Re: Retrieving a webpages shows a blank screen when a 4xx HTTP status is returned. Not helpfull.

Wolf,

> AdBlock, NoScript and such do stop/affect what displays on your system.

Agreed.  But somehow I don't think that even those two would suppress (HTTP) 
status messages - either as a pop-up or in-(the non-existing-)page.

I've just disabled all the add-ons and tried again. Still just a blank page 
(if you can even call it that).

> The program I want to use needs a lot more power than this almost 10-year 
> old box offers.
...
> Question is, can I persuade myself to ditch an otherwise perfectly good 
> machine just for this purpose?

Just ask yourself if the next-best program that will still work on your 
current machine is so much worse (if at al) than the one you want to make 
all those (costly) changes for.

Most choices are made because of "I believe that ..." hopes of getting to 
use a better product.  A product which often turns out to just have more 
features, ones which you will probably use as much as all the ones in your 
current program (read: never).  And possibly be even /slower/ (due to the 
extra features) than the one you now have - only offsetted by, in your case, 
more memory and better/faster GPU and CPU.

> So it's not always bling.

True.  Exceptions are always possible. :-)

Regards,
Rudy Wieser