Images not loading at xyz.com but loading at xyz.com/

[alpha]

I'm using a new cheaper host, and I've discovered that if I type in my domain as xyz.com the images won't load, no matter how often I refresh.

However, if I type in xyz.com/ they do.

I've discovered this to be the case on a PC running IE6. I think it is browser specific.

xyz.com seems to work fine on macs and in Netscape.

However IE6 on a PC is a popular combo, and I don't want to count on everyone typing in either the backslash or /index.html, so what can I do to fix it?

[coopster]

Welcome to Webmaster World, alpha!

Sounds like it may actually be pc-specific ;)

Try clearing the cache/history in your MS IE6 browser and try again. If you want to stickymail me the link, I'll test it in my IE6 browser.

[coopster]

Well, after you sent me the link, I can confirm that it did not work in my browser either. So, the big question is now, is it browser related, or server related? You are running Apache/1.3.28 and PHP/4.3.2. I posted your html (including some images) to my server and typed the url in without the trailing slash (/). It works fine in my MS IE6 browser. Let's start here:

From the Apache FAQ [httpd.apache.org]:

When you access a directory without a trailing "/", Apache needs to send what is called a redirect to the client to tell it to add the trailing slash. If it did not do so, relative URLs would not work properly. When it sends the redirect, it needs to know the name of the server so that it can include it in the redirect. There are two ways for Apache to find this out; either it can guess, or you can tell it. If your DNS is configured correctly, it can normally guess without any problems. If it is not, however, then you need to tell it.

Add a ServerName [httpd.apache.org] directive to the config file to tell it what the domain name of the server is.

The other thing that can occasionally cause this symptom is a misunderstanding of the Alias [httpd.apache.org] directive, resulting in an alias working with a trailing slash, and not without one. The Alias directive is very literal, and aliases what you tell it to. Consider the following example:

Alias /example/ /home/www/example/

The above directive creates an alias for URLs starting with /example/, but does not alias URLs starting with /example. That is to say, a URL such as [servername.com...] will get the desired content, but a URL such as [servername.com...] will result in a "file not found" error.

The following Alias, on the other hand, will work for both cases:

Alias /example /home/www/example

I thought I'd try to access a few more images on your server first and was denied with a *403 Forbidden* as well as a *404 not found* when trying to access directly (for example: [xyz.com...] ). I'm beginning to think it is a server configuration issue. I would contact the tech support/server administrator at your new hosting provider. Describe your issue to them and they should be able to find any issues on the server configuration. If you have added any .htaccess files, you may want to post what you have and we can take a look at any entries there for you.

[alpha]

Thanks for taking the time to look at it.

I think you are right and it is a server configuration issue. I suspected as much when I posted here, but I wasn't sure. I don't know that much about server configuration.

I don't think it's anything I can fix on my end with my access. As you suggested, I've posted to tech support at the host. Hopefully, they will be able to fix it.

Thanks!