asp.net - IE 10 - File download issues

Question

I'm trying to download an excel file (generated dynamically using C#ASP.NET) and I get the IE10 View Downloads dialog when I click "Open" it says "abc.xls couldn't be downloaded" error but after clicking "Retry" it opens the .xls file properly in the second try.

When I test this in Firefox or Chrome it works fine.

Answer 1

I think this may explain the strange behaviour:

"Content-Length and Transfer-Encoding Validation in the IE10 Download Manager"

It seems that IE9 beta had introduced content-length and transfer-encoding validation when downloading files, but found it was too problematic since many servers didn't send proper values for these downloads that are processed through code. Apparently they turned it back on in IE10 however and just hoped for the best.

I'd wager that accurate values being sent when the download is started should clear up this problem. Of course, it shouldn't have been a problem to begin with... ai yi yi.

[Edit]

Turns out this problem was related (for me at least) with using Response.Close() and/or Response.End() in code. This article explains why you shouldn't use these 2 methods, and why HttpApplication.CompleteRequest is the method of choice. Changing our Response.End() and Response.Close() instances to HttpApplication.CompleteRequest solved our IE10 download issues. Like magic. Apparently MSDN now discourages use of these 2 methods (despite years of MSDN code examples containing them), and now advocates use of HttpApplication.CompleteRequest instead.

We were always at war with Eurasia...

[/Edit]