Windows 2003, so secure it doesn’t work

At least in this instance, the default security was a bit handicapping…

Last night I was attempting to setup a site in a pretty new instance of Windows 2003, and I wanted to transfer the files to the server via FrontPage Extensions. So I remote desktopped in, and opened IIS and clicked the “Configure Extensions” menuitem on the respective website.  A local webpage opened and asked me to define the administrator and folder path, which I did and then clicked the button.  Waa-laa, up comes the fancy gear-shifting image!

Waiting…

Waiting…

Hmm, nothing changed.  Close IE window.  Click “Configure Extensions” link again in IIS.  Click Button on web page again.  Gear-shifting image appears.

Waiting…

Repeat a few times double checking connections and everything.  No good.

Ok, fine, its late I’ll just email myself the files using my fancy gMail account.  After sending the zipped files I attempt to login to gMail, where I have to enable cookies and javascript even to get into it.  I see one of the files has arrived, but then a lightbulb goes on. Bing!  I flip back to IIS, click “Configure Extensions”, click the button, gear-shifty things come up and Boom!  The page uses the newly enabled Javascript to show me an error.  Apparantly I had moved some files under the application root that had some past Front Page extension logs in them and I needed to delete them before I could enable Extensions for this website.

So there you have it, gMail is good for something beyond a status symbol.