It isn't the site it's the internet. It closed down on me for a few minutes. A notice come up that they had detected a problem and had to shut down.

It is still very slow here all the time.

even switching from dial-up to DSL didn't make a whole lot of difference.

You're right, I just got hi-speed and it made no difference on this site.

I have cable hookup high speed and this site loads very quickly for me.

Really? wonder why it's so slow for me...

You may be finding the site slow because of the advertising onslaught that comes along with every page. This page alone, a list of responses, has less advertising than forum messages pages. Still it had to download the following:

http://spe.atdmt.com/ds/KRKBS100C1CA/Q106_100CalPack_new/728x90.swf?ver=1&clickTag1=http://iv.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v5:33b2:3:0:%2a:o%3B28635585%3B0-0%3B3%3B12183189%3B1-468:60%3B15426025:15443921:1%3Bu%3D0eg3iga1226s6r%3B%7Eaopt%3D2:1:513a%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://clk.atdmt.com/go/vllgx1ca0030000046kbs/direct;ai.12201471;ct.1/01&clickTag=http://iv.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v5:33b2:3:0:%2a:o%3B28635585%3B0-0%3B3%3B12183189%3B1-468:60%3B15426025:15443921:1%3Bu%3D0eg3iga1226s6r%3B%7Eaopt%3D2:1:513a%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://clk.atdmt.com/go/vllgx1ca0030000046kbs/direct;ai.12201471;ct.1/01
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/bg_header_repeat.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/autumn_leaves.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/logo_gardenweb_left.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/logo_gardenweb_right_b.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/ad_header.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/t.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/search_header.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/ivil/home_11-04-05/btn_go.gif
http://graphics.thathomesite.com/graphics/bullets/bull1.gif
http://graphics.thathomesite.com/graphics/bullets/bull2.gif
http://m1.2mdn.net/705895/FL_160x600_Vaseline_v1.swf?clickTag=http%3A//iv.doubleclick.net/click%253Bh%3Dv5%7C33b2%7C3%7C0%7C%252a%7Cc%253B29054496%253B0-0%253B5%253B12183190%253B933-120%7C600%253B15450546%7C15468442%7C1%253Bu%253D0eg3iga1226s6r%253B%257Eaopt%253D2%7C1%7C511f%253B%257Esscs%253D%253fhttp%3A//ivillage.promotions.com/daretorenew
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/nav/footerBkgnd.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/i.gif
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/nav/footerGWlogo.gif
http://tste.gardenweb.com/tte/blank.gif?0.6717755996254005&snippet_version=1.3a&referrer=http%3A//ths.gardenweb.com/forums/photo/&page=http%3A//ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/photo/msg0319565513562.html%3F6&timezone=360&clist_TID=0eg3iga1226s6r&clist_iv_dcc=Z%3A15244%7CA%3A1966%7CG%3Af%7CP%3A28524629&var_dartCatStamp=home_gardenweb_homesite_mb
http://ivilns.ivillage.com/b/ss/ivillageglobal/1/G.9-Pd-R/s94622580094296?[AQB]&ndh=1&t=23/2/2006%2022%3A14%3A40%204%20360&ns=ivillage&g=http%3A//ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/photo/msg0319565513562.html%3F6&r=http%3A//ths.gardenweb.com/forums/photo/&server=ths.gardenweb.com&v7=28524629&c11=28524629&s=1280x1024&c=32&j=1.3&v=Y&k=Y&bw=923&bh=553&p=Mozilla%20Default%20Plug-in%3BQuickTime%20Plug-in%207.0.3%3BAdobe%20Acrobat%3BShockwave%20Flash%3BJava%28TM%29%202%20Platform%20Standard%20Edition%205.0%20Update%206%3BMicrosoft%AE%20DRM%3BWindows%20Media%20Player%20Plug-in%20Dynamic%20Link%20Library%3B&;[AQE]
http://graphics.gardenweb.com/graphics/css/gw.css
https://auth.gardenweb.com/profile
java$cript:document.location.href='http://members.gardenweb.com/members/nph-logout.cgi?url='+escape(document.location.href)
http://www.gardenweb.com/
http://www.gardenweb.com/
http://voices.gardenweb.com/
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/
http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/
http://glossary.gardenweb.com/glossary/
http://www.gardenweb.com/resources/
http://search.gardenweb.com/search/
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/photo/
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/photo/msg0319565513562.html?6#post
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/doris_mi5
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/doris_mi5
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/eric_wa
mailto:ejellison@rockisland.com
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/dee1
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/dee1
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/clairdo2
http://members.gardenweb.com/members/nph-logout.cgi?return_url=http:%2f%2fths.gardenweb.com%2fforums%2fload%2fphoto%2fmsg0319565513562.html%3f20450
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/followup.cgi
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/photo/
http://www.gardenweb.com/overture?kw=Garden%20Green%20House
http://www.gardenweb.com/overture?kw=Garden%20Fountain
http://www.gardenweb.com/overture?kw=Koi%20Pond
http://www.gardenweb.com/overture?kw=Garden%20Gift
java$cript:void(window.open('http://www.ivillage.com/yahoo','whatsthis','height=630,width=650'))
http://www.gardenweb.com/
https://auth.gardenweb.com/registration/
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind/
http://members.gardenweb.com/members/
http://letters.gardenweb.com/letters/mailed.html
http://www.gardenweb.com/legal/tos.cgi
http://www.gardenweb.com/legal/privacy.cgi
http://www.gardenweb.com/legal/faq.cgi
http://www.ivillage.com/ivillage/adsales/articles/0,,269016_270810,00.html

That takes some bandwidth, even with DSL or cable. Block the advertising up front and the site will load dramatically faster. The best way to do this if your using a Windows system computer is to edit your hosts file. Here's how:

The Windows operating system provides a system-level method to block specific IP addresses before they even get to the browser. To effect this solution you need to edit a Windows system file called hosts. This file is located in the directory:

Windows XP: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 2K: C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Windows 98: C:\WINDOWS

Open the file in Notepad. Cut the following from this post and paste it to the end of the file.

127.0.0.1 amch.questionmarket.com
127.0.0.1 a820.g.akamai.net
127.0.0.1 iv.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 i.ivillage.com
127.0.0.1 m.2mdn.net
127.0.0.1 tste.ivillage.com
127.0.0.1 img-cdn.mediaplex.com
127.0.0.1 ads.vmirror.com
127.0.0.1 cmhtml.ivillage.overture.com
127.0.0.1 ads.pointroll.com
127.0.0.1 spe.atdmt.com
127.0.0.1 tste.gardenweb.com
127.0.0.1 ivillageglobal.112.2o7.net
127.0.0.1 speed.pointroll.com

Edit each entry if necessary so that there is a tab between the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URLs. Save the file and you're finished. Close and re-open your browser. All the ads will be gone and the site will load quickly.

Best regards,
Scuzzy160

will have to get daughter to figure this out for me, i don't understand how to do it.
thank you

scuzzy160,

Thank you, No more floating, bouncing, flashing, irritating ads.

Eric

When grandaughter tried to do this for me it said "This folder contains files that keep your system working properly.You should not modify it's contents."

clairdo2,

Are you looking in your "Hosts" file? If you open the hosts file with Note pad, it tells you the rest of the steps. Look for "Hosts" using your search my computer for files.
Hope I'm not confusing you.

Eric

Wow...I'm amazed how well this has worked...loads quite faster...Thanks for the tip!