There are several possible causes of problems with a web connection. Information about general network issues can be found in the section on Internet connection problems. As always, the ping program is particularly useful for diagnosing connection problems.

If you are having problems with connection to web sites, a run through the following trouble-shooting check-list might be useful:

• Lock-up. If your web browser is locked up, and other programs on the computer are still working, then quit and restart your browser application. If you find the browser locks up only on a specific site, then avoid that site or use a different browser.

• Net connection. If your browser is fine, but none of your usual web sites can be located, then likely your Internet connection is down. Check your network application for status. It never hurts to quit and restart the connection, and, if that doesn’t work, reboot your computer and try again.

• Reload images. If you can access web sites, but graphics don’t show up, then likely somebody economized on bandwidth along the way, and you can simply reload the page. If the graphics still don’t show up but the rest of the page is fine, then the web server is probably overloaded or the graphics have been moved and are no longer accessible.

• Reload. If there is anything else wrong with a page’s formatting, like shifting of parts of it off the page, you can always try reloading it. On some browsers, pressing the “shift” button along with the reload button will help cause a reload of the page in all elements from scratch.