How to find a missing page on a web site or circumvent 404 error:
All of us, regular surfers on the net, are familiar with one thing that is a 404 error pages. This annoying thing often pops up on our faces, when we need something really bad! Suppose you are doing an extensive research on the google with subtle key words and advanced search engine features like inurl: , intitle: , allinurl: , etc. etc. And after hours of searching you finally find the web site that might have what you are looking for. You jump into that page only to be bitterly disappointed by a 404 error page, that basically mocks your efforts, saying File Not Found!! Damned frustrating. But do not depair just yet. The page may not have been really deleted after all! It just may still reside in the server, but may be with a different name. Moved to a different location.! Could be. If such is the case you can try the following tricks to locate the missing file or broken link.
Try This:
Refresh the page. Sometimes a 404 is just a mistake. The packets have been lost in the way and have not reached you.
Try This:
Look for obvious spelling errors in the URL. Something unusual. Something that is not supposed to be there. Edit them. Also you should try switching the file extension (i.e. change .htm to .html or vice versa).
Try This:
Go to the site's main page and try to search from there. For most addresses, you would just use the first part of the address:
[http://www.website.com/]
Many online services, free hosting sites, and ISP's use a format similar to this:
[http://members.aol.com/~username/]
In addition, Google and other search engines have a feature in which you can restrict your search to one website. Google toolbar makes your life much easier in such efforts. If you can't find a sub-page that you believe exists, go to Google, type in search words followed by a space and site:website.com. Or go to their "advanced" search page.
Try This:
Back up one level in the URL, and continue backing up until you find something.
[http://www.website.com/george/images/me.jpg]
Erase everything after the last slash in the address, so you're left with:
[http://www.website.com/george/images/]
You may get a page or a directory listing; in either case, you should be able to find what you're looking for or verify that it's gone. If you don't come up with anything at this address, try backing up again:
[http://www.website.com/george/]
Try This:
Try to find an archived version of the page. Google offers an excellent 'cached' facility. If you're searching for a page and it comes up a 404, try clicking the 'cached' link instead. Not only will Google often have a saved copy of the page, they will also highlight your search terms.
The Wayback Machine offers a similar service, in that you can enter a URL and view a page or site 'as it once was'.
Try This:
Write to the webmaster. If nothing else, you'll be doing them a favor by making them aware of the broken link:
webmaster@website.com
Try This:
Write to the webmaster of the referring page, or use their form for reporting broken links. Again, this might not help you find the page you're looking for, but at least you may be saving other people the trouble. Most search engines and directories have an easy way to report broken links.
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