comment on

As far as I remember, the stupid "friendly" error pages from MSIE are activated whenever the server returns an HTTP status code indicating an error AND the content of the error document from the server is less than about 1 kByte. Adding a padding HTML comment of about 1 kByte is sufficient to disable this nonsense. Something like this:

<!-- 
padding to prevent "friendly" error pages in ancient MSIEs
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+XXXXXXX
-->
[download]

Stackoverflow has a nice info box in an answer, quoting Microsoft:

What makes IE decide to show a friendly error page?

The answer is that the server’s response must meet two criteria:

The HTTP Status code must be 400, 403, 404, 405, 406, 408, 409, 410, 500, 501, 505

The HTTP Response body’s byte length must be shorter than a threshold value

The byte length thresholds are stored in the registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE under the subkey \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\ErrorThresholds.

403, 405, 410: 256 bytes

400, 404, 406, 408, 409, 500, 501, 505: 512 bytes

otherwise: 512 bytes

So, with a padding to at least 1 kByte message body, you should be on the safe side.

Alexander

--
Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)

In reply to Re^2: Own error-page with CGI.pm instead of "Friendly HTTP Error" in Internet-Explorer by afoken
in thread Own error-page with CGI.pm instead of "Friendly HTTP Error" in Internet-Explorer by LanX

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