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Troubleshooting Microsoft FrontPage Errors

Troubleshooting Common Problems with Microsoft FrontPage

The following are common problems and solutions encountered with using Microsoft FrontPage. If you are having a problem not listed here, please feel free to contact support for help. Please note, however, that our ability to support FrontPage usage is extremely limited -- we may have to refer you to Microsoft and/or the FrontPage manual as the appropriate source for assistance with your issue.

Incorrect Password

Your FrontPage password is independent of all your other passwords. More than likely, FrontPage was installed with the same password as your original account password, but not necessarily. If you're getting password errors, just contact support and we'll reset the password for you.

Incorrect Configuration

The most common cause of FrontPage errors is incorrect settings in your FrontPage configuration. Please review the FrontPage instructions at http://www.hostingmanual.net/frontpage to ensure that your setup is correct.

Internal Server Error when Publishing

There are a number of reasons why this error might occur. Usually a re-installation of the extensions will solve the problem. You should contact support when this occurs.

Error - "Root Web Busy"

FTP or Telnet to your site and remove the service.lck file in the /www/_vti_pvt directory. This usually happens when a FrontPage session is interrupted before completion.

Server timing out when publishing large sites.

There are a number of reasons why FrontPage hangs, but the biggest reason is related to the amount of data in your WWW directory, both in file size and in the number of files/directories. The more files/directories and size of data, the longer it will take FrontPage to log in. Large amounts of data or a large number of files or directories can cause FrontPage to severely hang and even timeout. If there are connectivity problems between your ISP and our servers, then this can also lead to FrontPage hanging or even timing out. When you experience this problem, we recommend creating a number of smaller subwebs (or child webs) to break your web site up so it does not take FrontPage as long to run through its configuration or recalculate links.

Error - "Front Page Extensions not Installed"

We often see this error being reported even when the extensions have been installed. If you get this error, please contact support and we'll make sure the extensions are installed and repair them if necessary.

NOTE: The extensions are easily corrupted. Please use only FrontPage Explorer to update your web site on the server. Never use FTP.

I published but my web's not there!

This will happen when the "Destination Web Name" is filled in when publishing to our server. This box should be left blank. If you put any other name in this box it will create a subdirectory off of your root web and copy all of your files into it. Your site will exist under a subdirectory instead of at the top level www directory where it should be.

My counter, bbs, guestbook, etc isn't working.

These problems are generally due to incorrect permissions on either the directory, file(s) or cgi script(s) that are associated with them. Please don't change the permissions of your files or directories unless you have a specific reason for doing so and you know what effect it will have on your site.

My forms won't work through the Secure Server.

The call to a CGI script using the Secure Server must not be within a webbot. Use a normal CGI call in your HTML code for Secure Server calls (e.g., use FormMail or CGIEmail.)

My search bot doesn't return any results.

The www directory must be world readable AND you need to recalculate links BEFORE publishing (or after editing directly on the server). If it still doesn't work: Telnet to the server and go to the /www/_vti_txt/default.wti directory. Delete any files that begin with "ALL". Don't delete any other files. Then using Windows Explorer, do the same thing on your PC. Recalculate links, test locally with your browser and publish.

FP starts the Web Publishing Wizard when I try to publish.

Cancel the operation and contact support to have the FP extensions installed/repaired.

Why is my page renamed on the server when I publish?

The "Default Document" of your web is automatically renamed by the server to what is required by the configuration of the server. For example, if you've named the main page index.html, it may be renamed default.html. Just check the links to your main page to make sure they refer to it the same way.

Form Submission Requires Username and Password

Some accounts have experienced this problem after the FrontPage 2002 Upgrade: When a visitor submits a FrontPage form, an authentication dialogue box pops up requesting a username and password. This occurs when there is no .htaccess file in the www directory. To solve this problem create a file named .htaccess in your www directory with the following contents:

# -FrontPage-

IndexIgnore .htaccess */.??* *~ *# */HEADER* */README* */_vti*

<Limit GET POST>
order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from all
</Limit>
<Limit PUT DELETE>
order deny,allow
deny from all
</Limit>
AuthName www.yourdomain.com
AuthUserFile /www/yourdomain/_vti_pvt/service.pwd
AuthGroupFile /www/yourdomain/_vti_pvt/service.grp


Be sure to replace yourdomain.com with your domain name, and yourdomain with your FrontPage username.

NOTE: If you are using FrontPage, you should NEVER use regular FTP to upload your files. This will damage the extensions. Stick with one or the other all the time.