Unable to open secure websites (https) in Internet Explorer

A user is unable to open secure (https://) websites in Internet Explorer. When attempting to view any secure webpage, the user receives "This page cannot be displayed."

Most secure websites use 128-bit encryption. In order to view https pages, IE must therefore be using 128-bit security. Verify that your browser supports this under Help -> About Internet Explorer and check that Cipher Strength is set to 128-bit.

Next, ensure SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 are enabled in your browser settings. Click Tools -> Internet Options... -> Advanced tab. Find Use SSL 2.0 and Use SSL 3.0 and ensure both are checked.

This issue may also be caused if a user who previously had local Administrator rights has them removed. One solution is to re-create a new user profile, which will reset all permissions to the appropriate level. If you don't want to go through this trouble, you could also try resetting the permissions on the user's registry hive (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) to give the user Full Control permission over his/her registry hive:

Login as a user with local Administrator rights, other than the affected user.
Start REGEDT32 (Windows NT/2000) or REGEDIT (Windows XP/2003).
Load the registry hive from the affected user's profile: C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\NTUSER.DAT by default.
Browse to the loaded hive and modify the permissions to Full Control for the affected user. The user may already have these permissions set, in which case it is necessary to force the permissions onto the tree again as detailed below.
To ensure the permissions have take effect, I recommend force-propagating the permissions down. Advanced -> check the "Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects." -> Click OK.

Remember to unload the user's registry hive when finished!

Other solutions include:

Ensure your computer date and time are set correctly. this TechByte contains a list of a few authoritative time servers on the Internet.
Clear your web browser cache (Tools -> Internet Options... -> Delete Files -> Delete all content).
Add the Secure Site to your list of trusted sites.
Clear the SSL State (Tools -> Internet Options... -> Content tab -> Clear SSL State).

Full details on some of the suggestions above, and numerous other suggestions can be found in Microsoft support article 813444.

Author: ASAK
Created: Sep 20 2005 (last modified Oct 26 2007)
Categories: Internet Explorer
TechByte #23

Warning: By visiting this site and/or by using any information contained herein, you agree to the Techbytes.ca terms of use.

Comment posted by 'joe' on Oct 25 2007 @ 17:39:03
it states above: # Load the registry hive from the affected user's profile: C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\NTUSER.DAT by default. # Browse to the loaded hive and modify the permissions 1) you use the word "hive" couple times. I looked up the word and it has no connotation that could be applied here. What the hell are you trying to say? 2)with regedit open, how / what do you "load"? with regedit you can Import but that's it. And you can ONLY import a .reg file - not a .dat file so what are you trying to say? These directions are useless....
Comment posted by 'ASAK' on Oct 26 2007 @ 15:57:33
Hi Joe, "registry hive" is the correct term -- enter "load registry hive" into your favourite search engine and read up on it. You probably shouldn't be playing with the registry if you don't know how it works, anyway. I will link to the "Loading an offline registry file" TechByte as that might help others.
Comment posted by 'Milind' on May 1 2008 @ 23:46:08
Hi ASAK, Thanks for your post was very useful saved me heaps of time researching... Thanks Milind