Internet Explorer question - clarification

[peterson, glenn]

For our kids computers, which include a cul-de-sac option, we created a
second web server instance listening on a non-standard port (we use 8080).
We point our proxy for sites outside the cul-de-sac to this server -- we use
an automatic proxy configuration file. Then we created a custom web page to
explain why the page was not accessed and saved it as the default page, or
home page, on this server. When patrons try to access a site outside the
cul-de-sac, they see the custom web page. We also turned off "Show friendly
HTTP error messages" in Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Browsing.

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                    Hennepin County Library
Glenn Peterson                gpeterson at hclib.org
Internet Librarian                http://www.hclib.org
12601 Ridgedale Drive         Voice: 952-694-8659
Minnetonka, MN 55305          Fax: 952-541-7984
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>Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 10:30:37 -0400
>From: Andrew Mutch <amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
>Subject: Re: Internet Explorer question - clarification
>Message-ID: <39F8400D.F7EE3597 at tln.lib.mi.us>
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>I 've received a number of responses to my original question about Internet
>Explorer and 404 error messages.  I probably should clarify my question to
>address some of those responses.
>
>Normally, your browser displays the 404 error message that a server returns
[if
>it returns one].  As Thomas Dowling and others noted, if the 404 error page
is
>less than 1K in size [or is not generated], Internet Explorer generates its
own
>404 message.  What I want to know is if there is a way, on the browser
side, to
>modify the 404 message that Internet Explorer generates.  I want to control
the
>404 message that is displayed for ANY site that sends a 404 page less than
1K
>in size.
>
>Just for background, the reason this came up was that someone was using my
>proxy help page for IE th restrict access on a workstation to their library
>catalog.  When you try to access a site not permitted by the proxy, like
>Yahoo!, IE "self-generates" the 404 message.  They wanted to customize the
404
>message so that it would redirect [or provide a link back] to the catalog.
>
>I hope that clarification helps!
>
>Andrew Mutch
>Library Systems Technician
>Waterford Township Public Library
>Waterford, MI