Obviously one would want to test dashCommerce before deploying to a public service provider. In order to do this one needs a Web Server. However most of us don't want to fork out money for a separate server. Fortunately Microsoft has supplied a webserver on our local machine, it's called Internet Information Services or IIS, which allows us to run a website on it.
Initially IIS is turned off. If you know that IIS has been turned on, then skip this step. Go to Start/Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs. When the dialog opens click the button Add/Remove Windows Components. Scroll down until you see Internet Information Services (IIS). Check this box, click Next and Save.
Decide whether you want to use dashCommerce WebReady or dashCommerce with Source. If you use the source code version you will need Visual Studio and programming knowledge to compile it. You will also need to read the Readme.txt file and a lot of Forum posts.
If you use the WebReady version you do not need the .sln file nor the source code .cs files. Simply extract the zip file to a location such as: C:\MyApps\dashCommerce.
Now open the IIS Manager. There are several ways to do this. The easiest being Start then Run. In the text box type inetmgr <enter>. If this does not work for you, do a web search for IIS Manager where you will find other ways of doing this.
On the left pane, expand the local computer, there should be a directory Web Sites. Expand this too. You might see Default Web Site. Right click on this and a drop down list will open and there should an item "New". If you can't find "New" you're in the wrong place. Hover over New and click on Virtual Directory. Click Next. Under "Alias" type in a name for this directory, and keep it simple as you will be using this in your URL. Click Next.
Under "Directory" enter C:\MyApps\dashCommerce or wherever you have placed the code. Click Next. Under Access Permissions check Read, Write and Run Scripts. Click Next and Finish. Do not close the IIS Manager just yet.
Open up a Windows Explorer (File Browser), and go to C:\InetPub. This folder is your IIS . Click on wwwroot. Compare the files in wwwroot with the files listed in IIS Manager. Notice that your directory is missing in Windows Explorer but visible in IIS Manager. This is why it is called a Virtual Directory!
When you go to run your application you don't have to type in the entire path to your code, you will be using the virtual directory.
Open up an Internet Browser and in the URL box type http://localhost/ABC/install/install.aspx where ABC is the name of your virtual directory. If all went well you will be presented with the dashCommerce Site Installation page. Follow the directions on this page and good luck.