Ask Mike: 404 Errors
Hey Guys,
They’re not as aggravating as the infamous “blue screen of death,” but 404 errors can still ruin a web surfer’s day. I don’t come across as many of ‘em as I used to, but I still thought it might be interesting to learn where the name came from.
I asked the community if there was some sort of significance to the number “404,” and got a slew of great responses. Most folks explained that the number 404 is a kind of code that indicates, to those who bother to learn the code, what exactly the problem might be.
In the case of the 404, the first “4″ indicates a client error. As a community member puts it, “the server is saying that you’ve done something wrong, such as misspell the URL or request a page which is no longer there.” The middle “0″ indicates a general syntax error. According to 404 Research Labs, a site used by several responders, this could indicate a spelling mistake. The last “4″ indicates the specific type of error “within the ‘40x’ group.” As one source puts it, the 404 status message is used “when the server does not wish to reveal exactly why the request has been refused, or when no other response is applicable.”
Long story short, there is a method to the madness. A responder who works in the IT field writes that there are “standards for everything, including error messages.” For example, while a 4xx error indicates a client error, a 5xx message indicates a server error, a 3xx message indicates a redirect, and so forth.
So, there you go, the mystery of the 404 has been solved thanks to you guys. Maybe now I won’t be as annoyed when I come across these errors. But probably not.
Thanks for reading,
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Interesting article/answers.
I haven’t gotten a ‘blue screen of death’ but i my computer freezes a lot, and yeah, you bet that’s aggravating. >_< especially when you’re trying to scrap up information for a science essay in the last minute. It sucks.
Yeah, I knew some of this already. They don’t really bother me anymore. What really bothers me is when Yahoo Answers starts taking way too many breathers.
I agree to the fullest.
BSOD is scary. But I prefer 404 errors, even though it sucks.
interesting. i happen to get these a lot and its really annoying. interesting to know where the error name came from.
haha. The famous blue screen of death! In my school, the teachers decided to get toshiba laptop for every student to use and we had something basically equivalent; the blinking amber light of death… or bald.
does that mean that there are 504 errors and the like?
Thanks, I’ve always wondered where it got its name…
kewl dude, thanks 404040404040404040404 lolz
Hey, that always happens to me too! But that’s not the problem. It happens when I search items on Google and click on the links! It always shows: “404 error. The site domain was not found” It’s so frustrating!!!
WTF!!?
What about this Error Code 999 ??????????????????
Can someone explain THAT ONE to me ??????????????????????
I would really LOVE to know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was an interesting question! And now I know what they stand for.
Odds are though I’m still going to smash my computer when I come across one of those blasted “404 Not Found” errors… but now I know what they mean.
Thanks for posting the question!
A shameful column to post with all the bad links, bugs, and errors in Yahoo Answers. Mike and the Yahoo Staff should just stay away from IT subjects, since they are anything but experts and worse,anything but forthcoming.
great but i really wanted some holiday homework answers.well it was great mike thanks for that.
Thanks for asking! This was a really great question, and I learned something!
IM’A TOUCH THE SKY!
wht is the real meaning of love 2 u
interesting. i happen to get these a lot and its really annoying. interesting to know where the error name came from.
the fact that the guy who wrote this little article actually had to look around and ask people about it indicates his lack of knowledge in this field. he should stick to non-computer topics.
i’ve been coding server daemons in the early 90’s. if you want good tech articles, let me know and i’ll take over. hah.
i meant “since the early 90’s” wtf no edit button?
I know very well what culpablys is the servers what we having on ours computers.
Customers what supossed her mission is driving
but some like be bad and yes, share this format error404 no found, etc, etc.
People what work in adove or in somes webs, when theyrs no like some guy disturbe her brownsers seachs, reason i selected very well my searchs brownsers, and care very well how are serving on my computer……..
I’m on a mac so I never get any errors!
I haven’t gotten the “Blue Screen of Death” since Windows 98, but I do remember 404. I usually would see “404 file not found”.
Informative, thanks for the post.
I’m not making any mistakes, it does all the time when I backspace. It’s making me not like yahoo answers so much cause its much harder to navigate.
i’ve never gotten a blue screen of death i guesss i’ve always had healthy computwe except for my VGA lol
I haven’t gotten the “Blue Screen of Death” since Windows 98, but I do remember 404. I usually would see “404 file not found”.
Thanks for asking! This was a really great question, and I learned something!
A shameful column to post with all the bad links, bugs, and errors in Yahoo Answers. Mike and the Yahoo Staff should just stay away from IT subjects, since they are anything but experts and worse,anything but forthcoming.
On my site, that errors is actually personalized. My e401, “you don’t have permission to go here”, is personalized too.
How about the NEXT blog be about the 999 error that Yahoo generates – or perhaps we could have one entitled “Your Report Matter”
;););)
Here’s a handy tutorial I wrote for making the most out of your 404 pages by customizing them.
Drive more traffic with custom error pages.
http://natebal.com/journal/2008/01/25/seo-tip-use-custom-error-pages-to-drive-traffic/
the 404 error happens to me too, but ill type i google for example, and three of them will open hmselves up i new tabs. And google appears too. Theyre like pop ups,and I havent been to any unusual sites or anything.
it is really frustrating.
A 404 error doesn’t mean, “the server does not wish to reveal exactly why the request has been refused, or [...] no other response is applicable.”
“404 Not Found” means exactly what it says. The resource you requested was not found.
Actually, the inventors of the HTTP protocol did NOT say 40x is a group.
There are hidden requests behind the codes, FTP, SMTP, POP and more. Those codes were saved from them, along time ago it was all TELe communications NETwork and Disk Operating Systems. All through, usually back then it was through one port in small systems, thats why they used protocols, otherwise they might as well called them ports. Nowadays we use protocols on seperate ports and error codes were seperated to different protocols. Leaving a bunch of numbers that didn’t mean a thing to each other in sequence.
Thanks.
By CybX Systems – ASP.NET MVP
Of course, since 1.1 came out they added relevance.
Not Found = Not Found
Also, I eat broccoli.
Whatever it means it’s a pain in the arse when it pops up.
“How about the NEXT blog be about the 999 error that Yahoo generates – or perhaps we could have one entitled “Your Report Matter”
;););)”
ROFL!
I second kr_toronto’s suggestion
You finally answered question that bugged for the last four months.
“Done something wrong” as in “ask for a question that is no longer there”.
Well… WHERE did I get the LINK, then?
“Done something wrong” is typical Yahoo! speak.
How about this…
When Yahoo! deletes a question, they DELETE it?
Then, we won’t “ask for a question that isn’t there”.