FP2000: Cannot Open Local Web Server with FrontPage 98 After Installing FrontPage 2000

After you install FrontPage 2000 while FrontPage 98 remains on the computer, the following error message may appear when you attempt to open a web using FrontPage 98 from your local web server:

The local web server, FrontPage Personal Web Server, is not started by FrontPage 98 client software after you install FrontPage 2000.

FrontPage 98 uses the Frontpg.ini file in the <Windows> directory to ensure that the FrontPage Server Extensions are installed on the local web server. However, FrontPage 2000 moves the FrontPage Server Extension information from the Frontpg.ini file to the registry and removes the .ini file.

After the .ini file is removed, FrontPage 98 is no longer able to auto-start FrontPage Personal Web Server.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Manually Start the Web Server

To manually start FrontPage Personal Web Server in Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0, follow these steps:

1. On the Windows Start menu, point to Find, and click Files or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type vhttpd32.exe.
3. Click to select Local Hard Drives (C; D; E;) in the Look in list.
4. Click Find Now.
5. After the search has found the file, double-click vhttpd32.exe.
6. Close the Find: All Files dialog box, and start FrontPage 98.
7. Using FrontPage 98, open the web from the local web server.

To manually start FrontPage Personal Web Server in Windows 2000, follow these steps:

1. On the Windows Start menu, point to Search, and click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files or folders named box, type vhttpd32.exe.
3. Click to select Local Harddrives (C; D; E;) in the Look in list.
4. Click Search Now.
5. After the search has found the file, double-click vhttpd32.exe.
6. Close the Search Results dialog box, and start FrontPage 98.
7. Using FrontPage 98, open the web from the local web server.

Method 2: Use FrontPage 2000 to Start the Web Server

To start the web server from FrontPage 2000, follow these steps:

1. Start FrontPage 2000.
2. On the File menu, click Open Web.
3. Open the web from your local web server.

This auto-starts the web server and opens the web. You can close the web and reopen it with FrontPage 98.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.