FIX: Cannot Browse to ASP.NET Pages If Computer Name Contains Certain Words

When you try to browse to pages in an ASP.NET application, you cannot open them, and you receive the following error message in the browser: The following error is also logged in the Application event log:

This problem occurs if the name of the computer that is hosting the ASP.NET Web application contains any of the following words at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the computer name:

• SYSTEM
• ADMINISTRATORS
• INTERACTIVE

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Workaround 1

Do not use a computer name that contains "SYSTEM," "ADMINISTRATORS," or "INTERACTIVE." You can change the computer name of the server. For additional information about steps to take if you change the computer name, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: NOTE: If you change a computer name, you may notice unintended side effects. If this occurs, reload the computer, and then specify a new computer name.

Workaround 2

Set the identity of the ASP.NET worker process (Aspnet_wp.exe) to the SYSTEM account or to an Administrator account. For additional information about how to do this, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: NOTE: Microsoft does not recommend that you set the ASP.NET worker process to run as the SYSTEM account or as an Administrator account. If malicious code is somehow executed under ASP.NET, that code can do more damage if the code runs under a highly privileged account such as the SYSTEM account or an Administrator account.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in ASP.NET (included with the .NET Framework) 1.1.