Web site display problem

[cranheim]

A strange problem developed on my Dell machine running windows xp, Internet
Explorer 6, and Prodigy Internet for my internet access. There is only one
web site that fails. It is the "Garden Web" site. If I start out clearing
the temporary internet files and the cookie for that site, I can display one
of the posts on this forum. When I back up to the index and try to display
another post, it looks like it starts loading the new post, but stops with a
blank text screen. I can display the first post because it is in temporary
storage, but no new ones until I clear the temporary storage and the garden
web cookie. I go to other web sites that operate in a similar fashion that
never fail. This is the only site I have this problem with. It work fine
from my Gateway running windows 98. I did not make any changes to my machine
prior to this problem coming on. I have all the latest windows fixes
installed. I ran the latest virus scan, scan disk(C), defrag. Nothing
helped. I even did a restore to an earlier date when the problem wasn't
there, and it still failed. I have compared the internet options between the
Gateway and the Dell and really can't see any thing that is basically
different. I increased the temporary internet space all the way to 1000mb.
It seems like my machine will only allow one text window from this site,
then I have to clear out everything. How can this be? Charles Ranheim

[Sharon F]

cranheim wrote:
> A strange problem developed on my Dell machine running windows xp,
Internet
> Explorer 6, and Prodigy Internet for my internet access. There is only one
> web site that fails. It is the "Garden Web" site. If I start out clearing
> the temporary internet files and the cookie for that site, I can display
one
> of the posts on this forum. When I back up to the index and try to display
> another post, it looks like it starts loading the new post, but stops with
a
> blank text screen. I can display the first post because it is in temporary
> storage, but no new ones until I clear the temporary storage and the
garden
> web cookie. I go to other web sites that operate in a similar fashion that
> never fail. This is the only site I have this problem with. It work fine
> from my Gateway running windows 98. I did not make any changes to my
machine
> prior to this problem coming on. I have all the latest windows fixes
> installed. I ran the latest virus scan, scan disk(C), defrag. Nothing
> helped. I even did a restore to an earlier date when the problem wasn't
> there, and it still failed. I have compared the internet options between
the
> Gateway and the Dell and really can't see any thing that is basically
> different. I increased the temporary internet space all the way to 1000mb.
> It seems like my machine will only allow one text window from this site,
> then I have to clear out everything. How can this be? Charles Ranheim

If similiar sites work as you say ... it's *very* possible that the problem
is at the site and not on your system.

By the way, I just tried the site and the problem is exactly as you
describe - the error is on their end, not yours. If you want to use this
resource, you should contact their webmaster to alert them about their
message board problems.



--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User

[cranheim]

Sharon,

It looked like I fixed the problem with my machine by clearing all the
cookies using the IE Tools/Options along with clearing the temp internet
files. I had been clearing only the cookie for the web site along with the
temp internet files. Perhaps clearing all the cookies initializes something
so it will continue to work. The part that I don't understand is that you
had the same problem. I sent a post to the gardenweb site to ask if anyone
else had seen the problem. Six responded and reported no problems. One of
them also had a Dell running windows xp. Is it possible the problem got
resolved at the far end at exactly the same time I did my thing? I could
re-create the problem over and over until I cleared all the cookies, then it
worked. Strange thing! Thanks for your response. Charles Ranheim

[cranheim]

Sharon,

Maybe you are right about the problem being remote. It (the problem)
just came back and I can't fix it by clearing out all the cookies as I did
before. I guess I will just have to wait and see. If you get a chance to try
it again let me know. It is back to where I can read one post after clearing
the cookies and internet temp files. This is driving me nuts!! Charles
Ranheim

[Sharon F]

cranheim wrote:
> Sharon,
>
> Maybe you are right about the problem being remote. It (the problem)
> just came back and I can't fix it by clearing out all the cookies as I did
> before. I guess I will just have to wait and see. If you get a chance to
try
> it again let me know. It is back to where I can read one post after
clearing
> the cookies and internet temp files. This is driving me nuts!! Charles
> Ranheim

I just went back to the site. I used IE to block cookies to eliminate that
as a source of the problem.
Had no problems.

Re-enabled cookies, no problem again.

I'm beginning to think the problem is due to a bandwidth (it *is* spring and
they're probably swamped with seasonal visitors). When too many users are
connected, it becomes sluggish to the point that you can not bring up new
pages. There should probably be a time out message delivered but for some
reason even that does not show up.


--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User

[cranheim]

Sharon F,

I cleared all the cookies and temp internet files again, and everything
has been working for quite a while. On the last failure, I went into the
internet options and reduced the size of the temporary disk space because I
made it very large before to see if it would prevent the problem. It failed
the next time I logged on to the web site. I probably should have cleared
the temporary file and the cookies after this change. I also wrote to the
Web site to see if they were aware of any problems. They were quite
defensive about the whole thing. This was the response:

Charles,
About 1.5 million people visit this site a month. The problems people
encounter, like yours, are usually unique, or unique to those using a
particular browser version, etc.

The code on this site is relatively simple and straight-forward and has
essentially been in use since 1995. I address problems attributable to my
code immediately.

MicroSoft's products, on the other hand, are needlessly complex, have
fundamental changes in code with each version and the problems aren't
usually solved until the next version...

If clearing the temp files has any effect, the problem must be on your end.
Those files have nothing to do with this site, they are created entirely by
your browser.

Try using Netscape.

Take care,

Spike Hernandez, Webmaster

Charles Ranheim

[Sharon F]

Interesting response from them. Regardless of where the blame is or is not
(who knows, maybe their webhosting company is having troubles with their
servers), the fact remains that this is the *only* web message board that
you have problems with. That should tell you something. Specifically, that
the problem is not on your end.


--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User

cranheim wrote:
> Sharon F,
>
> I cleared all the cookies and temp internet files again, and
everything
> has been working for quite a while. On the last failure, I went into the
> internet options and reduced the size of the temporary disk space because
I
> made it very large before to see if it would prevent the problem. It
failed
> the next time I logged on to the web site. I probably should have cleared
> the temporary file and the cookies after this change. I also wrote to the
> Web site to see if they were aware of any problems. They were quite
> defensive about the whole thing. This was the response:
>
> Charles,
> About 1.5 million people visit this site a month. The problems people
> encounter, like yours, are usually unique, or unique to those using a
> particular browser version, etc.
>
> The code on this site is relatively simple and straight-forward and has
> essentially been in use since 1995. I address problems attributable to my
> code immediately.
>
> MicroSoft's products, on the other hand, are needlessly complex, have
> fundamental changes in code with each version and the problems aren't
> usually solved until the next version...
>
> If clearing the temp files has any effect, the problem must be on your
end.
> Those files have nothing to do with this site, they are created entirely
by
> your browser.
>
> Try using Netscape.
>
> Take care,
>
> Spike Hernandez, Webmaster
>
> Charles Ranheim