# Nagging IE problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406 "2003-07-18T15:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/1 "2003-07-18T15:39:07Z")
Hopefully someone here can help with this problem. Sometimes when using IE (version 6.0), random pages just won’t display, and I get the “Cannot find server” page. I know these pages are working find, because I’m able to open them in other browsers, and if I restart my computer, I’m able to open them in IE. Anyone know what could be causing this problem? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/2 "2003-07-18T15:45:57Z")
For starters (as everyone else will say) clear your cache. You may have gone to that page once before and received that (legit) error. Then everytime you try it again, IE is pulling it off your hard drive. Find a site that does it, reset your cache and try it again. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/3 "2003-07-18T15:47:38Z")
Thanks Joey, but I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/4 "2003-07-18T16:01:21Z")
If you’re using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the problem may be down to ‘negative’ DNS caching. This site [http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3384507,00.html](http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,3384507,00.html) has solutions. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/5 "2003-07-18T16:06:14Z")
Hmmm. I’m using Windows 98. Do you think this may still apply? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/6 "2003-07-18T19:22:03Z")
If you use the “refresh” icon on the browser it will retrieve the cite from the web and not your cache. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/7 "2003-07-18T21:54:23Z")
That would be a soft refresh. In Netscape you push shift when you push refresh to do a full refresh. I forgot what key you use in IE for that, probably CTRL or ALT… ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/8 "2003-07-18T22:36:49Z")
Hmm … seems like when I was developing JavaScripts all I would need to do is hit the refresh button to get the page reloaded from the server. Maybe I had to do more than that, it’s been awhile. I might have set my cache to zero too. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/9 "2003-07-19T22:31:23Z")
None of the refresh options work. Even if I close and restart IE, or if I empty the cache, it still comes back with the same “Cannot Find Server” page. The only thing that corrects the problem is restarting the computer. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/10 "2003-07-20T02:20:40Z")
If restarting the computer fixes the problem, it sounds like a system software bug to me. Make sure you download and install all the latest system updates (I know this takes forever and is a royal pain in the butt, but if fixing this problem is that important to you …). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/11 "2003-07-20T02:24:30Z")
Also try the System File Checker. You can find it under Start \> Programs \> Accessories \> System Tools \> System Information. Under the Tools menu, click System File Checker, and follow the prompts. Have your Windows 98 installation CD handy, in case it finds corrupt or missing system files that need to be restored. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/12 "2003-07-20T13:08:50Z")
Thanks for the suggestions, ccwaterback and Q.E.D. I’ll give those a try first thing Monday morning. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nagging-ie-problem/189406/13 "2003-07-20T13:14:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*That would be a soft refresh. In Netscape you push shift when you push refresh to do a full refresh. I forgot what key you use in IE for that, probably CTRL or ALT… \*\* F5 (or CTRL-R) does the trick, but it just seems to reload the HTML. Shift-F5 (or holding down Shift while hitting the reload button) is a hard refresh, and will re-retrieve everything on the whole page.