Patent ID: 7613780

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving an HTTP request for content stored on a remote network site from a data processing device, the request including an address for the content and first version information usable to identify a first version of the content previously transmitted to the data processing device; determining if the remote network site is operating properly by responding with an HTTP response when the first version of the content is the same as a second version of the content stored at the network site; if it is determined that the network site is operating improperly by responding with a complete Web page when the first version of the content is the same as the second version of the content stored at the network site, or if it is not known whether the network site is operating properly: transmitting a first request to the network site on behalf of the data processing device, the first request including the address of the content but requesting only second version information related to the content, the second version information identifying the second version of the content stored on the network site; comparing the first version information with the second version information to determine whether the first version of the content stored on the data processing device is the same as the second version of the content stored on the remote network site; transmitting an indication to the data processing device that the data processing device has a current version of the content if the first version information is the same as the second version information; if the first version information is not the same as the second version information, then transmitting a second request to the network site requesting the second version of the content; and if it is determined that the network site is operating properly, then refraining from said transmitting the first request and instead initially transmitting the second request to the remote network site.