Say I want to make ~/404.aspx into my not found page. How do I actually make this happen? I've tried using web.config and by setting custom errors in IIS management snap-in for MMC. But neither works.

I don't think the answer changes if it's old or new ASP. How you code the page is different, but how you make IIS use the page instead of its generic error message is probably the same?

The IIS management console should have worked, but the key is to set it to URL and NOT File.

It's worked every time for me in the past.

I set it to a URL, and set that to /application_name/404.aspx - at least I'm not crazy to think this should work?

Well don't I look silly. Who'da thunk it? You have to restart IIS or at least the web site after setting it. Duh.

or use iisreset in a command prompt


It's only because it is a .aspx script it needs a restart and the .net framework has to compile it.
"classic" asp 404 scripts will just start up.

Weird...I never knew that either. Then again, I don't mess with 404s using ASP.net. Classic ASP, like Hirst said, just works.

You can "bounce" IIS by saving the web.config file, too.

I'm not sure I follow what's going on, though. You should be able to add new pages when you want to, and the next time they're requested, if they haven't already been pre-compiled to a dll, they'll be compiled at that point, and the first request to that page will be slower than it feels like it should be. And then after that, it'll be served by the dll.

It sounds like compilation wasn't your problem, so much as IIS knowing where to route the error? I thought any changes to IIS settings were supposed to take place "on the fly?"

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Weird...I never knew that either. Then again, I don't mess with 404s using ASP.net. Classic ASP, like Hirst said, just works.

It can be terribly annoying at times. Your pages are typically served up from a dll under a folder like "C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\Tem porary ASP.NET Files\web\3af14531\28517a98" ... and occasionally you can get into file locking issues. That's rare, but a pain when it comes up.

It's not as bad as all that. I never had to go looking for dll files under my Windows directory or anything like that.