PRB: Visual InterDev Cannot Connect to PWS or Share (167661)

RESOLUTION

NOTE: The following workarounds will not work in all cases due to the complexity and possible variations in Network configurations for any given machine. Therefore, consult the appropriate documentation for your operating system or your Network Administrator or contact Windows 95 Networking customer support.

Possible workarounds are listed below.

Workaround 1

Because the Web Server requires an active network connection, one solution is to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) before attempting to view documents shared on the Web Server. This resolves the problem because the ISP provides the Domain Name Resolution service that the Web Server requires.

Workaround 2

If Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.01 or later is being used, connect to http://localhost. This initializes the TCP/IP stack and connects the browser to the home page on the local computer. The browser will then be able to access documents shared on the Web Server using the computer name instead of "localhost." If Internet Explorer is closed, the above steps must be repeated to access documents shared on the Web Server.

Workaround 3

Use the HOSTS file to resolve the local machine name to the default IP Loopback address (127.0.0.1). The HOSTS file is used as a local Domain Name System (DNS) equivalent to resolve host names to IP addresses. The "Hosts.sam" file, located in the Windows directory (or the WinNT\System32\Drivers\Etc directory for Windows NT Workstation and NT Server), shows an example of the entries that need to be made and can be used as a template. To edit the "Hosts.sam" file, open it in Notepad and replace word "Localhost" with the local machine's name. Because entries are case-sensitive, it is a good idea to assign multiple host names with different cases using the same IP address. Assuming the local machine's name is "Nikichan," an example of the edited "Hosts.sam" file is listed below.

After editing the HOSTS file, save it as "Hosts.txt" (by default, Notepad appends the .txt extension to all files that it saves, including file names without an extension), and then rename it to "Hosts" without the .txt file extension using the Windows Explorer. (To confirm that it is an extension- less file, go into click Options from the View menu, select the "Show all files" option, and deselect "Hide file extensions for known file types.") Reboot the machine so changes will take effect and load the HOSTS file into memory. Visual InterDev should now be able to access documents on Personal Web Server and documents in shared directories.

   ======================= Example Hosts.sam =====================



   # Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corp.
   #
   # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Chicago
   #
   # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
   # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
   # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
   # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
   # space.
   #
   # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
   # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
   #
   # For example:
   #
   #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
   #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host


   127.0.0.1   Nikichan
   127.0.0.1   nikichan
   ================================================================