Member Avatar for Kleon

I am using Windows 8 and visual studio, it used to work good never had a problem, yesterday started to give me this problem everytime i run a website it gives me this message, and i know did not change anything on configuration,
Error 403.14 - Forbidden The Web server is configured to not list the contents of this directory.

Edited by Kleon because: more specific
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described a classic 403.14 symptom and was right that the server is being asked to show a directory listing instead of a file. That normally means either (a) there is no default document in the folder, (b) the request URL is pointing at a folder rather than a page, or (c) the site isn’t configured as an IIS application (or the web‑server config for the project is broken after the VS crash).

Quick checklist to try in order:

  1. Verify a specific page loads — create a simple index.html or Default.aspx in the project folder and browse directly to http://localhost:<port>/Default.aspx. If that works, the problem is the default/start page or start action.
  2. In Visual Studio (Project → Properties → Web), set a Specific Page for Start Action or switch between IIS Express and Local IIS to see which server works. Run VS as Administrator when using Local IIS.
  3. If using Local IIS, open IIS Manager: confirm the site’s Physical Path is correct, convert the folder to an Application (right‑click → Convert to Application) and set the Application Pool to use .NET CLR v4.0 (Integrated).
  4. In IIS Manager check Default Document and ensure default.aspx / index.html are present in the list and exist in the site folder. Do not rely on enabling Directory Browsing as a permanent fix.
  5. If using IIS Express, stop VS and inspect/rename the IIS Express config to force a rebuild: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\IISExpress\config\applicationhost.config (older VS) or the project’s .vs\config\applicationhost.config (newer VS). A corrupted file after the crash can cause this behavior.

If those fail, check the IIS log files (inetpub\logs\LogFiles) and Windows Event Viewer for more detail, run iisreset, and confirm ASP.NET support is enabled via Control Panel → Programs → Turn Windows features on or off → Internet Information Services → Application Development Features → ASP.NET 4.5. These steps address the most common root causes when VS crashes and a reinstall of IIS didn’t restore the app configuration.

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

This is an indication that the path is referencing a directory rather than a file or the root of your website.

Something must have changed.

Does this happen if you create a new project/website?

Are you running this with the basic IIS server component that ships with a as or did you install IIS on that computer?

Member Avatar for Kleon

Yes it does even if i create a new project/website same problem, This vs2012 its installed on my win 8 for more than 3 months now, yesterday i was trying to open e project which we did in school and that project was created on vs2010, and did not worked and my vs get closed(not responding), i reopened it again and no problem but everything i di when i run it it gives me the same problem.

Member Avatar for Kleon

after i got this problem i re-install iis but same problem.

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