Virtual Directory and AJAX

I'ma relative newcomer to ASP.NET and now I'm trying to evaluate ho AJAX might also be of use in some of the websites I do.

HOWEVER, I'm apparently running into "virtual directory" difficulties. (I've searched the first 7 pages of a "virtual directory" search here for AJAX and can find no post that mentions both those terms.)

MY shared hosting service is saying the following:

ASP.NET Ajax is properly installed and set up on the server. We do have other customers using it on this server without issue.

and

I added a virtual directory to the root.
I copied the files from your folder to the folder for the virtual directory.
I have not seen your configuration in DNP as my first concern was to ensure that it was not a server issue and to make sure that Ajax was installed correctly.

and finally:

The configuration for an AJAX application must be in the application root. It cannot be in a subfolder. The \bin folder cannot be off of a subfolder, but must be off of an appication root. This is not unique to Ultima. This is simply how ASP.NET works.
A virtual directory will give you an application root.
A subdomain will give you an application root.

============

I have deployed and tested medium-sized ASP.NET application (without any AJAX) without running into this "application root" barrier. WHY isn't this mentioned in a "deployment" thread here or anywhere in my examination of the documentation? WHERE is the clear "cook-book" for "So you want to deploy your AJAX ASP.NET application?" or would this be too obvious for most?

As a newbie to AJAX, I am severely hampered by what appear to me to be fairly obscure -- but effective -- roadblocks.

mahalos in advance for any GUIDANCE ... :) KevInKauai

He's partially right, but wrong about there being no solution.

If you need your app root to be a subdirectory, you (or probably your host) will need to create an application in that subdirectory, in IIS. That's not an AJAX specific issue, but a .NET requirement. Some hosting control panels allow you to do that, else your host will need to do it in the IIS management console.

Tell him to expand your site in the console, right click the directory that you want to run as the app root, pick properties, then hit the "create" button in the "application settings" section of the window. That should do it.