apache not finding virtual document root ver 1.3.26

["justin cunningham" <justincunningham@directvinternet.com>]

Hello list, please reply to email in addition to list.   

I can't for the life of me figure out why apache won't serve/find the
virtual document root and why /var/log/apache/error.log shows 'error
file does not exist /usr/htdocs/'

this use to work fine. lately i've been working with mail packages
however this is the only thing I've modified on the server so why would
apache forget it's serving virualhosts?  

I removed all mail packages, purged and re-added apache and have the
same set-up running on another server without any problems at all.  I
even copied over its httpd.conf file to the not-working server and get
the same errors.

What would make apache want to look for /usr/anything for a document
root?  by default it's /var/www/. it's completely ignoring the
vituralhost with and without the NameVirtualHost

I've spent hours trying to work this out going through basic
troubleshooting so i'm hoping someone can help me figure this out. 

Thanks, Justin