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Isn't it annoying when you go to view
a web page and only half of it loads? Or, perhaps you get a
"page not found" error message? These things
happen all the time and may or may not be because there is
something wrong with the website you went to look for.
The way the internet works is that
when you type into your browser a website address a bunch of
things happen:
~ The request for that
website goes out through your internet access to your internet
provider.
~ Your internet provider's
computers look at the website requested and go out onto the
internet to get it.
~ The request takes 10 to 30
hops (or more) going from server to server across the country (or
even world).
~ The website requested is
found and information gathered!
~ The information about that
site takes 10 to 30 hops (or more) back across the country.
~ The information comes into
your internet providers computers, and...
~ It is sent back to your
computer for you to view!
As you can see, there are a ton of
places along that path that something can go wrong. If even
one of all of those "hops" gets interrupted, then the
website doesn't come in right. All of us with high speed
internet access think it's an instantaneous thing, but in reality
it takes lots of "electronic time" for a website to come
back to us.
So, what do you do when a site
doesn't come in all the way or not at all? Try
again!!!! If you hold down the
"shift-key" and hit the "refresh" or
"reload" button on your browser it will do what's called
a "hard refresh". This means that it will try
to find it all over again from the beginning. If you just
hit "refresh" it may simply try to load the same
piecemeal page it did before. But, a hard refresh will get
it if it's available. If it's not available, come back in a
few minutes. If even one server along the path doesn't
process the information right (including your own internet
access), then it won't show it to you.
The internet is a complex web of
servers that span the world. Glitches do occur, but a
"hard refresh" can help you get their quicker and more
complete!
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