

Despite the "Content-Disposition: attachment" HTTP response header, Internet Explorer does not prompt the user to save the file and instead automatically displays the file in the browser.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Internet Explorer version 5.5. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
276369 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/276369/EN-US/) How to Obtain the Latest Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Internet Explorer version 5.5 Service Pack 1.

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MORE INFORMATION

Not all content types are affected by this bug. Only default content types such as HTML and text files fail to show a File Download dialog box.

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Steps to Reproduce Behavior

The following Active Server Pages (ASP) page reproduces the problem: 
<%@ Language=VBScript %>
<% Response.AddHeader "Content-Disposition", "attachment" %>
This text should not appear in the browser window automatically.
Internet Explorer should prompt the user first with the option to save the file.

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REFERENCES

For more information about developing Web-based solutions for Microsoft Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/)

http://support.microsoft.com/iep (http://support.microsoft.com/iep)

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APPLIES TO
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5

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Keywords: 
kbbug kbfix kbie550sp1fix kbnavigation KB267991

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