When you load a remote file contained on an ASP.NET Web server, the server must locate the document on its local system and send it to your computer. Sometimes, when you attempt to load a PDF or other document from such a computer, the server does not transmit the file properly and instead saves it on your computer in the ASHX format.
ASHX File Type
- Files with the extension ASHX are Web loader files that reference another website or object. These files are almost always small and encoded using the C programming language. ASHX files are typically opened using a Web browser; the browser handles the file using Microsoft's ASP.NET Web handling framework and directs you to the appropriate destination file or page.
ASHX Conversion Error
- Several websites that employ ASHX handler files use them to direct Web queries to a desired file for download. When this protocol works properly, the file is renamed on the server side and is then downloaded to your computer. Occasionally, websites don't configure this renaming process properly, and you instead receive the file with an ASHX extension instead of the appropriate file extension. This problem is particularly prevalent when attempting to download Adobe PDF documents from an ASP.NET Web server.
Extension Rename
- If you attempt to download a PDF file and instead receive an ASHX loader file, then you will be unable to open the document by double-clicking on it. The fix for this problem is relatively simple. Hold the Windows logo key and press the R key to open a run command box, then type "explorer" in the box to open a new Windows Explorer file browser. Use the menu tree to navigate to the location where you saved the document in ASHX loader format. Once you locate the file, right-click it and change the file extension from "ASHX" to "PDF." You may also need to rename the primary portion of the file name if the ASP.NET server did not code the name correctly.
Open PDF
- Once you've converted the ASHX loader file to the appropriate PDF file extension then you're ready to open it. Adobe Reader is the application that is primarily associated with viewing PDF files; if you don't have Reader installed on your computer then you can download it for free from get.adobe.com/reader. If you don't want to install Adobe Reader, you can alternately view PDF files in most Web browsers or in certain word processing and graphics applications, like Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop.
