404 error everytime i go to gamespot main page

I have gamespot as my home page, and have had it like that for years. recently though, whenever I go to any web browser, I always get a 404 error. even before the site updated today, I was constantly getting this error. maybe for about 2 - 3 months now. the url comes up as: http://www.gamespot.com/ap_index/

iis there any particular reason this is happening?

still happens, and also, why do I always get a notification asking me to open or save a file I have not even clicked on?

@leon2365: check your homepage address. apindex exists nowhere in the code so we're not redirecting you there

it always happens. whenever I load up a browser, or click on the gamespot logo, or even a link from google or some other search engine, it takes me to that address which has "ap_index" at the end of it.

Please send me the search term or link from google that sends you to the 404 dungeon

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamespot.com%2F&ei=p-tYUvHpKc3ligLzmIDwDw&usg=AFQjCNGqpxflWJiJ6NgkfUhjeBMa2HGUNg&bvm=bv.53899372,d.cGE

don't know if that's what you wanted or not. also, even when I click on the gamespot logo once on the site, it sends me to 404. I even have www.gamespot.com as my home page URL, and it still gives me 404 every time I open up my browser.

Pretty certain this is an issue with your local cache/browser/network, some information would be useful: Browser/OS specifically; but as something to try even before that - clear all the temporary files/browser cache, they may have become corrupted; depending on the browser the method will be slightly different.

For chrome pressing ctrl+shift+del (or tools>clear browsing data from the top-right menu), make sure empty the cache is checked (checking the other things may help too, but the cache option is crucial) and then let it clear the files, close and reopen the browser and see if that works.

For firefox it's ctrl+shift+del (or history menu>clear recent history), click on the details box, ensure cache is checked (again checking the other options may help, cache is the most important one though) and that the drop down is set to everything and then clear them again, again closing and reopening the browser and seeing if it works after that.

If they don't work let us know the browser+version and the basic OS data we'll try to troubleshoot it. It's most likely due to a bug or even a change of network hardware such as a modem or router (or even certain changes on the ISP end) that caused corruption of the cache, which can be rectified by simply wiping it and letting it rebuild from scratch though.

^^ What he said...

^^^ Indeed - you almost certainly need to clear your browser cache. Checking around the search engines for that "ap_index" behavior suggests an association with the response of certain ISPs to unrecognized cable modems that will in turn leave you with bad browser cache entries.

I have already cleared it multiple times, and still this persists. at one point, another website had this problem as well, but that one stopped happening. gamespot is the only one that continues to show that "ap_index" at the end of the home page address.

Did anything interesting happen with your ISP or your cable modem around the same time this started? That seemed to be the key in the other hits on the issue, and it could persistently affect any site visited while the ISP/modem issue was in play, but the reason it persisted was an affected browser cache.

I don't see that you've mentioned your browser, OS, or ISP. Some versions of some browsers aren't necessarily very cooperative when it comes to clearing cache, most notably IE. You might think you've cleared it, but it hasn't really happened. Any other caching mechanism in your network path could conceivably have a similar effect, and although it's been a while since I've last heard of anyone still doing this, there have been some ISPs in the past that put some caching monkey business in the way.

If you think you've already cleared your browser cache, we're going to need to know more - mostly to confirm that you've actually cleared the browser cache, but also to put some kind of boundary around what else could still be going on.

ah sorry about that. forgot to mention the OS, browser, and ISP. my OS is windows 8 pro, my ISP is time warner cable. and my browser is IE10. it surprises me though that it seems that IE10 doesn't have a way of clearing the cache specifically on IE10. at least nothing user friendly. I might have to look deeper into it since whenever I clear the cache, its as if I was doing it on windows 7. it goes through the desktop, and clears everything on the desktop IE, and mostly everything on IE10, except that something still persists on IE10 that gives me that "ap_index." not sure what exactly is persisting though.

The other hits I saw for the "ap_index" issue associated it with Time Warner, so that part of it sounds consistent. And I figured the browser would be IE.

As a disclaimer, I haven't made significant use of IE in years. That said, for clearing cache in older versions of IE I generally recommended several steps that were probably a bit of overkill, but usually worked where simpler procedures had not. First, set the starting page to be about:blank. Open an IE window on about:blank and close all other IE windows/tabs. Remove all temporary files. Manually drill into the Explorer window that actually shows all the temporary files, select anything that's still there and shift-delete it, then shut IE down completely. Restart IE then delete the temporary files again, and shut IE down again. After that, the IE cache is generally clear.

Something I'm realizing about this scenario is that it may not be what we'd usually think of as the browser cache per se - you might need to delete all of the browsing *history* since it might be there that the browser has actually "cached" the HTTP forward to the non-existent "/ap_index". If there's a separate mechanism to hunt down the history and wipe it out (which is reasonable, so it would not be surprising), then going after the history specifically is probably the next thing to try.

Any IE10 experts should feel free to elaborate since they're more likely to have the menus/dialogs for this down.

I'm going to add a route for /ap_index tomorrow. Screw The Man! (TWC)

Gmax's instructions covers it pretty well - but just in case you're not sure how to find the files to delete in explorer it should be this file-path (on default browser/OS settings, assuming windows is installed on C -and it doesn't like other drive letters much so it probably is):

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

IE10 in particular sometimes users a further file location, for some users this may be pretty empty (just a 0kb container.dat at the minimum, but that's hidden under default settings as well), for others there could be a lot in it though:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5

As an aside Shift-delete isn't really necessary, but it does save the hassle of removing the files from the recycle bin afterwards - they're all temporary files (in fact, everything in C:\users\%username%/appdata/local is temporary and would be automatically replaced if deleted, however many of the files contain settings for programs and there's generally no reason to touch them so it's best to just stick to the temporary internet files folder to avoid losing any program settings) anyway so it's harmless to delete them. It also skips past any confirmations for large files that might fit in the recycle bin, though it's very unlikely anything of that size would be in there anyway.

Edit: This shouldn't be needed as IE normally manages to wipe the history with it's builtin feature correctly, but just in case the history filepath is:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History

@edgework: That really shouldn't be necessary (it's the ISPs fault here it would seem), but masking the symptoms for the GS site is certainly one way to deal with it. Can't imagine many sites use server side routing to counter client side cache issues.

I went ahead and followed the instructions and deleted browsing history and went to the specific file paths to delete anything left over manually as well, but "ap_index" still persists. at least I am able to view the homepage now (thanks edge). but now a new problem is present. the community button now only shows 1 topic under "top 10 topics," and the rest of the page is blank. don't know if that's already on your radar or not.

EDIT: never mind on that last problem. it seems to have corrected itself now. that, or you just put in the fix for it, in which case, good job.

Most US cable internet providers use crappy subscriber management software that screws up cheap home networking routers and confuses browser caches and other cacheing software. Its annoying.

At least users who got screwed by their cable companies will be able to get to Gamespot! That's all I care about... :)

Only other things I can suggest to counter the ap_index stuff in general (that is, without rather specific technical details) would be a dnsflush or even completely resetting your router - as you can access GS now though, if it's not affecting any other sites you regularly visit then there's not much point in bothering until it gets in the way again though.

Glad I don't have to put up with that in the UK, though I can't say broadband providers here are anything special either. Good point on them being able to access GS at least.

well it used to bother other sites as well, but over time, they were all corrected. only gamespot persisted with "ap_index." as for the router reset, I have done that as well, and the problem is still there. but at least I can access the gamespot home page now.

I am having the same problem although I did not set gamespot as my homepage.It happens when I am looking for something and use google. The google search results suddenly have become 404 errors. Removing temp internet files now with cccleaner. I only have a problem with gamespot. gamefaqs for one is fine and all other sites.

Hope it helps.

does the url also have "ap_index" at the end?