FP2002: Malformed HTML Code Causes FrontPage and IIS to Stop Responding

When you open a Web on a FrontPage 2002 extended Web site in FrontPage 2002, you may experience any of the following symptoms:

• FrontPage stops responding.
• Internet Information Server (IIS) stops responding on the Web server.
• The CPU utilization on the Web server may approach 100 percent.

This problem may occur if your Web contains malformed or substandard HTML code.

Every Web page that you open in FrontPage 2002 is parsed by the FrontPage Server Extensions. An author can save a Web page that contains malformed or substandard HTML code, and this code can prevent the FrontPage Server Extensions from parsing the Web page.

To resolve this problem, remove any malformed or substandard HTML code in the Web page. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Explorer, and then open the following folder on the Web server
   C:\%SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles\W3SVC#
   where # is the instance number for that Web site.
2. Locate the log file for the day in question. The log file names contain the date in the following format:
   exyymmdd.log
3. Open the log file in Microsoft Notepad, and then scroll to the most recent entry. The entry should appear similar to the following:
   2002-09-27 14:03:27 - 192.168.1.100 80 GET/Index.htm - 304
   This log entry contains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the Web site and the file name of the Web page that contains the malformed or substandard HTML code.
   
   NOTE: If multiple sites are listed at the end of the log file, you must record each site and file location to investigate each one.
4. Open the Web in FrontPage 2002, and then click Folders on the View menu. Open the folder that contains the Web page.
5. Locate the file that contains the malformed or substandard HTML code, and then check the Modified by field in the right pane to identify the author.
6. Open the file, and then remove the malformed or substandard HTML code as required (for example, a large white space or non-breaking spaces).

To return CPU utilization to a standard level, quit and restart the IIS Admin Service by using the Services utility in Administrative Tools.

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