mod_alias, Directory question

[pureform]

I have searched the forums and couldn't find anything on this, so here goes nothing.

I am running Apache 2.0.54 on WinXP and am trying to set an alias to the URL [localhost...] to point to the root of drive G ... basically, when someone is on my server, and types in "/usb/", they can access the files on my USB drive as if it were in the doc root. I got this to work just fine, but the problem comes when I take the usb drive with me somewhere [therefore un-mounting it], and as a result Apache eventually shuts down .... which is no good.

Here is the code I am currently using:

Alias /usb/ "G:/"
<Directory "G:/">
Options All
AllowOverride All
</Directory>

I guess my question is, is there some logic for conf files that could check if the drive is there? And if so, link to it, otherwise just ignore it?

Thanks!

[ChadSEO]

I'm not sure if this would work, or is even the best way, but it's something you could try.

Create a directory on another drive, let's say C:\, and let's call it USB. Then, go to the Control Panel-> Administrative Tools-> Computer Management-> Disk Management. If you right-click on the G:\ drive, and choose "Change Drive Letter and Path", then click on Change, do you have the option to "mount on the following empty NTFS directory"? If so, mount it on C:\USB\. If not, then this was a whole waste of time :)

If it does work then change the path in your Apache config to point to this directory, instead of the G:\ drive. Like I said, it's probably not the best way, but it might be something to try.

[pureform]

Shortly after I posted this question I thought about doing something like that, but wasn't sure where to start ... I'll give it a try though ...

Thanks!

[pureform]

Success!

Though, instead of hitting "Change" I "added" an alias to it. If that makes sense.

Just make sure you add the forward slash / to the end of your windows path, otherwise you'll get 404's:

Alias /usb/ "C:/apache/usb/"
<Directory "C:/apache/usb/">
Options All
AllowOverride All
</Directory>

Thanks for all your help!