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This is a example of a custom 404 error page.

The code used in the .htaccess file (UNIX hosting) is:

ErrorDocument 404 http://www.zd85.com/404-error.html

If your web site is hosted on Windows, you'll need to set the custom error page in IIS.

Don't just display an error message, use your 404 (page not found) error page to do something useful. See below for examples from Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Tell visitors what happened, let them know where they are, and give them options for some things they were likely to have wanted to do.

ZD85 Page Not Found:
The page you were attempting to reach is not available. This is the ZD85 web site. There may have been a typo when the URL was entered, there may be a broken link, or there could be a technical problem. We apologize for the problem.

Please use the following link to get to:
Our Home Page : Our URL is: http://www.zd85.com

This web site deals with a problem that is occurring in newer computer monitors:

The Problem:

Computer monitor wear: As text scrolls across your computer monitor the sharp edges on some letters scrape across the inside of the screen. Over long periods of time this wears off the inner phosphorous coating. Eventually it will start to wear into the glass and will thin the glass of the monitor. The result could be an eventual screen failure.

The Symptom of Screen Wear:

If you see dust of any sort under or around your monitor, this is dust resulting from the scraping of the letters as they move on the inside of your screen.

Information about how to address this problem is available on our home page: computer screen wear

The Google 404 Error Page is not very good. It gives the visitor no options. All a visitor knows is that there is a problem.

The Yahoo 404 Error Page (below) is much better. It gives the visitor options to go to either the Yahoo home page, or the "Online Services Page" or "Help Central". People go to Yahoo to search, and Yahoo wisely provides that option on their 404 error page.

The MSN 404 Error Page is excellent. It tells the visitor what happened and give them the option of using MSN search. In addition it provides links, across the top of the screen, to the major services on MSN, and it promotes MSN services such as their portal (home page), My MSN and MSNBC.