An error was encountered. Please return to the previous page and try again.

If you are trying to use the ASP.NET website administration tool and are getting a web page stating “An error was encountered. Please return to the previous page and try again.” it is possible that you have the same error as me (see below). Another symptom is clicking on the “How do I use this tool?” link and being presented with a message stating “Tool Has Timed Out”.

It would appear that Microsoft, in its wisdom, has developed a tool that cannot handle the path of the web application it is designed to administer containing non-standard characters. Or spaces. To fix, simply copy your solution to a path that doesn’t contain any non-standard characters. Or spaces.

eg. Changing C:\Will (Not.) Work\see.sln to C:\WillWork\see.sln

It’s an easy fix to a problem most likely created by a tool both from, and within, Microsoft.