title: Apache mod_rewrite issue with WAMP - shows Error 404 Not found - Joomla 1.5.14 with SEF URL
body: <p>I am newbie to Joomla and WAMP environiment. I am using WAMP environment:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Win Srv 2003 R2 (Std Ed) with SP2 and all recent updates</li>
  <li>Apache 2.2.9</li>
  <li>PHP 5.2.6</li>
  <li>Joomla 1.5.14</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I want to enable mod_rewrite with Joomla SEF URL but it is not working together. </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>If I set 'SEF URLs' and 'Add suffix to URLs' as Yes it works.<br>
  Result: <code>/index.php/page.html</code></p></li>
  <li><p>If I set 'mod_rewrite' and 'Add suffix to URLs' as Yes it doesn't give any error (not sure if it works the way it suppose to or not).<br>
  Result: <code>/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=3&amp;Itemid=5</code></p></li>
  <li><p>If I set 'SEF URLs' and 'mod_rewrite' as Yes than it give me "404 Not Found" error.<br>
  Result: <em>Not Found | The requested URL <code>/pagename</code> was not found on this server</em></p></li>
  <li><p>If I set 'SEF URLs' + 'mod_rewrite' + 'Add suffix to URLs' as Yes than it gives me "404 Not Found" error.<br>
  Result: <em>Not Found | The requested URL <code>/pagename.html</code> was not found on this server</em></p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I  am using the default .htaccess provided by Joomla the code is as follows:</p>
  
  <pre> 
  
  ##  Can be commented out if causes errors, see notes above.
  Options +FollowSymLinks
  
  #
  #  mod_rewrite in use
  
  RewriteEngine On
  
  
  ########## Begin - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits
  ## If you experience problems on your site block out the operations listed below
  ## This attempts to block the most common type of exploit `attempts` to Joomla!
  #
  # Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|\%3D) [OR]
  # Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*\(.*\) [OR]
  # Block out any script that includes a  tag in URL
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\|%3E) [NC,OR]
  # Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
  # Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL
  RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
  # Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error!
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]
  #
  ########## End - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits
  
  #  Uncomment following line if your webserver's URL
  #  is not directly related to physical file paths.
  #  Update Your Joomla! Directory (just / for root)
  
   RewriteBase /abc  
  # /abc is a sub-directory of joomla install in htdocs
  
  ########## Begin - Joomla! core SEF Section
  #
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index.php
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (/|\.php|\.html|\.htm|\.feed|\.pdf|\.raw|/[^.]*)$  [NC]
  RewriteRule (.*) index.php
  RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},L]
  #
  ########## End - Joomla! core SEF Section
  
  
  </pre>
  
  <p><br /></p>
  
  <p>In httpd.conf</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>I have <code>LoadModule rewrite_module  modules/mod_rewrite.so</code> active (uncommented <code>#</code>)</li>
  <li>It has <em>mod_rewrite.so</em> in Apache's <em>modules</em> folder.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I am not sure what else I need to do to make it work. I have checked almost all the forums' posts and blogs. However nothing is helping.</p>
  
  <p>I also have PHP_MAILER issue but that is not as important as this is. I appreciate your help. Please let me know if you need more details to solve this problem.</p>
  
  <p>Kind Regards</p>
  
  <p>DM</p>