If you’re developing in ASP.NET with version 1.1 of the .NET framework, you should install IIS before installing .NET v1.1.

Otherwise you may get the below error when trying to load a project in Visual Studio or Web Matrix:

Visual Studio .NET has detected that the specified Web server is not running ASP.NET version 1.1

Here’s the solution:

1. First, confirm you have .NET 1.1 installed on the web server machine you’re running the project on. Check two things:
   • Check for a folder called C:windowsMicrosof.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322 or C:winntMicrosof.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322 or something.
   • Open up Add/Remove Programs in the control panel and confirm “Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1” is in the list.

   If those two items don’t check out, re-install the .NET 1.1 Framework. Now test the project again in Visual Studio…if you still get the error message, continue to step 2.

2. Make sure IIS is running, and run “aspnet_regiis.exe -i” in your .NET 1.1 framework folder. Open a command line and run

   %windir%Microsof.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322aspnet_regiis.exe -i

   . If you get a file not found error, adjust the above command so it’s using the right folder name from step 1. Once you execute that command, try out the project in Visual Studio again. It should work, but if it doesn’t, try step 3

3. When in doubt, uninstall .NET 1.1, reinstall it, & restart your machine. 🙂

The above steps should correct the problem in 99% of the cases. Now, back to developing!