I upgraded my GoDaddy Windows Shared Hosting account recently to one that includes IIS7. However, I found that the error reporting for web pages stinks. Too often, I would see a generic “Error 500…” error, with no details about what caused it.

I figured out how to fix this, and luckily, it’s an easy fix.

If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create a web.config file and upload it to the root of your hosting space.

At a minimum, your file should contain this code:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
<system.webServer>
<httpErrors errorMode="Detailed"/>
<asp scriptErrorSentToBrowser="true"/>
</system.webServer>
</configuration>

You should now see detailed errors, including the lines to look at in your web pages.

Note: If you still don’t see detailed errors, be sure to uncheck the IE options (Tools | Options | Advanced tab) for Show friendly HTTP error messages.