Problem:
You can't access a website that you used to be able to
access, but you can access any other website.Discussion:
There are three things to consider when this type of
problem occurs. The server is currently down for upgrades
and repairs, the server does not exist on the Internet
anymore, or cached files from that site on your system
are corrupted.
The easiest way to tell if a site still exists is to
ask another Internet user to go to the site and see what
happens. If the other user cannot access the website
either, there is nothing you can do but wait to see if
the site comes back online at a later date. If the other
user can access the site, odds are you have a corrupted
cache.
Web broswers cache the pages you access. This makes
frequently accessed pages faster to download. Problems
can occur when the cached files become corrupted.
Fortunately, this problem has a simple fix - purge the
cache.
In both major web browsers there is a utility to purge
(aka delete) the cache files.
Solution 1 - Purging the cache
In Netscape Navigator 3.x and below:
- Open the browser, go to the Options menu and select
Network Preferences.
- Click on the "Clear memory cache now" and
"Clear disk cache now" buttons.
- Click on ok, then try accessing the problem website.
In Netscape Communicator 4.x:
- Open the browser, go to the Edit menu and select
Preferences. Click on the plus beside
"advanced". This will expand the available
options. Click on Cache.
- Click on the "Clear memory cache now" and
"Clear disk cache now" buttons.
- Click on ok, then try accessing the problem website.
In Internet Explorer 3.x:
- Open the browser, go to View and select Options. Click
on the Advanced tab.
- Click on the Settings button.
- Click on the Empty Folder button and select Yes.
- Click on Ok twice, then try accessing the problem
website.
In Internet Explorer 4.x:
- Open the browser, go to View and select Internet
Options.
- Click on the Delete Files button, Click on "Delete
all subscription content" and click on Ok.
- Click on ok, then try accessing the problem website.
Solution 2 - Editing the hosts
file
The hosts file contains a reference of IP and domain
names. Normally this hosts file is empty, but sometimes
invalid enteries are stored there. To remove the
incorrect enteries, use the following steps:
- Go to the Start menu and select Run. Type in command
and hit enter.
- type: edit c:\windows\hosts
- locate the domain name of the problem site, and delete
the entire line. Note: this entry may or may not exist.
- Type <alt>, then <f>, then <x>. If
you made any changes, select yes when prompted.
- type exit to return to windows.
- Reboot the machine and try accessing the problem site.
If neither of these solutions works, odds are that the
problem is at the other end. There is nothing you can do
to solve this problem.
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