Front Page error when opening .HTM file

[BastardAle]

I keep getting this error with FrontPage when I try to open an .htm file. The error is something to the affect of, "Couldn't open file C:\Document and Settings\blah\blah\blah.htm".

They appear as regular Internet Explorer Icons and will open in I.E. but when I right-click>open with>FrontPage, I get that error mentioned above. I also get that error when I right-click>edit. Nor does it work if I open FrontPage first then, File>Open...
The only way I can open these files to edit is to Copy and Paste from IE to a New FrontPage page.

These are not elaborate pages either, all they are are my Ebay listings that I create so I can use my own image hosting.

This is very annoying, I hope I'm just overlooking something stupid :rolleyes:

BTW, I just tried to open each of these recently created files, and a couple open with FrontPage no problem but most dont. Other than the text changing slightly, they're all pretty much the same (saved in the same Parent Folder with their own SubFolders). And I didn't do anything different with one than I did with another.

Thanks!!!

[mikeandike22]

did you try opening them with a text editor like notepad and then saving them as html files instead of htm files i am pretty sure that it won't make a difference in the document. Or you could just open that file with the texteditor and then copy the content onto frontpage.

Sorry if I couldn't give you more help with your problem like how to fix it I only gave you a temp solution.

[BastardAle]

did you try opening them with a text editor like notepad and then saving them as html files instead of htm files i am pretty sure that it won't make a difference in the document. Or you could just open that file with the texteditor and then copy the content onto frontpage.

No I didn't try that but what I did try was to save the file as .html from FrontPages Save As.. dialog box. That's essentially what I'd be doing by copy and pasting with Text then saving as .html, correct???

What baffles me is some files open without a hitch and the others give me that stupid error!!!!

[mikeandike22]

maybe you should try reinstalling frontpage, i have frontpage but dont use i because i like to use dreamweaver because of its intergration into flash and fireworks.

[caya]

I'm having the same error! The only thing I did was to run windows update... grrrrrhhhh... :mad:

[caya]

More on this...
I just copy&paste the file (not the content) into another folder and now it works! what's going on with this FrontPage 2000???

:mad: cheers

[flyingbluegill]

I think I figured out what is going on, thanks to YOU all here mostly

I too rearranged a bunch of website files, and when I tried to opne them in Front Page, same result..."Couldn't open..."

What I finally figured out was that I had created a directory structure that was too deap.. and for some reason Front Page can't open files that are deap down in a directory structure.

I simply moved the entire directory up a level or two and viola! it worked!

I moved it back, and no go.

anywho, even a dumb squirl like me sometimes finds the acorn

flyingbluegill

[flyingbluegill]

OK, so I didn't have it quite right!

In fact this thing about drove me crazy after I posted the last message when I thought I had it figured out

I thought it had something to do with the number of levels in a file structure...

but now after much and I do mean MUCH fooling around...

it seems the problem is perhaps more related to the total length of a file name and ALL of the lengths of the names of the subdirectories above it!

The problem started when I decieded to organize my websites

I made a logicl organized tree of all my webistes, current and past and named them...this produced a 6 level subdirectory tree...

this is partially the reason I thought it was a level thing....but as I just found out with the (much) expirementing...it has to do more with the total length of all the file and subdirectory names

somewhere around 69 or 70 (i may have miscounted)...seems to be the limit

If the total number of characters in the file name (like index.htm or index2.htm) is over 69...Front Page pukes...

not only that it seems to sorta lock up Windows Explorer where I am renaming my file names and directories...

I duno, perhaps it is more related to Windows Explorer...but I doubt it...it seems to be only the case when Front Page is involved....other applications seem to work ok with the long (total character count) directory structure...for example I can open a .htm file in Word that I can not open in Front Page..

anywho...in my earlier post...moving the directory to a higher level in the sub tree solved the problem...mostly because of the total character count...not the levels

I have messed around MUCH ...made the file name itself longer (like index.htm to index1.tm an increase of one character) ...made each subdirectory name longer by 1 character...each causing the same results! when I get over 60 characters total Front Page pukes!

sooooooo..

final conclusion is to be organized but a bit more cryptic with my directory's structure by naming the filenames more cryptic

I would enjoy any feeback from others who have run into this same goofy problem and can either confirm what I've found or tell me the real reasons things are the way they seem to be (perhaps I still don't have the real cause identified)

email me at

[e-mail]

thanks, flyingbluegill

[shaista_9]

hi..... i am taking quranic classic online my problem is
1) i missed some lectures so i tried to download the lectures they dowload just 1 to 2 % and then the download window closes
2) so i went to my aunts house and recorded the lectures in a cd ..now when i play the cd in my computer only the web page of the site i recorded the lectures from i.e wwwunderstandingquran.com opens....the clip is not playing (that is the real player is not playing the clip)
can someone help me out here...thanks.

[opsryushi]

I would venture to say that the solution is to get a better HTML editor. FrontPage is dated. Not to mention it wasn't that great when it first came out. Keep in mind that this is a program that's almost ten years old at its latest version. You have to give FrontPage credit for its support of full-site editing and FTP... but seriously. If you're looking for a really nice, full-featured HTML and CSS (not to mention almost all the other web languages) editor, check out Dreamweaver. You'll be impressed.

[Frankothemounta]

Frontpage was not old when this was posted. You replied 4 years later, so you are the dated screwball. I still use it, and it works fine. I had the same problem here. Some people do not like a million bells and whistles. Thanks for your hard work flyingbluegill!