DW MX not "seeing" folders on a virtual drive (WebDrive)

[Thomas232499484ybi]

I am running DW MX in the Windows 11 environment. I use Webdrive to do this. It can't "see" and won't open files/folders on my web site even though I do see them and can open them with other programs (e.g., WORD).  Everything worked fine in Win 10.  Any ideas?  I feel sure I've doing something wrong.

[Nancy OShea]

Keeping in mind that MX is ancient software from early 2000's that hasn't been updated in more than 15 years,  I don't know if it will work well on a modern OS.  Nobody does.

Also Dreamweaver works best when the local site folder resides on your primary hard drive, not networked or cloud drives.  Try moving files to the HD. 

That said, you really should be using modern coding tools, not relics from the past.  The web and web devices have changed a lot in 15+ years.

CODE EDITORS:
-- Adobe Dreamweaver CC - https://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver.html
-- Atom (free) - https://atom.io/
-- Codespaces (free, browser-based) - https://github.com/features/codespaces
-- Nova (Mac only, formerly called Coda) - https://nova.app/
-- Pinegrow - https://pinegrow.com/
-- Sublime Text - http://www.sublimetext.com/
-- Visual Studio Code (free) - https://code.visualstudio.com/
-- Wappler ~ Visual Web App Builder - https://wappler.io/

[Thomas232499484ybi]

Keeping in mind that MX is ancient software from early 2000's that hasn't been updated in more than 15 years,  I don't know if it will work well on a modern OS.  Nobody does.

I am aware of its age: I've been using it that long.  Without issues until now.  It works fine in Windows 10, and I wish I hadn't made the change to Windows 11.

Also Dreamweaver works best when the local site folder resides on your primary hard drive, not networked or cloud drives.  Try moving files to the HD.

I can and have done that, but it's a bit of a PITA to be honest.

That said, you really should be using modern coding tools, not relics from the past.  The web and web devices have changed a lot in 15+ years.

No doubt.  But I am unwilling to spend the outrageous monthly fee that Adobe wants for their newer version.  There certainly have to be cheaper alternatives.

I don't do "coding" in the current sense: I do my web site on a WYSIWYG basis.  IO can do some limited code writing but my "code," such as it is, is certainly old fashioned, as am I.

If you know of an alternative  truly FREE software package that uses WYSIWYG I would appreciate knowing what it may be.  Everything I see is "free" only in the sense that the "trial" versions last (at best) a couple of weeks, then the extortion begins.

I don't do this for money.  My sites are labors of love, but I'm not able to spend hundreds of dollars per year to get "modern" software; and I am concerned that I'll have to close them down as a result.

Thanks

[Nancy OShea]

A labor of love is one thing but content must be easy to access from ALL devices.

I posted a list of free and low cost alternatives above. Pinegrow is a visual editor you could try.  But these days, there is no such thing as WYSIWYG web design unless you switch to online site builders like Wix or Webflow that take coding out of the equation.

Of course you could use a dedicated Win10 machine to support your obsolete software.  But that's just more of the same.  It won't help you create a modern website that's accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop devices.  That's what web users expect now.

[BenPleysier]

For the price of a cup of  Long Macchiato per week, you can have the latest version of Dreamweaver that works on Windows 11

[Thomas232499484ybi]

That is undoubtedly true. 

Of course you could use a dedicated Win10 machine to support your obsolete software.  But that's just more of the same.  It won't help you create a modern website that's accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop devices.  That's what web users expect now.

I thank you for the input; despite the tone of it.  I don't want to "edit code," so none of the very helpful suggestions you have made will do what I want.  I guess I'll stay with my Win10 machine even if my web sites aren't "modern" or "what web users expect now."   So be it.

[Thomas232499484ybi]

The problem has been solved, thanks to the support people at Southriver Technology, who make Webdrive.  My thoroughly obsolete and more or less wholly-useless, certainly not "modern"  "relic from the past," i.e., the MX version of Dreamweaver, now sees and can edit files on my virtual drive; I can continue producing a website that satisfies my needs, even if it isn't "...what web users want now."  It turns out I don't, after all, need a "modern" version of Dreamweaver after all, nor do I need to resurrect my dinosaur of a Windows 10 machine.  

[Jon Fritz]

What was the fix?

We get a few people every year still working in MX that come to the forum. It would be nice to know what the fix was, in case someone else runs into the same issue.

[Thomas232499484ybi · Accepted solution]

I had to go into the "Settings" menu on Webdrive, and choose "Advanced," then tick the box that said "Make drive available to all users and services on this computer."  At that point DW was able to "see" the drive, and I was able to open, edit, and save HMTL documents as before.

[Nancy OShea]

I'm happy you found the problem with your virtual drive.  But I hope you at least TRY other tools like Pinegrow. You might be surprised.