Can't display PDF from HTTPS in IE 8 (on 64-bit Vista)

internet-explorer pdf internet-explorer-8 https 64-bit
DougN picture DougN · Jun 24, 2009 · Viewed 66k times · Source

I have a home-grown HTTPS server that serves up simple files (it's embedded within my app). It works great -- been using it forever.

Recently added SSL support -- Chrome, FireFox and IE all like it and load pages just fine.

The problem I find is when I try to load a PDF file over the HTTPS connection. For some reason, the PDF never displays in IE 8 (64-bit on 64-bit Vista). It works fine in Chrome. And it works fine in IE 8 when using plain HTTP -- only fails when using HTTPS.

NOTE: When IE 8 is mentioned, it's 32-bit IE 8 on 64-bit Vista, although the 64-bit IE 8 has the same behavior.

That makes me think it's some sort of IE 8/HTTPS/PDF/64-bit OS issue, but I'm not sure.

DebugBar for IE 8 shows the request and response went exactly as expected -- no errors at all. IE 8 doesn't show any errors or anything -- pure white screen (or the page that was displayed before I tried to load the PDF). Cleared cache/cookies/etc.

Are there any known issues with IE/PDF/HTTPS?

Answer

DougN picture DougN · Oct 29, 2009

Thought I'd come back and give the final answer.

Thank you to everyone that suggested "Do not save encrypted pages to disk".

I followed EricLaw's advice and set:

Cache-Control: private

I also found that I had Pragma: no-cache, which I removed.

Works like a charm now :)

Related questions

z-index does not work in Internet Explorer with pdf in iframe

I cannot get z-index working on a iframe that contains a pdf file with IE8. It works with Google Chrome. Example (JSFiddle): HTML <div id="div-text"> <div id="shouldBeOnTop">my text that should be on top&…

Read More
IE11 - Crystal Reports - PrintMode ActiveX now displaying PDF prompt (instead of printer prompt)?

I've noticed this recently, and I don't remember it being this way: Those familiar with Crystal, will be familiar with the Crystal Report Viewer and the toolbar: When I press the print button I get this: That's the prompt you …

Read More
Hide scroll bar, but while still being able to scroll

I want to be able to scroll through the whole page, but without the scrollbar being shown. In Google Chrome it's: ::-webkit-scrollbar { display: none; } But Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer don't seem to work like that. I also tried this …

Read More