Custom Errors on a Windows Server

Up until the release of Windows 2000, it was rare to find a host that could support custom 404 errors if they were running a Windows NT server with IIS. However, now that it is much more easily supported, more and more hosting sites are offering custom error support.

In this tutorial I intend to show you one of the ways that you can customise even the more obscure error messages on a Windows 2000 server that has a script called "Hosting Controller" (version 1.4) installed.

First thing's first!

The actual set up to get this working is extremely quick, so it is a good idea to make sure that you have everything ready. Make sure that if you are redirecting any of the errors that you have uploaded all the files that you need (for example, 403.html, 404.asp, 500.php etc).

Now, log into your Hosting Controller account and go to domains section. Select the domain name you want to edit and then click on the properties button. You should now be at a "Site Credentials" screen, there will be an "Error Messages" button at the bottom of that page and you should click it to get into the area that will allow you to edit your site's error behaviour.

Each of the errors that you can edit will be displayed along with a description that will tell you when that particular error will be used. This will allow you to make even more specific error messages for things such as lack of support or problems that arise as a result of file permissions. To make the changes, just select the error you want to work on and make the changes as necessary.