Question : Suddenly browsing my localhost stop working

Suddenly browsing my localhost stop working with the error "There was a problem with page requested and cannot be shown, HTTP500, on any page that previosly worked (including iisstart.asp and localstart.asp)

Nothing has change on the computer (no new sofware or config)

Following some related threads I've done several test, this is the info I have:

Computer running W2K SP4, IE 6.0.2800.1106
Pinging localhost y 127.0.0.1 reports no packets loss

netstat -a reports:

  Proto  Direcci¢n local        Direcci¢n remota       Estado
  TCP    te063479:ftp           te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:smtp          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:http          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:epmap         te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:https         te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:microsoft-ds  te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1061          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1089          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1139          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1145          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1153          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1216          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1226          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:2080          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:9495          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:12345         te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:27000         te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:netbios-ssn   te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1139          dctasa03.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:1026  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1145          exbetasa01.telefonica.com.ar:50000  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1153          exbetasa04.telefonica.com.ar:50000  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1223          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1223          b530632.inetpsa.com:netbios-ssn  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1226          TE076842:microsoft-ds  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1233          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1233          TE089689:netbios-ssn   ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1238          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1238          fstorresk.telefonica.com.ar:netbios-ssn  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1241          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:0  LISTENING
  TCP    te063479:1241          web02w2k3.telefonica.com.ar:netbios-ssn  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:microsoft-ds  te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:1216  ESTABLISHED
  TCP    te063479:1216          te063479.tasa.telefonica.com.ar:microsoft-ds  ESTABLISHED
  UDP    te063479:epmap         *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:microsoft-ds  *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1027          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1053          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1057          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1064          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1091          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1141          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1142          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:3456          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:netbios-ns    *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:netbios-dgm   *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1155          *:*                    
  UDP    te063479:1248          *:*                    

Proxy is set to port 80 for all protocols, and entering localhost:80, te063479:http, reports same error.

windows\system32\drivers\etc\host is ok, on default values: localhost, 127.0.0.1

IE security hasn't change, is set to low, and I've also tried adding localhost and 127.0.0.1 as intranet sites and on proxy exceptions for internet sites.

Uninstalling and reinstalling IIS didn't help either.

user accounts seem ok: IUSR_TE63479 and IWAM_TE63479 set as guests group on localmachine name, thou shouldn't they be shown somewhere on the registry?

Any clue?

Paul.

Answer : Suddenly browsing my localhost stop working

First thing to do is to modify IE settings so that it shows you a slightly meaningful error message:
Tools... Options... Advanced... uncheck Show Friendly HTTP Error Messages

Then try it again to see if the error message is useful or not.  

Then put an HTML file (something with a .html extension) up and see if you can get it to load, thus bypassing any problem with ASP installation.  Does the .html file load OK using localhost?

Can you access the files from a remote machine by url or IP address?

Here's a solution I found elsewhere:

After Hours of dreaded headache I finally discovered how to fix this problem without reinstalling Windows XP!! First TURN OFF Friendly ERROR URL's (an Option in IE)
Check Event Log! Check your Event Viewer for these errors... MSDTC errors (4427,4691,4135 are common error events for this) W3SVC Event 36 "The server failed to load application '/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/'. The error was 'Class not registered"
How to Fix it! (if nothing else can!) Open "Control Panel" and then "Administrative Tools" then Open "Services"... Locate the "Distributed Transaction Coordinator" make sure the process is "Started" and "Automatic" (If its not, open a command line and type "msdtc -install", then try and start the service) Open a command line and type the following...

cd %windir%\system32\inetsrv

rundll32 wamreg.dll, CreateIISPackage (NOTE: "CreateIISPackage" must be typed exactly; it is case-sensitive.)

regsvr32 asptxn.dll (wait for a dialog box to notify you asptxn has registered correctly)

IISRESET /restart

Open "Control Panel" then "Component Services"... You should see all three IIS COM+ applications that have been recreated.