The virtual variable is used to specify a file path/name relative to the base directory of the HTTP server. The file variable is used to specify a file path/name relative to the directory of the current document.

file="cgi-bin/contact.cgi" is relative to the directory of the current document, so if you are at http://domain.com/path/doc.htm then this will effectively be /path/cgi-bin/contact.cgi. I think you want <!--#include virtual="cgi-bin/contact.cgi"--> so you get /cgi-bin/contact.cgi

Alternatively you may need <!--#exec cgi="some_cgi" --> to get it to work.

As already noted SSI needs to be enabled in either a .htaccess file or httpd.conf itself.

# this may work
Options +Includes
AddHandler server-parsed .html

# or this
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
AddType application/x-httpd-cgi .cgi
AddType text/x-server-parsed-html .html
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