Hosting an Executable File - Open vs Save to Disk

[meaculpa]

I am trying to host an executable (.exe) file for download from my website running Windows Server 2003. However, a problem occurs when "Open" is selected from the download dialog in IE6 to run the file in place.

On some of my PCs (but not all) and many user PCs, the executable (it's an installer) does not run in place; it downloads but then nothing happens. I have replaced the executable with NOTEPAD.EXE and the same thing happens, it downloads but doesn't run.

I have tried adding various IIS and filesystem permissions. I have tried prefixing the URL with "file:" and other prefixes. I have tried using ASP download scripts that use custom headers to do the download but none of these things fix the problem. I have also done extensive research on Google and USENET but to no avail.

I suspect that I am entirely ignorant of what the real problem is here. If you know what's causing this problem I would very much appreciate your insight. Thanks in advance.

Meaculpa

[Xoc]

Might be that you need to send down the right http header to identify it as an executable, but I'm just guessing.

[choster]

I wouldn't be surprised if this were on the user side. With all the problems with viruses, spyware, dialers, and so on, network administrators may have controls in place to disable the ability to run in place. This is a client issue; changing settings or permissions on the server side has no relation to whether the user can run a download or not. Does the file work when you save-as and run locally? If not, the download might be getting corrupted.