Web Host Problems - Recommendations?

MaD2ko0l

Hi,

I have been with Fasthosts for several years now and have never had any problems.

However, recently with there upgrades in the control panel + i a free upgrade to windows server 2008, i have come across a major problem that is stopping me from developing some classic asp scripts.

Basically i am jsut getting a generic 500 internal server error when there is an error in my scripts.

Now usually you turn off the "show friendly http errors" an you will get a better error message and a line number so i would be able to debug the code im working on.

I have contacted fasthost via phone and their email support but at the moment they seem hopeless and by the sounds of it they want me to buy a dedicated server so i have full control over all of the options in IIS.

does anyone know how i can fix this problem so i can debug my scripts or does anyone have an recommendatons for a better web host that i can transfer my domains to?

Much appreciated.

Martin

Lil306

MaD2ko0l wrote: »

Hi,

I have been with Fasthosts for several years now and have never had any problems.

However, recently with there upgrades in the control panel + i a free upgrade to windows server 2008, i have come across a major problem that is stopping me from developing some classic asp scripts.

Basically i am jsut getting a generic 500 internal server error when there is an error in my scripts.

Now usually you turn off the "show friendly http errors" an you will get a better error message and a line number so i would be able to debug the code im working on.

I have contacted fasthost via phone and their email support but at the moment they seem hopeless and by the sounds of it they want me to buy a dedicated server so i have full control over all of the options in IIS.

does anyone know how i can fix this problem so i can debug my scripts or does anyone have an recommendatons for a better web host that i can transfer my domains to?

Much appreciated.

Martin

What about your log files in the control panel?

I know it will record http 500, but it may be more extended for you to understand?

MaD2ko0l

I have tryed the log files but i can nenver open the most recent log file probably becuase it still in use but i need a realtime error message not wait for a log to close and then down load the log file then try and find out what the problem is and repeating this process many times is way to time consuming.

RobTang

It depends how much access your control panel gives, you I think it remember it was possible but really you need direct access to the IIS panel.

In the real panel its Error Pages... Edit Error Pages Settings ... Detailed errors.

Really however you should doing the development locally on your machine, then only uploading to the host when its done.

Hosts do not normally like you doing development on their servers as it can compromise security.

cafe-bisou

I've been with Vidahost for a few months, they seem very good so far and the support ticket replies have been fast. Worth considering.

peteb23

I've been with Clook for over 5 years and can't recommend them highly enough but I don't think they offer Windows servers.

InsideInsurance

To get to see the error reports you need to change the settings in your web.config file. In the <system.webServer> section you need to add

<httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />
<asp scriptErrorSentToBrowser="true" />

flappy_mcwarbucks

Really however you should doing the development locally on your machine

I second that. Not only is it faster, and more reliable, you also get 'full control' which is something you can't really do on a shared server.

I seam to remember that in the web directory properties, there was a setting that said: "Enable classic asp" (not that i program in ASP, i use another language) so it may have something to do with that.

Failing that: how about a call to fasthosts?

chunter

I use asp quite frequently. All tested using the IIS server which comes with XP Pro before it's gets put online.
As I mentioned last week i use Sky.uk.net for Windows hosting.
Alas, I haven't used their support at all yet.

InsideInsurance

To be honest, unless there is a damned good reason for it I would more upgrade from Classic ASP to ASP.Net well before switching hosts. Classic ASP was never a strong platform.

chillsky

I have my domains with fasthosts aka ukreg but I use hostgator for my web server. way quicker and cheaper and I get root level too.