Microsoft KB Archive/238960

= PRB: Unable to View Content in MSDN Library =

Article ID: 238960

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition
 * MSDN 2003 Universal Edition

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This article was previously published under Q238960



SYMPTOMS
You are unable to view some or all of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Library content. The errors that you receive vary depending on what version of Internet Explorer you are using. If you are using Internet Explorer 4.0 you may receive the following error:

Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet Site mk:@MSITStore:XXXX The name %1 is not valid.

If you are using Internet Explorer 5 you may receive the following error:

This page cannot be displayed.

Cannot find server or DNS error.



CAUSE
MSDN has been installed to a directory with a pound (#) character in the path.



RESOLUTION
Uninstall MSDN and reinstall it to a path that does not contain a # character in the path.



MORE INFORMATION
If you run MSDN from a shared network installation, the content that is installed to the local computer does not work. But the content that is pulled from the network does.

The # character is a valid character for a file or directory name as far as the file system is concerned. The # character has special meaning in a URL. The MSDN Library creates the URL for a page from the file system path. Thus when you have a # in the file system path, the URL that MSDN Library generates becomes invalid.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

 * 1) Install MSDN to a directory that has a # character in the path.
 * 2) Attempt to browse through the Library content.

