Internet error messages--most everyone who has surfed the World Wide Web has seen their share. Knowing why it happened and what to do to correct it can make the difference between a carefree Web frolic and a laborious Web disappointment.

Assuming you have all of your software correctly installed, the first thing you need to do is get your computer connected to the Internet. For most "Internauts" outside of the office, this means dialing into an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If you repeatedly try to connect but can't, try this simple test before calling technical support.

From a regular telephone, call the ISP access number. It's the number that your computer is suppose to dial in to when establishing a connection. You could hear any one of a number of different things. Anything you hear over the telephone will be the same thing your computer hears when it dials in.

If you hear a busy signal, it is obviously busy--try again later. If this becomes common over a period of more than two days, call your ISP and request an explanation. It may be that some equipment has temporarily gone down, resulting in  less equipment to service your call. If it looks like busy signals are going to be around for a while, consider moving to an ISP that is committed to serving its customer base.

What you want to hear on the other end of your telephone call is a tone that sounds like a series of high squeals and then static. This "handshake" sounds similar to the tones emitted by fax machines. If you hear anything other than this tone or get an operator message, immediately call your ISP's technical support and report the problem.

If you hear the handshake, have double-checked the phone number that your system dials into and still can't connect, call your ISP's technical support for help.

Once connected to the Internet, you should be able to cruise relatively error-free. Most problems encountered (other than getting "DNS" errors every time you enter a new Web address) are not the fault of the ISP. All the ISP can do is get you on the Internet, they have no control over what Web sites are working or broke and changing ISPs won't make a difference.

The most common errors are simple typographical finger-fumbles. Check the address you entered.  Make sure that you didn't accidentally put in a comma where there should have been a period, or some other slip.

If you know you got it right, but are still getting an error message, consult CNET's list Internet Errors Explained. At this site, you can find out what "Failed DNS lookup,"  "Bad file request," Host unavailable" and other notorious warnings mean and, if possible, how to correct for them.

A Web browser problem (or rather annoyance) that I have been queried about by many Microsoft Internet Explorer users, is the vanishing toolbar.

The address, button and link bars are normally located immediately under the menu selections and can easily get messed up or knocked off. While this is not technically a software "bug," it is a usability problem.

If this happens to you, you have probably inadvertently clicked and dragged off one of the bars. You can easily fix this by first selecting Options under the View menu, clicking on the General tab, deselecting all the items listed under the Toolbar section and clicking Apply. This step will take off all the toolbars. Next, reselect all the items in the same menu and click OK to set your Internet Explorer to its original toolbar settings.

If this still don't help, check and make sure that Toolbar, listed under View, is still checked. You will most likely also want to check the Status Bar (the bar at the bottom of the Internet Explorer screen), too.

While these tips wont solve all your Internet problems, they should solve most. If something is not covered here, ask your ISP's technical support to help you out or at least point you in the right direction.

Finally, if you have the time and printer paper, you may want to print out all of the error messages from the Internet Errors Explained site just in case the next time you need to reach it--you get an error.