I received a web project to help make some changes.  When I tried to open the project, I got an error that the web project could not be opened.  IIS couldn't open my project and I got the following error message: "unable to open web project 'ProjectName;.  The file path 'C:\blah\blah\blah' does not correspond to the URL 'http://localhost:/projectname'.  The two need to map to the same server location.  HTTP Error 404: Object not Found."

The problem was that the virtual directory was not set up in the IIS Administration tool.  I had to create a new virtual directory with the correct name, path, and permissions (see the next three images)

Finally, once I got the virtual directory all set up, Visual Studio 2003 allowed me to open the project but I got the following error when I tried to open the form in the designer.  "The file could not be loaded into the Web Forms designer.  Please correct the following error and then try loading it again:  The designer could not shown for this file because none of the classes within it can be designed.  The designer inspected the following classes in the file:  _Defulat --- The base class 'Project.Form' could not be loaded.  Ensure the assembly has been referenced or built if it is part of the project.  Make sure all of the classes used in the page are built or referenced in the project.  Click help for more information".

I rebuilt the solution and everything was fine.  I was able to make my tiny change and post the change to the website.

-- Matt Ranlett