A user receives a "You cannot view this area" error message when the user connects to a Web page on the portal site in SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (899710)

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Assign the user or the group to which the user belongs to the Reader site group

To assign the user or the group to which the user belongs to the Reader site group, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the portal site as an administrator. Then, click Site Settings.
2. Under General Settings, click Manage users.
3. On the Manage Users page, click to select the check boxes for the users and the groups that you want. Then, click Edit Site Groups of Selected Users.
4. In the Site Group Membership area of the Edit Site Group Membership: PortalSiteName page, click to select the Reader - Has read-only access to the Web site check box. Then, click OK.

Method 2: Modify the permissions of the custom site group

Add the following permissions to the custom site group:

• View Area - View an area and its contents
• View Pages - View pages in an area

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the portal site as an administrator, and then click Site Settings.
2. Under General Settings, click Manage security and additional settings.
3. On the Manage security and additional settings page, click Manage site groups.
4. On the Manage Site Groups page, click the custom site group.
   
   Note Make sure that you click the name of the custom site group. Do not click to select the check box that is next to the custom site group.
5. On the Members of SiteGroupName page, click Edit Site Group Permissions.
6. On the Change Site Group Rights page, click to select the following check boxes, and then click OK:
   • View Area - View an area and its contents
   • View Pages - View pages in an area

Method 3: Back up, delete, and then restore the portal site and the databases

Use this method only when Method 1 and Method 2 do not resolve the issue. Back up the portal site and the databases that are used by SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Next, delete the portal site and the databases that are used by SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Then, restore the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 data from backup. To do this, follow these steps.

Step 1: Back up the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 data

Use the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool to back up the portal site. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool.
2. Click the Backup tab.
3. In the Backup location and name box, specify the following:
   • The location where you want to store the backup files
   • The file name to use as a prefix for the backup files
4. Expand Available components, expand Portal sites, and then click the portal site that you want to back up.
5. Verify that the Ready check box is displayed next to the SITEDBS item. Additionally, verify that the Ready check box is selected.
   
   Note You do not have to back up the INDEX item.
6. Click Backup.
7. Click OK when you receive the message that states that the backup operation was successfully completed.
8. On the File menu, click Exit to quit the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool.

Step 2: Back up the content database, the user profile database, and the services database before you delete the portal site and the databases

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Determine the names of the content database, the user profile database, and the services database. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Start SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration.
   2. On the SharePoint Portal Server Central Administration for ServerName page, click List and manage portal sites under Portal Site and Virtual Server Configuration.
   3. Click the arrow next to the portal site, and then click Delete Portal Sites.
   4. Make a note of the names of the databases that are listed in the Associated Databases area of the Delete the PortalSiteName page. The names of the databases are as follows:
      • The name of the content database typically ends in _SITE, as in the following example:

        PortalSiteName_SITE

      • The name of the user profile database typically ends in _PROF, as in the following example:

        PortalSiteName_PROF

      • The name of the services database typically ends in _SERV, as in the following example:

        PortalSiteName_SERV

2. Use the backup and restore tools that are included in SQL Server Enterprise Manager to back up the databases. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Create a new folder on the hard disk to store the databases that you back up.
   2. Start SQL Server Enterprise Manager.
   3. Expand Microsoft SQL Servers, expand the server group, expand the appropriate server, and then expand Databases.
   4. Right-click the database that you want to back up, point to All Tasks, and then click Backup Database.
   5. If a path is displayed in the Destination box, click the path, and then click Remove.
   6. Click Add, and then click File name. Specify both the location of the folder that you created in step 2a and the file name of the backup file. Use a file name that is the same as the name of the database. For example, when you back up the PortalSiteName_PROF database, specify the file name as PortalSiteName_PROF.
   7. Click OK three times.
   8. Click OK when you receive the message that states that the backup operation was successfully completed.
   9. Repeat steps 2d through 2g for each database.
3. Delete the portal site and the databases. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the Delete the PortalSiteName page, click to select the Delete all databases check box. Then, click OK.
   2. On the Delete Portal Site page, click Go to the list and manage of portal sites page.

Step 3: Restore the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 data

Use the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool to restore the portal site. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool.
2. Click the Restore tab.
3. Click Browse next to the Manifest file box.
4. Locate the folder that contains the backup files, click the .xml manifest file, and then click Open.
5. Expand Available components, expand Portal sites, and then click the portal site that you want to restore.
6. Click the SITEDBS item. However, do not click to select the Parameters needed check box. Then, click Edit.
7. In the Portal recovery information dialog box, follow these steps:
   1. In the IIS virtual server and portal Url area, verify that the following conditions are true:
      • The Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 virtual server is set to the appropriate virtual server. For example, the IIS virtual server is set to Default Web Site.
      • The portal URL is set to the URL that you want. For example, the URL is set to http://ServerName.
      • The name of the database server and the names of the content database, the user profile database, and the services database are correct in the Database information area.
   2. Click OK.
8. Verify that the Ready check box is displayed for the SITEDBS item. Then, click to select the Ready check box.
9. Click Restore, and then click OK.
10. Click OK when you receive the message that states that the restore operation was successfully completed.
11. On the File menu, click Exit to quit the SharePoint Portal Server Data Backup and Restore tool.