Troubleshooting Automatic Browser Configuration Problems

ID: Q192472

The information in this article applies to:
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) Profile Manager is used to modify .ins (Internet setup) files. This article describes troubleshooting steps to perform when settings in the .ins file do not take effect on users' computers.

It is possible that some settings, such as the proxy server or home page, take effect, but others, such as restrictions or channel settings, do not.


MORE INFORMATION

Is Automatic Configuration Enabled?



  1. In Internet Explorer on the user's computer, on the View menu, click Internet Options.


  2. Click the Connection tab, and then click the Configure button.


  3. Verify that the URL uses the HTTP protocol and points to an .ins file. By default, the file name is Install.ins. In the example below, replacing <server> and <path> with the values for your system and assuming the default name of Install.ins, the correct syntax for the URL is: http://<server/< path>/install.ins. NOTE: FTP, HTTPS, and UNC (universal naming convention) protocols cannot be used, and the file name extension must be .ins.


Does Authentication Work? (Test Using Anonymous Access)



Verify that authentication is working properly between Internet Explorer and the Web server by testing whether Anonymous Access, with Read permission on the .ins file, works properly. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. Start the Internet Service Manager (ISM), which loads the Internet Information Server (IIS) snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).


  2. Right-click the folder that contains the .ins file, and then click Properties.


  3. On the Directory tab, under Access Permissions, verify that Read is selected.


  4. Click the Directory Security tab. Under "Anonymous Access and Authentication Control", click Edit. Verify that Allow Anonymous Access is selected. Return to the MMC. NOTE: Automatic configuration also works with Windows NT Challenge Response (also known as NTLM) authentication in Internet Explorer 4.01. Testing with Anonymous Access first verifies that Internet Explorer and the Web server are communicating properly.


Have the .Cab Files Been Copied to the Correct URL?



When the .ins file is saved by Profile Manager, one, two, or three .cab files are also created. These .cab files are automatically placed in the same folder as the .ins file, not in the location specified by the "URL Path of CAB Files:" text box in Profile Manager's "Save As" dialog box. You must manually copy or FTP the .cab files to the location on the Web server that is specified by the "URL Path of CAB Files:" text box.

NOTE: The URL specified in the "URL Path of CAB Files:" text box is written to the .ins file so that users' systems will know where to locate the .cab files. Again, it does not determine where the .cab files are saved in Profile Manager.

Are .Cab Files Signed and Downloadable?



Are the automatic configuration .cab files signed, and does the Security Zone setting in the browser allow the .cab files to be downloaded? By default, the security settings do not allow unsigned .cab files to be downloaded.

It is recommended that all .cab files be signed, particularly those distributed by Internet Server Providers (ISPs).

However, corporate administrators may not want to purchase a digital certificate to sign .cab files with, particularly on a (secure and local) intranet site. In that case, all users' Internet Explorer systems need to have the security settings modified so that they can download unsigned .cab files. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. In Internet Explorer on the user's computer, on the View menu, click Internet Options. Then click the Security tab.


  2. In the Zone list, select the appropriate Zone (typically "Local intranet zone"). NOTE: Even if the Web server that contains the .ins file is on the corporate intranet, Internet Explorer may still consider it to be an external Internet site. The host name of the Web server and the proxy settings of the browser determine this. If the host name contains periods, such as http://server.domain.com/test.i ns, and the domain is not in the local exceptions list, Internet Explorer considers it to be an Internet site, even if it is physically on the local intranet.


  3. Select the "Custom (for expert users)" check box, and then click the Settings button.


  4. Under the "Download unsigned ActiveX controls" item, click Enabled.


  5. Click OK twice, and then close Internet Explorer. NOTE: Restart the computer if Active Desktop is installed.


Verifying That .Cab Files Are Copied:

To verify that the .cab files are being copied to the user's computer, delete the cache (temporary Internet files) and then check whether the .ins file and .cab files are reloaded. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. In Internet Explorer, on the View menu, click Internet Options.


  2. On the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click the Delete Files button.


  3. Click the Settings button, and then click the View Files button to open a window displaying the contents of the Temporary Internet Files folder.


  4. Leaving the Temporary Internet Files folder open, close Internet Explorer's Internet Options dialog box, and then close Internet Explorer.


  5. On the folder window, on the View menu, click Refresh. Now verify that the folder does not contain any .ins or .cab files.


  6. Restart Internet Explorer.


  7. On the folder window, on the View menu, click Refresh. Now verify that the folder contains an .ins file and at least one .cab file (Default_config.cab).


Does the [Custom Branding] Section List the Correct .Cab File URLs?



Changes made to the "URL Path of CAB Files" setting when saving an .ins file in Profile Manager are NOT written to the [Custom Branding] section of the .ins file.

To work around this, open the .ins file with Notepad and modify the URLs for the .cab files in the [Custom Branding] section.

Is the IEAK Version Listed in User's Registry Less Than .Ins' Version?



Verify that the version listed in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\IEAK\CabVersions\Branding subkey on the user's computer is less than the version listed at the end of the "Branding=" line in the .ins file. If it isn't, the .cab file will not be processed by the user's system.

In the .ins file, the version for the .cab file is listed in the "Branding=" line (in the [Custom Branding] section). For example, the version in the following example is "1998.08.04.03": 


   Branding=<LINK TYPE="GENERIC"
VALUE="http://&lt;server&gt;/cie/dist/Default_config.cab,1998.08.04.03,-
1,">http://&lt;server&gt;/cie/dist/Default_config.cab,1998.08.04.03,-
1,</LINK>


NOTE: The version listed in the .ins file is not incremented by Profile Manager until that .ins file is closed (either by opening a new .ins file or quitting Profile Manager).

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to use the Registry Editor, view the Help in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe). Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To see what version is listed in the registry, use the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe or Regedit.exe) to locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\IEAK\CabVersions\Branding subkey, and then view the Version value.

Is the .Ins Extension in Lowercase?



Make sure that the .ins file name extension on the Web server uses lowercase letters. If it has any uppercase letters (for example, install.Ins) it will not be read, even though it will still be downloaded into the Internet Explorer cache.


REFERENCES

For more information, see the Chapter4.doc file (Chapter 4: Automatic Browser Configuration), located in the "\IEAK\deployment guide" folder.

Additional query words: 


Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0,4.01,4.01a
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto kbinfo

Last Reviewed: August 8, 1999