how do i block directories or redirect incorrect browsing?

for example:

http://www.address.com/folder_1/index.html
would show an html page

but if i just set

http://www.address.com/folder_1/
i’ll just get a folder access to every file. 

I don’t like the folder access.  I want the page to either show an error or redirect to the front page

That’s done on the server. If it’s running Linux, use a .htaccess file, if it’s on Windows, contact the system admin. The poor man’s way of doing it is just to put a blank index.html file in each directory you don’t want access to.

create an .htaccess
and add option
“Options -Indexes “
to prevent directory from being shown.

I know for my brother’s website there was just an option in the sites control panel which I just came across and so selected.  I think the servers run linux so I’m sure it just does the .htaccess for you.

thanks all!