GoDaddy: uploading a .htaccess file

[JackESon]

I am trying to get a .htaccess (to redirect non-www to www) file to work on my GoDaddy web server. I created a .htaccess file and uploaded it to my root directory. When I load it directly into the “/”, it gives a 500 server error.

So I created a .htacess directory (in the root), and tried loading it there. It does not work, i.e., my website is visible, but no redirect. Note: I waited an hour for the server to cache=nothing.

Here is the code I Used:

Options +FollowSymLinks (I tried with and without this line)

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301, L]

Of course, I put my site in where it says "example."

I checked the URL of the access file and it reads:
ftp://websiteowner@xx.xx.xxx.xxx/.htaccess (my GoDaddy account)

There is one other .htaccess file in the root under "stats" (directory).
According to the FTP, it is (?) not active. It only has "Options +Indexes" written in the file, nothing else.

Any suggestions on why nothing is working?

[JackESon]

It appeared to be a server-side issue. The tech (helped) did some things on their end. The original code (slightly modified) is now working.