Greetings Experts,
I have a problem I don't want to deal with: I cannot access virtual directories on IIS. This problems presents itself in the form of: user credential problems, authorization problems (the infamous "you are not authorized to view this page") or page cannot be displayed (HTTP 500). Whatever message I receive, the end result is I can't use IIS for web develpment on my XP Pro home computer because I can't get the localhost to work.
When I first started with EE, this was one of the first questions I asked and you can read the entire exchange here:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Server_Software/Web_Servers/Microsoft_IIS/Q_23202301.htmlThe end result of it was the Expert figured I must have "sort some kind of system fault - corrupt data, mismatched component versions, missing binaries." Other than doing a clean install of my entire operating system, he suggested the following as possible 2nd to last resort:
1) uninstall IIS
2) reinstall IIS
3) reinstall SP2
4) install latest asp.net from
www.asp.net site
5) visit windowsupdate and apply all patches
Truth is, I want to avoid this if at all possible at least for the reason that I am not well versed doing such system revisions; I know these things have nuances and pitfalls that if not accounted for can put a person like me in OS hell. Additionally, I am puzzled that if had such a corruption on a deep level of the OS that I wouldn't be seeing something more obviously "wrong" e.g. an error window, IIS having to shutdown, etc, etc. The fact is, IIS installs and launches without any problem at all -- even creating the virtual domain is painless -- it just wont' allow me to access the localhost!
So this question is my request for another look: I ask for an expert (ANY expert) to reexamine this issue with me and by that I mean: review my original question and it's resolution (see link to it above) and see if there isn't another angle to approach this from so that I can get IIS working properly. If we can't get it working then my second goal would be to narrow down the specific cause of the problem so that any corrective action I need to take can be as precise as possible.
Sounds like a tall order I know and it may be that the answer I originally received is the best I'm going to get on this issue (I see that I had the two top guys in this area working on it originally). Nevertheless, I'm hoping there is a brave soul out there that will take up this question and hopefully lead me to a solution allowing me to use IIS like every other normal human being! : ^ )
