Internet Errors: What Do the 404 Errors Mean?

It happens all the time. You're wandering down the Information Superhighway, minding your own business, and click a link. After watching your browser sputter and spin for a few minutes, you finally get a generic, dreaded message. You've hit an error page.

Because error pages are usually so generic, they tell us nothing about what we're actually seeing. Has the page been moved? Has the website been taken down? Did you do something wrong?

Honestly, most errors that you'll encounter online are the result of something happening on the server the website you're visiting is on. There are very few things that you can do about it, other than wait a few minutes and try again.

Knowing what the error codes mean, though, can save you a lot of frustration. Here's a quick, easy break down.

Error Codes - Definitions

Error 400: Bad File Request

When you receive this error code, take a second and look at the URL in your address bar. Are there any strange spaces in the address that maybe shouldn't be there? Try removing those spaces and hit the address again.

Usually, this error means that the URL you're using is incorrect in some way. If you're using a link given on a website or in an email, you might be able to get the sender to resend the link.

Error 401: Unauthorized

This error code simply means that you've encountered a web page that has security measures built in. If you've got the username and/or password needed to view the page, try the address again and look carefully at the lower-case and upper-case letters in your details. Most security methods are case sensitive, meaning that it will not recognize LoLa as the same thing as Lola.

Error 403: Forbidden/Access Denied

To avoid a whole discussion about how security works on web servers (the home of websites), let's just say that this error code is basically the same as Error 401. The website is looking for special permission to allow you to view the web page. If you continue encountering this error after providing that permission, you'll want to go ahead and contact the owner of the website for help.

Error 404: File Not Found

This is, by far, the most common error code you're likely to see online. It simply means that the page - whether it was a website page or an actual file (an image, a download, etc.) - can't be found.

There are several reasons that this might happen. If the website owner has moved the page and forgotten to update links (or someone linked to the old page, and not the new one) you'll get this error. You'll also get this error if the URL has been misspelled. Take a look at the URL in your address bar and remove any strange spaces or fix any word misspellings.

When you just really, really want to find that silly page and "fixing" the URL doesn't work, try back-tracking. A typical website URL to a particular page would look something like this: http://www.mywebsite.com/lolaness/examples/long-url-example.html

To backtrack, start removing pieces following the back slash. So, I would start by trying this URL: http://www.mywebsite.com/lolaness/examples/ - and if that didn't work, I'd take it down to http://www.mywebsite.com/lolaness/

Error 408: Request Timeout

If there's an error code that is just plain irritating, it's got to be this one. You'll usually receive this error when you try to access a very large file, or when a website has so many users on it that it's slowing the web server down.

Solution? Patience. Wait a bit - at least 15 minutes, on average - and try again.

Error 500: Internal Server Error

Encountering an Error 500 shouldn't concern you, but it will be a frustration for the website owner. Very simply, it means that something has gone wrong with the server that the website is on. This is usually a coding problem - but what it comes down to is that the website owner or the people they are hosting their website through has some work to do ... probably a good amount of it.

If you're friendly with the website owner, try dropping them an email. Don't use an email address that is on the same server though, or they won't receive it. So, going back to the example URL before, let's say I hit a 500 error code when visiting www.mywebsite.com. If the only email address I have for the owner is me@mywebsite.com, there's nothing I can do. If, however, I have a second email address like me@yahoo.com, I can shoot a line that way and just give the owner a quick heads-up that there's a problem with their site.

In the end, the only solution here is to wait. A while. Seriously, a while. Try again tomorrow, in fact.

Error 502: Service Temporarily Overloaded - or - Service Temporarily Disabled

Some web servers - and web hosts - are simply better than others. And then there's the fact that some websites are just so fantastic that everyone and their dog just has to go see it. At the same time.

When you hit an Error 502, it means that the website you're trying to visit has so many visitors that their server is overloaded. It can't do anything. It's like when you try to run too many programs at the same time on your computer; things will go slower and slower until the computer freezes. The only way to get the computer running well again is to remove some of the programs.

Don't keep hitting refresh when you hit this error. Give the other visitors a few minutes to clear out, and try the site again.

Error 503: Service Unavailable

This error can mean the same thing as 502 ... or it could mean that the website has moved (changed URL's), or that you've lost your Internet connection.

If you hit this error, first look and make sure you're still connected to the Internet. If that isn't the problem, wait a few minutes and try the website again to see if the server was just too busy. Still have the error? Try a quick search on your favorite search engine, then, and see if you can't locate the website hiding out in a new corner of the Internet.