apache localhost sites opening in Firefox, but not IE or Safari?

Question

I'm running WAMP on Vista and have Apache virtual hosts and my hosts file all set up to allow me to test sites locally using an address like this:

http://testsitex.localhost:8080

Only problem is, it only works in Firefox. IE and Safari (currently the only other browsers I've tried, and the two I'm most concerned about) display an an error.

I'm not currently in front of my machine but the error is something along the lines of:

502 Bad Gateway Problem with DNS Host Lookup

Can anybody tell me what's going on?

Answer 1

Have you put testsitex.localhost into your HOSTS files?

Answer 2

I would try changing it from testsitex.localhost to testsite.loc and see if you have the same problem. Alternatively, try pinging it from the command prompt, and see if you're seeing the same problem.

Another thing might be that Firefox ignores the windows proxy, whereas IE and Safari likely use the default windows proxy (settings -> control panel -> internet -> connections -> lan settings). If your proxy doesn't have the hosts file, this would explain it.