Installed the Framework 1.1 SDK with samples on Windows 2003 Server (AMD x64 edition). The sample Windows Forms Control in Internet Explorer located at:-

http://localhost/quickstart/winforms/doc/WinFormsIeSourcing.aspx

which links to the test page:-

http://localhost/quickstart/winforms/Samples/IeSourcing/VB/IESourcing.htm

shows a white rectangle with a red cross in it. I tried both the 32-bit Internet Explorer and the 64-bit versions with the same results.

FusLogVw.exe shows a completely empty listbox -- no errors. What a useless program!

However, when I connect to this sample from a Windows2003 Server(x86 edition)PC across the LAN the control renders correctly! Of course the URL then becomes:-

http://<server>/quickstart/winforms/Samples/IeSourcing/VB/IESourcing.htm

Why does fusion not work on AMD x64?

Why does FusLogVw.exe not show any errors?

The only other software on the server is

• Visual Studio .NET 2003
• Windows Server 2003 Platform SDK
• Microsoft Office 2003 with Frontpage 2003

Is any one of the above responsible for breaking fusion in IE?

Good analysis thus far. One clarification, fusion is acutally the name for a piece of the runtimes loader logic. It is not specific to internet explorer scenarios.

Since this is working as expected on WinXP X64, but not on Win2K3 X64, I can only think of 2 possibilities.

#1 - Do you have V1.1 SP1 installed? Due to DEP/NX issues, the control may not work as expected.

#2 - Do you have the IE security lock down settings enabled on your Win2K3 box? These IE enhancements may be blocking the control from loading.

Give this a try and let us know how that goes.

Jeff

I have posted this question on other forums too and no responses yet, just somerequests to clarify the question...

So, for those who don't know what "fusion" is, it is what Microsoft calls the process when Internet Explorer loads a .NET Windows Forms usercontrol and displays it on a web page. Prior to the .NET Framework we used to have to write ActiveX controls to enhance the browser and provide a richer UI. But the new .NET control librariesare faster (to download because they are smaller), more secure, etc. etc.

FUSLOGVW.EXE is a log display tool provided in the Framework SDK. Normally on an x86 platform, this tool works quite well and it displays in-depth log information about how the .NET runtime locates and binds assemblies prior to execution. This can help you find out why the fusion process failed.

On x86 platforms Internet Explorer 6 will also create an HTML file called "?FusionBindError!...." in the Temporary Internet Files folder which gives similar information when a binding error occurs, which results in a white rectangle with a red cross in the upper left corner where the control should be.

However, on Windows 2003 x64 there is no log created at all anywhere. It just doesn't work. I have tested this on AMD Athlon 64 as well as Intel Xeon EM64T, but I don't have Intel IA64 to test on, so I don't know if this is something Microsoft purposly left out of the 64-bit versions of Windows.

A further complication; it works on Windows XP x64 (AMD) in both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 but not on Windows 2003 x64 neither AMD nor EM64T, and neither 32-bit nor 64-bit Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1.

I'm hoping someone will tell me there is a simple registry setting somewhere which turns Fusion on or off andwhich is set to "off" by default on Windows 2003 x64... Anyone?

Good analysis thus far. One clarification, fusion is acutally the name for a piece of the runtimes loader logic. It is not specific to internet explorer scenarios.

Since this is working as expected on WinXP X64, but not on Win2K3 X64, I can only think of 2 possibilities.

#1 - Do you have V1.1 SP1 installed? Due to DEP/NX issues, the control may not work as expected.

#2 - Do you have the IE security lock down settings enabled on your Win2K3 box? These IE enhancements may be blocking the control from loading.

Give this a try and let us know how that goes.

Jeff