Checking URLs

[BlindFish]

I think this might be a stupid question... but just in case:

Is there any automatic way of checking a URL is still 'valid' or is the only way of checking that a website is still 'live' to visit it?

[Orcmonkey]

Ping it from a command prompt?

[BlindFish]

Pardon my ignorance... I've heard of 'pinging' but I don't know how to do it... I feel quite inadequate

How would I do this for a long list of sites?

[dj4uk]

Type ping followed by the ip address or domain name the site you want to check at the command prompt or in the run window.
e.g. ping www.pcmech.com

This however will only check if the server is up not that the whole URL is valid.

I've heard of some software that will check links in a web page. I'm sure someone else will be able to point you in the right direction as my memory fails me.

[BlindFish]

Unless I can automate it, it doesn't look like pinging is going to be the shortcut solution I need... any other suggestions - is there a software solution?

[Iman74]

Originally posted by dj4uk Type ping followed by the ip address or domain name the site you want to check at the command prompt or in the run window. e.g. ping www.pcmech.com This however will only check if the server is up not that the whole URL is valid. I've heard of some software that will check links in a web page. I'm sure someone else will be able to point you in the right direction as my memory fails me.

With the seconds it takes to bring up command prompt and use the ping utitility you can already have clicked that url in your favorites to see whether it still works or not.

I faced this question once before myself I concluded the best thing to do is suck it up and just deal with the fact that I have to click on every single favorite I have to conclude: A. It still exists or doesn't exists B. is it working but the url is going to a different page now. That has happened to me many times.

[Statica]

http://mindit.netmind.com/

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