Using .htaccess in Windows

Apache is most common web server for Linux, and there are even Windows servers that use it. There are certain issues that need to be addressed in order to run the application successfully.

One problem is with the .htaccess file. In Windows, this filename isn’t valid. Its just an extension with no filename. The file can exist in NTFS, but you may have difficult finding an application that can open and edit it.

The solution is simple, change the filename to one that Windows can understand.

  1. Rename the file to htaccess (i.e. remove the period in front of the name).
  2. Locate Apache’s httpd.conf file and add the following line of text to it:

    AccessFileName htaccess

Apache will now be able to read the htaccess file.


Using DMG Files in Windows 2008 Server

A .DMG file is a file format for Macintosh OS X. This file is a disk image and is treated as a disk when opened. Its a very useful format for Macs but it be occasionally used on Windows computers. One Mac user asked why a Windows user would want to open a .DMG file since the contents are most likely useful on a Mac. These files would be opened if they are on a web site hosted by Windows 2008 Server. An attempt to download it would lead to a file not found error.

image This can be fixed by defining a MIME type for DMG in the Internet Information Services Manager. The file name extension is dmg and the MIME type is application/octet-stream.

Now when you click on a DMG file on a web site, you will be prompted for a download location.