FP: HTTP Error 404 Opening Deleted Web

• Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows
• Microsoft FrontPage 97 for Windows with Bonus Pack
• Microsoft FrontPage for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to open a Web in FrontPage Explorer, you receive the following error message:

   HTTP error 404. The server may not have the FrontPage Server
   Extensions installed or may be misconfigured, you may have specified
   an invalid proxy server, or the Web you are accessing may have been
   deleted.

CAUSE

You deleted your Web from File Manager or Windows Explorer instead of from FrontPage Explorer. When you click List Webs in the Open Web dialog box, FrontPage Explorer retrieves the list of Webs from the Services.cnf file located in the <x>:\<webroot>\_vti_pvt folder where <webroot> is the location of the Web server's root content and <x> is the drive where the Web server content resides. This file is updated when you delete your Web using FrontPage Explorer; it is not updated when you use File Manager or Windows Explorer to delete Webs.

RESOLUTION

Method 1: Delete the Web

To delete a Web, click Delete FrontPage Web on the File menu in FrontPage Explorer.

You cannot delete a Web that you cannot open. To work around this situation, create a folder using the same name as the deleted Web in the Content folder, open the Web (it will be empty) in FrontPage Explorer, and then delete the Web.

Method 2: Edit the Services.cnf file

Using a text editor, such as Notepad, edit the Services.cnf file in the <x>:\<webroot>\_vti_pvt folder, where <webroot> is the location of the Web server's root content and <x> is the drive where the Web server content resides, and then remove the line that references the deleted Web path.