Status Update: Use: <base href="\\c:\temp\resources\" />
Here's the process I used in creating this solution to allow IE8 to use the Base Attribute for local files.
To clarify: This W3C validated solution works for IE7, IE8 and all modern browsers!
**Reference Screenshot:**:
Here you can see that ***IE8 Address Bar*** does not operate like the other modern browsers: The slashes are ***reversed*** and there is no `file:///` protocol seen. However, **IE8** will show the `file:///` protocol in the **Browser's Status Bar** upon page refresh!
![enter image description here]()
Reference Screenshot:
Since IE8 is treating Local Files differently, understanding the IE8 protocol for file:/// is important.
To realize what syntax methods are available, viewing Internet Options (Security Tab) for Local Intranet will give us that info. No changes are actually done here, just the syntax please:
![enter image description here]()
In the above photo, the Local Intranet Window confirms that backslashes are required.
Also, it shows that the file:\\ protocol is associated with this slash syntax. Since file:/// protocol is implied automatically by IE8 (previously mentioned: see Browser's Status Bar and note slashes are rendered correct!!).
Defining this file: protocol in the Base tag is the issue. The solution is not to use a protocol!
**Reference Link 1:** [**Protocol-less URL Scheme:**](http://encosia.com/cripple-the-google-cdns-caching-with-a-single-character/)
> It’s not exactly light reading, but [**section 4.2 of RFC 3986**][3] provides
> for fully qualified URLs that omit protocol (the HTTP or HTTPS)
> altogether. When a URL’s protocol is omitted, the browser uses the
> underlying document’s protocol instead.
**Reference Link 2:** [**Understanding Network Path Reference by Paul Irish:**](http://paulirish.com/2010/the-protocol-relative-url/)
*Of course, if you're viewing the file locally, it'll try to request
the file with the file:// protocol.
The references above explain that using `//` will allow any browser to use the currently known **URL Scheme** when accessing files or assets. Since **IE8** is the game changer, using **`\\`** instead of `//` will work for the Base tag since all browsers will convert/interpret that as the standard `file:///` URL Scheme (*local files implied*), including browser **IE7**!
**Complete HTML Markup | The working DEMO:**
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>Using Base Tag with Local Files IE8 and Modern Browser DEMO</title>
<!-- The name of this file is: test.html -->
<!-- The location of this HTML file on the hard drive is: C:\temp\html\test.html -->
<!-- This unusually constructed Base attribute tag uses two rules to have it work for Locally Hosted IE8 Files that are not server based. -->
<!-- First, the "URL Scheme" is based on "Network Path Reference" which means no Protocol is used. -->
<!-- Second, the "forward slashes" are changed to "back slashes". It's the syntax IE8 actually expects. -->
<!-- This entire method is also friendly for modern browsers showing these local files that are not server based. -->
<base href="\\c:\temp\resources\" />
</head>
<body>
<p>
<!-- The location of this "image.jpg" on the hard drive is at: C:\temp\resources\image.jpg -->
<img src="image.jpg" alt="image" />
</p>
</body>
</html>
