As the author of the WWW FAQ, I regularly answer questions about the workings of the Web. If a question is frequently asked, I simply add an article to the FAQ. But sometimes a question is more detailed, more in-depth— not really a FAQ, but still of interest to others. You'll find those questions, with my answers, here in Innards along with commentary on other web-technology-related topics.

Q. I am trying to use Flash Video. I uploaded a .flv file (a Flash video file) and set up a Flash video player to display it. But the video doesn't show up on the screen. I investigated and tried to access the file directly with my web browser but still received a 404 File Not Found error. What's the story?

A. Your web site is probably configured not to offer files with a .flv extension. If you are using free hosting, well, that's probably just the way it is. But if you are paying for hosting, talk to your web host and get this resolved.

First, make sure you can't access the file directly with your browser: http://www.example.com/myfile.flv
That should work (as in downloading the file, not necessarily playing video) if myfile.flv is in the same folder with your home page. If you get a "not found" error and the file is definitely there, then your host has configured something wrong (or blocked this on purpose).