Installing ASP on your own computer

To run ASP on your computer you will need the Personal Web Server or Internet Information Services component installed on your machine.

To Install PWS on Windows 95, 98 & Windows NT

If you run Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation you can install Personal Web Server (PWS). PWS is a smaller scale little brother of Internet Information Services (IIS) though still fully functional.

As Personal Web Server (PWS) is not shipped with Windows NT or with Windows 95 you will have to download "Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack" from Microsoft. To download the Windows NT Option Pack, see the following Microsoft Web site:
Windows NT Option Pack
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/NT4OptPk
and select the appropriate operating system.

If you have Windows 98 there are two ways you can install PWS either from the Windows NT Option Pack or from the Windows 98 installation CD. If you have Windows 98 and decide to download from the net remember to choose Windows 95 as the operating system even if you're running windows 98. If you don't want what can be a long download (Over 30Mb) then you can install the PWS from the Windows 98 CD.

To Install PWS from the Windows 98 CD

First run the CD Rom and click on 'Browse This CD'
Then double click on the folder 'add-ons'
Then double click on 'PWS'
Next click on the 'Setup.exe' and follow the steps to install
Once you restart your machine you should see a new added icon for your PWS in the task bar.
On installation an Inetpub folder should have been created on your harddrive with the sub folder wwwroot.

To test that PWS is working.
First of all to test PWS make sure that your web server is running. Check your task bar for the newly added PWS icon. Double click on it and press the 'Start' button if this isn't already on.
Next type into your browser one of the following 3;
a) http://localhost/
b) http://127.0.0.1
c) http://YourComputerName
You should see some Microsoft information on PWS if it's working correctly.

To Install IIS on Windows XP Professional

Insert the Windows XP Professional CD-Rom into your CD-Rom Drive
From your Start Button, go to Settings, and then Control Panel
In the Control Panel window select Add/Remove Programs
In the Add/Remove window select Add/Remove Windows Components
In the Windows Component Wizard check Internet Information Services, click next and follow the on-screen instructions.

To test that IIS is working.
First of all to test IIS make sure that your web server is running. Check your task bar for the newly added IIS icon. Double click on it and press the 'Start' button if this isn't already on.
Next type into your browser one of the following 3;
a) http://localhost/
b) http://127.0.0.1
c) http://YourComputerName

You should see some Microsoft information on IIS if it's working correctly.
Unfortunately, the XP Home edition doesn't have this capability and you'll have to upgrade to XP professional.

[How to install ASP on Windows XP (Tutorial with images)]

To Install IIS on Windows 2000

ASP version 3.0 is included with all versions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system. Place the Windows 2000 CD-Rom into your CD-Rom Drive.

From your Start Button, go to Settings, and Control Panel
In the Control Panel window select Add/Remove Programs
In the Add/Remove window select Add/Remove Windows Components
In the Windows Component Wizard check Internet Information Services, click next and follow the on-screen instructions.

You should see some Microsoft information on IIS if it's working correctly.

Alternatively rather than install PWS or IIS on your computer you can rent web space from an ASP enabled host (some ASP hosts are free). Have a look at the tutorials main page for a list of free ASP hosts. I used and can recommend www.brinkster.com, its a great online ASP community, with a great forum.

If you have Linux or another UNIX OS you can buy ChiliASP

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