- Retry the Web Page - It is possible that something
occurred to make the web page look like it was no longer available
when we at KMFMS last checked it, but that the web page is, in fact,
available now. For instance, the web page owner might have moved the
page to a different URL forgetting to leave an appropriate forwarding
address only to correct the problem later. The web page was originally
available at:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/BUSINESS/UPDATES/lat_microsoft0410.htm
Even if the web page is not at its original location, sometimes it
will have moved to a different location within the website that can
be found via a little browsing or searching if the website has a
search feature.
In any case, if you do find that the we page is available again, please
let us know.
- Contact the Website Owner - The website owner may have an
archived copy of the web page available and readers expressing
interest in it may provide the necessary motivation to republish it.
At the very least, being contacted by dis-satisfied readers will
hopefully encourage the website owner to design future URLs with
longevity in mind so that people are not inadvertently discouraged
from linking to the site. You can attempt to locate the website owner
by using the original URL as a starting point:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/BUSINESS/UPDATES/lat_microsoft0410.htm
- Check the Wayback Machine - The Wayback Machine is a very useful
tool that can show snapshots of how various web pages appeared at various
times in the past. It is possible that a particular web page will not
be listed in the Wayback Machine for a variety of reasons (such as the
website owner requesting that it not be listed), but it is certainly worth
a try. You can attempt to access archived copies of the requested page
using the Wayback machine at the following URL:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/BUSINESS/UPDATES/lat_microsoft0410.htm
- Check Google's Cache - Google's cache allows you to view what
a web page looked like when the Google crawler last visited it. This
won't be as comprehensive as the Wayback Machine, but it is likely to
be more recent and may contain certain pages that the Wayback machine
doesn't. You can attempt to access archived copies of the requested page
using Google's cache at the following URL:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2FHOME%2FNEWS%2FBUSINESS%2FUPDATES%2Flat_microsoft0410.htm
- Check Google's Links - Chances are, other web pages also linked
to the missing web page that you tried to access. It's also possible that
the owner of one these other web pages may have already researched what
happened to the missing web page and updated his own web page with a link
to the missing web page's new home (or even a mirrored copy). Once again,
Google comes in handy by showing the pages that linked to the missing
web page at last check:
http://www.google.com/search?q=link%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2FHOME%2FNEWS%2FBUSINESS%2FUPDATES%2Flat_microsoft0410.htm
- Heavy Duty Search Engine Research - When all else fails, a
fallback option is to use the clues that can be gathered regarding the web page's
content from the above recommendations and from any other sources and
then to perform common search engine research for the content.
In some cases, mirrors of the content may be available. In other cases,
while the original content may not be easily located, similar content
might also be uncovered which will provide sufficiently similar
information.