FP2000: Error Messages When You Try to Use Exchange 2000 Virtual Directory with FrontPage Server Extensions

When you configure the FrontPage Server Extensions on a virtual directory that was created with Exchange 2000, the installation succeeds, but you cannot connect with FrontPage or Microsoft Visual InterDev. You see the following behaviors:

• In Visual InterDev, you can create the initial project, but subsequent connections fail when you try to create new content. You receive the following error message:
  Unable to open Web project 'ProjectName'. An HTTP error occurred. The server could not complete your request. Contact your Internet service provider or Web server administrator to make sure that the server has the FrontPage Server Extensions installed, and that the Web application exists on that server.
• In FrontPage, you receive the following error message:
  The server could not complete your request. Contact your Internet service provider or web server administrator to make sure that the server has the FrontPage Server Extensions installed. For more specific information, click Details
  When you click Details, you receive the following error message:
  HTTP/1.0 503 Service Unavailable

Virtual directories that are created through the Exchange System Manager are configured so that all files are parsed through the Davex.dll file, which is the Exchange implementation of WebDav. This interferes with the FrontPage Server Extensions.

To work around this problem, do not install the FrontPage Server Extensions. Instead of FrontPage or Visual InterDev, use a Web folder to connect to the virtual directory.

Web folders can use either the FrontPage Server Extensions or WebDav to connect. The Web folders default to using the FrontPage Server Extensions if the server extensions are present; therefore, do not install the FrontPage Server Extensions if you plan to use WebDav.

FrontPage and Visual InterDev require the FrontPage Server Extensions to connect with a Web server and do not currently work with Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV).

For additional information about using DAV, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: