Wampserver shows 404 errors after swapping to using Vhosts - apache

Question

So I was using Wampserver for developing purposes, and I managed to set up the server for developing purposes (it worked with Dreamweaver, PHP worked etc.) but when accessing localhost, I get a 404 error.
I've hardly changed the settings, other than setting it to use that vhosts file, then I made a few new hosts in the hosts file in system 32, which all works fine.
localhost/phpmyadmin does work, however, so I am really stumped as to why it won't load anything. I also tried loading one of the site folders (localhost/Rufus) which also returned a 404. I have all the directories I need pointing to www folder, where all my files are saved.
And before anyone says, no it's not Skype or IIS, as they are both off and Wampserver is running on port 80 (I checked)
My vhosts file:
# Virtual Hosts
#
# Required modules: mod_log_config
# If you want to maintain multiple domains/hostnames on your
# machine you can setup VirtualHost containers for them. Most configurations
# use only name-based virtual hosts so the server doesn't need to worry about
# IP addresses. This is indicated by the asterisks in the directives below.
#
# Please see the documentation at
# <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/vhosts/>
# for further details before you try to setup virtual hosts.
#
# You may use the command line option '-S' to verify your virtual host
# configuration.
#
# VirtualHost example:
# Almost any Apache directive may go into a VirtualHost container.
# The first VirtualHost section is used for all requests that do not
# match a ServerName or ServerAlias in any <VirtualHost> block.
#
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster#dummy-host.example.com
DocumentRoot "c:/Apache24/docs/dummy-host.example.com"
ServerName dummy-host.example.com
ServerAlias www.dummy-host.example.com
ErrorLog "logs/dummy-host.example.com-error.log"
CustomLog "logs/dummy-host.example.com-access.log" common
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster#dummy-host2.example.com
DocumentRoot "c:/Apache24/docs/dummy-host2.example.com"
ServerName dummy-host2.example.com
ErrorLog "logs/dummy-host2.example.com-error.log"
CustomLog "logs/dummy-host2.example.com-access.log" common
</VirtualHost>
<Directory C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www>
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all
</Directory>
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www\Rufus"
ServerName rufus.stone
</VirtualHost>

Answer 1

Remove the sample virtual hosts, assuming you aren't using them. You also need a virtual host for 'localhost' and it must be the first virtual host. After that you can include your other, custom vhosts.
#
# Use name-based virtual hosting.
#
NameVirtualHost *:80
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www"
ServerName localhost
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www\Rufus"
ServerName rufus.stone
</VirtualHost>
If you get a permission denied error try putting the directive I took out into your httpd.conf:
<Directory "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www">
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all
</Directory>
It would go right under a similar directive that includes a Deny from all on the root.
Make sure you always restart Apache whenever you make changes to these files.

Answer 2

The error 404 is saying that you have not granted access to those Virtual Hosts, so Apache is kicking you out.
You need to include with your Virtual Host some information to tell Apache which locations are allowed access to each VHOST
You also need to make localhost a Virtual Host and because the first VHOST is the default VHOST it should really be the first you define, and it should always be limited to allow access only from the local machine.
So see if this works any better.
# Virtual Hosts
#
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www"
ServerName localhost
<Directory "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www">
AllowOverride All
Require local
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
DocumentRoot "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www\Rufus"
ServerName rufus.stone
<Directory "C:\Users\Tom\sites\wamp\www\Rufus>
AllowOverride All
Require local
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Require local says allow access from the PC running WAMPServer only.
If later you want to allow other PC's on your internal network to see the Apache server you can add to that like this, for example.
Require local
Require ip 192.168.1
This, assuming you are on the subnet 192.168.1.? will allow any PC connected to your router (wired or wifi) access to the server.
You should avoid these, unless you actually want the world to access your site
Require all granted
OR the Apache 2.2 syntax, which still works on Apache 2.4
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all