I have a WSS Web Application that has been up and running without issue for several months. The only problem that I've had is the inability to use SharePoint Designer since my site uses Forms Authentication.
Yesterday I found a Microsoft TechNet article (Configuring Multpile Authenticaion Providers for SharePoint 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2006/08/16/702010.aspx) explaining how to setup multiple authentication providers by extending a website for different zones. I walked through the steps as best I could, extending my current web application, using the same url with a new port assignment and selecting the Extranet zone. My intention was to have this zone setup with Windows authentication and use this url/port combination with SharePoint Designer.
The configuration failed with the error message "File Not Found". However, when I returned to the web application list, the extended site did appear in the list. There was no corresponding site listed in IIS and my attempts to access the site using the specified url/port failed. As it turned out, I was also unable to access my original site at this point.
So, my next step was to remove the extended web application. I went into Application Management, Remove..., selected my web application and the zone that I added. I made sure to NOT select the radio button to remove the site from IIS.
This worked fine but I still cannot access my site. When I try to navigate to the root url, I receive an HTTP 403 Forbidden error. If I add "/default.aspx" to the url, I get an HTTP 404 Not Found Error.
Looking at IIS, the website is still setup correctly, with all the same settings as before - and exactly the same as another WSS site I have running on the same box which I can still access just fine.
Checking all of the settings in Central Administration, everything looks fine there too. The web application is still defined, all of my settings are correct, etc. But it seems like IIS is not passing control to SharePoint when the request is made or SharePoint is not accepting and handling the request.
I've even gone through and checked the web.config files for both WSS sites and restored a previous back-up with no success.
Ultimately, I went so far as to reinstall ASP.NET 2.0 (both 32 and 64-bit versions, then run the WSS setup again to repair the installation and finally the Configuration Wizard in the hopes that it would reconnect whatever is wrong. It made no difference.
At this point I am stil able to access all of the other WSS sites I have hosted on the server but still cannot get into the most important one! This is a community site with dozens of users who have been posting files and other information for months. I cannot lose all of this. Does anyone have any idea what I need to do or should look at. I am desperate!!!!!
