INTERNET ERRORS UNDONE
Issue 12, August 2000
By Marie Gallagher
Graphic Design & Support

Bad Request! Unauthorized! Forbidden! Not very friendly but don't take it personally. Error messages are not slaps on the wrists for something you did wrong. It's the computers translation of a conflict of instructions. The question is what do they mean and what's to be done about it? The following is a list of some common errors and how to handle them. But first, when encountering an error, try these, as most errors can be fixed by following these two simple rules. 1) Check for typing errors. Unix knows the difference between uppercase and lowercase so check that the URL you typed in is exactly how it is supposed to be typed in. 2) Try again, temporary delays and errors go with the territory. For example: When I'm posting a site to go live, there is sometimes a delay of about 15 seconds as I move files around. If you try to transfer data at that point, you'll get an error message. In which case, trying again would get you to the correct page. Sometimes all that's needed is for 15 seconds of time to pass and your there.

404 - Not found
The server that hosts the site can't find the HTML document at the end of the URL. It may be a case of a mistyped URL or the page may not exist anymore.

What can you do about it?
Try going up one level (deleting the last part of the URL to the nearest slash) to see if the site is live. If that doesn't work try deleting the last slash and type .html or .htm instead and see where that gets you.

Unable to Locate the Server.
You have either mistyped the URL, or the server the page your looking for is on, no longer exists.

What can you do about it?
Enter the URL again, this time looking at the keyboard as you type. If that doesn't get you anywhere check your source to verify that the URL is correct.

Unable to Locate Host
The server may be down for maintenance, or you may have lost the connection (your modem disconnected).

What can you do about it?
Hit the Reload button first. This is often a blip in the Net. Check the URL for typos then hit Reload again.

403 - Forbidden
You may not be allowed to access this document, probably because it's password-protected.

What can you do about it?
If you know the password, try again, carefully. If you don't know the password and think you might be eligible for one, contact the site's Webmaster.