For close to about 30-40% of the pages that I try to visit, my IE gives me the "This page cannot be displayed" error message, and it doesnt come back if I press refresh. What can i do to fix this, its driving me nuts!

what'* your isp, and what'* your internet security zone set at?

isp - prairieinet
security zone - was custom, now set to low.

Do a running ping to your ISP'* DNS (your main DNS address) and check the packet loss.

how do i do that?

In Win98, go to Start-->Programs-->MSDOS Prompt. It may be in Programs-->Accessories, or in Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools.

In Win2k and WinXP, go to Start-->Run...--> and type "cmd" without the quotation marks.

In the command prompt window, type "ipconfig /all", again without the quotation marks, and all lower case. Find where it says "Primary DNS" or just "DNS" and take note of the first number in there, which will look something like this: 205.153.244.1.

Now type "ping 205.153.244.1 -t", again without the quotation marks, and all lower case, where the IP address is the one that you took note. Watch to see how many "Request timed out." you get. To stop it, press ctrl-c. If it says more than a 3%-5% loss, contact your ISP and let them know, that'* too much loss.

Remember to always type "exit" to close the command prompt window.

Or, alternatively, you could just call your ISP and ask what'* up, that you notice a slow down and they'll check for ya...

sent:45 rec:45 0% loss
39-88ms with an average of 48ms.

Sounds okay to me, any other ideas?

any other ideas?

Okay, with that out of the way, do this:

Delete the Index.dat file in Internet Explorer:

1. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files.
3. On the Delete Files dialog box message that is displayed, click OK.
4. Under History, click Clear History.
5. On the Delete all items in your History folder? dialog box, click OK.
6. Quit Internet Explorer.
7. Open a command prompt.
8. Type cd\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5. (Copy and Paste this line would be easiest)
9. Type del index.dat, and then press ENTER.
10. Exit the command prompt and then restart the computer.

The Index.dat file is re-created the next time that you log on to the computer.

This works in Win2k or WinXP. Let me know if you don't have this OS.

I have Win98. :(