Recycle your Computers & Technology with us.

Why do I get the "This page cannot be displayed" error?

Posted By : Henry of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on December 7, 2004

Follow us on Facebook   Follow us on Twitter   Follow us on LinkedIn

Let Data Doctors be your personal IT department today

When I click on a link it goes to the address OK most of the time. About one out of twenty will not make it. I get, "This page cannot be displayed". If I put the same address in the address bar, I get the same error. Tried Refresh but no help. This is a new problem in the last month.

Can you please help me? I really need to access some of the locations.

Thank you, Don R.

This question was answered on December 7, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


When connecting to the Internet, the computer successfully connects to the Internet service provider (ISP), but is not able to navigate to any Web sites When trying to go to a Web site, a "This page cannot be displayed" message appears

RESOLUTION: To resolve this, perform the following steps.

1 Back up the registry

A On the Start menu, click Run

B In the Run dialog box, in the Open text box, type: Regedit Click OK

C In the Registry Editor window, verify that My Computer is selected

D On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File

E In the Export Registry File dialog box, in the Save in drop-down list, click drive C

F In the File name text box, type: Registry.reg

G Verify that All below Export range is selected

H Click Save The Export Registry File dialog box closes automatically

2 Edit the registry

A On the Start menu, click Run

B In the Run dialog box, in the Open text box, type: Regedit Click OK

C In the Registry Editor window, click the plus sign ( ) next to Hkey local machine

D Click the plus sign ( ) next to System

E Click the plus sign ( ) next to CurrentControlSet

F Click the plus sign ( ) next to Services

G Click Winsock2 key On the Edit menu, click Delete

H Click Yes to confirm file delete, and then close the Registry Editor window

3 Remove Dial-Up Networking

A On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel

B In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon

C In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click the Windows Setup tab

D On the Windows Setup tab, click Communications, and then click Details

E In the Communications dialog box, clear the Dial-Up Networking check box, if it is selected, and then click OK

F In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click OK If prompted to restart the computer, click No

G Close Control Panel

4 Reinstall Dial-Up Networking

A On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel

B In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon

C In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click the Windows Setup tab

D On the Windows Setup tab, click Communications, and then click Details

E In the Communications dialog box, select the Dial-Up Networking check box, and then click OK

F In the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, click OK If prompted to restart the computer, click Yes

When you clear or select the Dial-Up Networking check box, the Winsock2 registry key is rebuilt

This may not be the only cause of the "This page cannot be displayed" message For additional information on "This page cannot be displayed" issues, view Microsoft Knowledge Base articles similar to the following: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=241344

About the author

Posted by Henry of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on December 7, 2004

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!