Why does this happen sometimes

October 23, 2006 10:32 AM

Lately I have been having problems at various internet sites (even Hotmail) - when I visit a site sometimes the page opens up and there is nothing but gibberish...like this - it fills the entire page "542 ‹ì=kWÛÈ’ŸÃ9ûújvÀœ1~ŒÁ$à8‰µÉι?ÅÚbPÛžë¦i9Urçº!KJ¡Á¢Â0NžtÛš8 ESµVª" - Why is this happening - is it a hardware or software problem? Sometimes I can bring the site page back to normal by hitting the refresh button but other times I just keep getting the above nonsense even after hitting refrsh several times. Thanks in advance in the event that anyone provides an answer.
posted by DonM to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Some more details about your setup would help. What type of computer do you have, what browser do you use, how do you connect to the internet?
posted by tkolar at 10:58 AM on October 23, 2006

Some basic items to do in order:

1. Clear your browsers cache.

2. Check your language settings.

3. Update your network card drivers.

4. Try a different browser like Firefox or Opera and see if you get the same results.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:16 AM on October 23, 2006

I am using the Avant browser - when this first started happening - I also thought that it might be a browser issue so then I tried using Opera but the problem flared up again (it is a sporadic problem but it does happen daily).

There have been no hardware upgrades to my computer since I put in a new hardrive 2 years ago (I have been using this computer for 5 years now.... a p-4 Celeron (1.8).

Sometimes after it happens and if the refresh button does not do it for me - I close out the browser and reopen it - and when I go back to that same site - it works perfectly.
posted by DonM at 1:52 PM on October 23, 2006

This might be packet corruption due to an MTU size that is too large. Check your Windows settings, router, and modem for this.
posted by aye at 2:18 PM on October 23, 2006

aye wrote...
This might be packet corruption due to an MTU size that is too large. Check your Windows settings, router, and modem for this.

It is extraordinarily unlikely to be network packet corruption in HTTP over TCP/IP. The corruption pretty much has to be happening either on the server or his box. I would guess it's on his box.

I would say your OS is corrupted in some bizarre fashion. I would go for a re-install in your shoes.
posted by tkolar at 4:44 PM on October 23, 2006

I had similar bizzare problems with various websites; eventually it turned out my router was too old and the firmware was out of date. Bought a new router, and it's all a-ok now.
posted by vjz at 9:48 PM on October 23, 2006