User receives "The system cannot find the path specified" message when clicking on a Web site in IIS Manager

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

This occurs when a user deletes a physical directory for a Web site with virtual directories from a location other than IIS Manager, such as in Windows Explorer or through the command line. When physical directories are deleted this way, the virtual directories continue to exist in the IIS metabase and to serve content. When the user expands or clicks on the Web site in IIS Manager, they receive the message "The system cannot find the path specified" because the folder containing the content for that Web site was deleted; however, IIS Manager will continue to display the Web site with the deleted physical directory as long as virtual directories still exist and serve content under that Web site. To fix this issue, you must correct the path to the home directory for the Web site.

Important

You must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer to perform the following procedure or procedures. As a security best practice, log on to your computer by using an account that is not in the Administrators group, and then use the runas command to run IIS Manager as an administrator. At a command prompt, type runas /user:Administrative_AccountName "mmc %systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\iis.msc".

To set the location of the home directory for a Web site by using IIS Manager

  1. In IIS Manager, expand the local computer, expand Web Sites, right-click the Web site with the deleted physical directory, and then click Properties.

  2. On the Home Directory tab of the Web site Properties dialog, click Browse.

  3. In the Browse For Folder dialog box, locate a folder with content for the Web site or click Make New Folder to create a folder where you will put the content, and click OK.

  4. Click Apply and then OK.