Digest Authentication Not Supported When You Use Web Folders to Connect to WebDAV-Enabled Folders (321932)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office 2000
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows NT 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 for Windows NT 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows NT 4.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows 98
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 for Windows 98
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows 98
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 for Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Office XP
  • Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001, when used with:
    • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
  • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
This article was previously published under Q321932

SYMPTOMS

When you access a Web folder through Internet Explorer, through Microsoft Office 2000 and later applications, or through My Network Places, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:
Internet Explorer could not open http://WebSiteName as a Web folder. Would you like to see its default view instead?
-or-

You are prompted three times for a user name and password, and you then receive the following error message:
Access Denied

CAUSE

These errors can occur if a virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 that is accessed as a Web folder requires Digest authentication.

Web folders do not support Digest authentication. This includes Web folders that are installed with Internet Explorer versions 5.0, 5.1, and 5.5, and the Web folder capability that comes with Office 2000, Office XP, and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server.

RESOLUTION

When you use Web folders to connect to an IIS 5.0 virtual directory, you can use Anonymous, Basic, or Integrated authentication methods. For security purposes, you may want to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) when you use Anonymous or Basic authentication. For more information about implementing SSL, see the "More Information" section.

WORKAROUND

Downloading Files

To download files by using HTTP, you can turn on directory browsing on a Web site or virtual directory through the Internet Services Manager (ISM). This way, clients can select Save File As from their browser. To do this:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then point to Administrative Tools.
  2. Click Internet Services Manager.
  3. In the ISM, right-click the Web site or virtual directory that you want, and then click Properties.
  4. On the Home Directory tab or the Virtual Directory tab, click to select the Directory browsing check box.
  5. Click OK.

Uploading Files

For additional information about upload methods that do not require Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE), click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

299692 HOW TO: Upload Files to a Web Server Using ASP

300469 HOW TO: Use Internet Publishing Provider to Upload Files in IIS

For additional information about upload methods that require FPSE, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

299763 HOW TO: Upload Files to a Web Server by Using FrontPage 2002

NOTE: When you use Microsoft FrontPage, you must both use Digest authentication and allow FrontPage Anonymous access to some files for other operations.

For additional information about how to enable Anonymous access for FrontPage operations, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

291373 FP: Repeated Prompts for User Name/Password Using Digest Authentication with IIS

MORE INFORMATION

IIS 5.0 and later supports Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV), the HTTP 1.1 extension that is the protocol that is used for Web folders. WebDAV functionality can also be blocked by URLScan which can be installed through the IIS Lockdown tool.

For more information about the IIS Lockdown tool (version 2.1), visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/tools/locktool.asp

REFERENCES

For additional information about URLScan, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

326444 HOW TO: Configure the URLScan Tool

For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

299875 HOW TO: Implement SSL on a Windows 2000 IIS 5.0 Computer

298637 No Option to Install Web Folders When You Install Internet Explorer 6

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/28/2004
Keywords:kbpending kbprb KB321932
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