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Error message in Internet Explorer when you click a hyperlink that links to a file whose name contains UTF-8-encoded characters: "The page cannot be displayed"


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Symptoms

Consider the following scenario. You use Windows Internet Explorer to visit a Web page. Then, you click a hyperlink on the Web page. In this scenario, you receive the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed
Additionally, the Address bar may include some incorrect characters.

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:
  • The hyperlink is a uniform resource identifier (URI) that links to a file.
  • The file name contains UTF-8-encoded characters.

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Cause

In the URI, the UTF-8-encoded characters are interpreted as a byte according to the current codepage. The meaning of the UTF-8-encoded characters in non-US-ASCII varies, depending on the locale in which the document is viewed.

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Workaround

To work around this issue, do not use percent-encoded octets to represent non-US-ASCII characters. To represent a non-US-ASCII character, you must use that non-US-ASCII character directly in the encoding of the document in which you write the URI.

For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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Status

This behavior is by design.

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Keywords: KB941052, kbprb, kbexpertiseadvanced

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Article Info
Article ID : 941052
Revision : 3
Created on : 9/28/2011
Published on : 9/28/2011
Exists online : False
Views : 678