Web Browsing Tutorial

Decoding Web Browser Errors

Unfortunately, clicking a link or entering a Web address doesn't always get you where you want to go. Getting an error message is an annoying, but inevitable part of browsing the Web. However, knowing what errors mean can often help you get around them.

Generally, when you get an error message, you should first try the easy stuff:

• Click your browser's Reload/Refresh button.

• Check that you've typed the Web address in correctly. And look for commas instead of periods.

Also, if you copied and pasted the address into the Address/Location bar, make sure you copied the full address. While you don't usually need to type http:// to get to a Web site, mistakenly typing ttp:// will definitely get you an error message.

Here are some common error messages and what they mean:

• 400 Bad request Something is wrong with the Web address you entered. It could be that the page you're looking for does not exist, or the server you are contacting does not recognize the address. Check your typing, especially special characters like slashes and colons as well as uppercase letters in the file name.

• 401 Unauthorized/403 Forbidden/Connection refused by host The Web page you're requesting is password-protected, or does not accept visitors from your Internet address. If you entered a password, you may have typed it incorrectly.

• 404 Not found The Web page doesn't exist, or it moved to another location. Try tweaking the Web address to find the page you're looking for. (Hang on, we'll show you how in Tweaking a Web Address.)

• Host unavailable, Unable to locate host, Unable to locate server The Web site may have moved. Try looking for it with a search engine. See Performing a Web Search. Also, check to see if you lost your Internet connection. If so, log back on and try again.

• File Contains No Data The Web page is there, but for some reason it's blank. Try clicking the Reload/Refresh button. Or try the address again later.

• Bad file request This error is associated with Web form pages. Chances are that either your browser does not support the type of form you're trying to use, or there is an error in the form.

• Too Many Connections This error is like a busy signal. Try clicking the Reload/Refresh button, or just try again later.

• Failed DNS lookup The Domain Name System could not find an IP address for the Web address you entered. Try clicking Reload/Refresh. Otherwise check to make sure that you typed the address in correctly—you may have typed the server name wrong.

• Helper Application not found You're requesting a type of file that your browser doesn't recognize (a graphic format, multimedia, or compressed file). You probably need to install a helper application, or plug-in. We'll get to that in Plug in to Multimedia.

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