_layout directory: Page cannot be Found.

After making changes to the web.config file through IIS and the ASP.NET 2.0 Application Configuration utility, any aspx page that resides in the _layouts virtual directory returns a "Page cannot be Found" error. Apparently the configuration utility hard codes the v2.0 schema to the configuration segment. ASP.NET reads in the xml with the particular schema...ignores the v3.0 (Sharepoint stuff) and breaks the application. Simply removing the (xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0") from the segment cures the problem.

Simple fix--forever to find!