Internet Information Services 6.0: Error message when you access a Web site or a virtual directory that is hosted in IIS 6.0: “HTTP Error 401.1″

SUPPORT SOLUTION:
Consider the following scenario:
You have Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 installed
on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
(SP2).You use IIS Manager to create a Web site or a virtual
directory.You set the content directory
of the Web site or the virtual directory by specifying a Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) path to the directory that contains the content of the
Web site or of the virtual directory.You set access credentials to the directory by specifying a
user name and a password.You change the content directory from a UNC path to a local
path.In this scenario, you cannot access the Web site or the virtual
directory. Additionally, you receive the following error message:You are not authorized to view this page.HTTP Error 401.1 -
Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.This issue
typically occurs when all the following conditions are true:
The UNCUserName IIS metabase property or UNCPassword IIS metabase property is set in a parent folder on the IIS
metabase path of the Web site or the virtual directory.The Web site is
based on ASP.NET 2.0.This issue occurs because there is an error in the
Inetmgr.dll file in IIS Manager. Specifically, when you specify a UNC path as
the content

directory, and you then specify access credentials to this directory,
the UNCUserName and UNCPassword IIS metabase properties are created in the IIS metabase. When you
change the content directory from a UNC path to a local path, the UNCUserName IIS metabase property is removed from the IIS metabase. However,
the UNCPassword IIS metabase property is not removed. If the UNCUserName IIS metabase property or UNCPassword IIS metabase property are set in a parent folder on the IIS
metabase path, the UNCUserName and UNCPassword IIS metabase properties are inherited for the Web site or the
virtual directory. Therefore, the user name and password are incorrect.Hotfix information
2, ‘resolution’);
A
supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended
to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this
hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this
article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are
not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next
software update that contains this hotfix.If the hotfix is available
for download, there is a “Hotfix download available” section at the top of this
Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft
Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix. Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required,
you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs
will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for
this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and
Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the
following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)
Note The “Hotfix download available” form displays the languages for
which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a
hotfix is not available for that language.Prerequisites
3, ‘resolution’);
You must have IIS 6.0 installed to apply this hotfix.
Additionally, the computer must be running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
(SP2). Restart requirement
3, ‘resolution’);
If IIS Manager
is
running when you apply this hotfix, you must restart the computer after you
install this hotfix.Hotfix replacement information
3, ‘resolution’);
This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes. File information
3, ‘resolution’);
The English version of this hotfix has the file
attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table.
The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To
find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time
Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control
Panel.32-bit-based versions of IIS 6.0
4, ‘resolution’);
Collapse this tableExpand this tableFile nameFile versionFile
sizeDateTimePlatformSP requirementInetmgr.dll6.0.3790.46561,058,30427-Jan-201019:01×86SP264-bit-based versions of IIS 6.0
4, ‘resolution’);
Collapse this tableExpand this tableFile nameFile versionFile
sizeDateTimePlatformSP
requirementService branchInetmgr.dll6.0.3790.46561,675,77627-Jan-201016:54×64SP2Not
ApplicableWinetmgr.dll6.0.3790.46561,058,30427-Jan-201016:54×86SP2WOWIA-64-bit-based versions of IIS 6.0
4, ‘resolution’);
Collapse this tableExpand this tableFile nameFile versionFile
sizeDateTimePlatformSP
requirementService branchInetmgr.dll6.0.3790.46562,833,92027-Jan-201016:53IA-64SP2Not
ApplicableWinetmgr.dll6.0.3790.46561,058,30427-Jan-201016:53×86SP2WOWTo work around this issue, you can manually delete the UNCPassword property by using the Adsutil.vbs administration utility. For
more information about how to use the Adsutil.vbs administration utility in
IIS 6.0,
visit the following Microsoft Web site:Using the Adsutil.vbs Administration Script (IIS 6.0)
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/d3df4bc9-0954-459a-b5e6-7a8bc462960c.mspx?mfr=true)
Microsoft
has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed
in the “Applies to” section.For more information about UNC authentication, visit the
following Microsoft Web site:UNC Authentication (IIS 6.0)
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/c65e97d7-a085-4d8f-bdd7-1e6a9f223708.mspx?mfr=true)
For more information about the UNCUserName property, visit the following Microsoft Web site:UNCUserName Metabase Property (IIS 6.0)
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/44869a99-f162-498f-8581-480bae542b0b.mspx?mfr=true)
For more information about the UNCPassword property, visit the following Microsoft Web site:UNCPassword Metabase Property (IIS 6.0)
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/e4cc98b6-4373-4c32-b1ad-f74510bc12fc.mspx?mfr=true)

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