HELP!!! Web Archives and Original URL

[cyprus mac man]

Hey everyone,

I have web-archives saved on my desktop that have important information on them, but I cant find the original URL of the page. I didn't save it, it was a long time ago(so not in history) and the links on the page to not work (for unrelated reasons). Is there anyway to get the original URL from the archive?

Thanks!

 

[barhar]

'Is there anyway to get the original URL from the archive?' - I viewed the contents of several '.webarchive' files, and it appears that the files' source URL is not included.

 

[albloom]

Web sites and web pages can be ephemeral. Don't expect
all your ".webarchive" files to always work.

I assure you both that the "original" URL is in the web archive.
Double click the file and it will try to connect with that original URL.

If it does connect, and if the web page has a hot button, you can
click it to get a real URL showing in your browser. Then you can
lop the end bit(s) to get the main page URL.

If you're wild to see the real URL in a ".webarchive" file, open it
in a hex editor (HexEdit for example), and "find" a "www" string.
There are likely several.

 

[elander]

Try copying a bit of the text from the web page, and paste that into Googles search field. The page will probably show up in the results, if the text you copied is special enough.

 

[barhar]

'Double click the file and it will try to connect with that original URL.' - while I will not dispute such; I did disconnect this Macs' Ethernet cable, and then selected and double clicked on a random number (greater than 25) of '.webarchive' files. At no time did 'Safari' attempt to connect to the internet.
I then performed the same process on another Mac; still - no attempt to connect to the internet.

elanders' ('Try copying a bit of the text from the web page, and paste that into Googles search field ...') suggestion is a very good one.

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For each of my 'macosx.com' posts (replies) - I save a '.webarchive' file (one never knows when a moderator [?] will edit, and / or delete, a post), and I then add the actual posts' link to a Bookmark Bar' folder.

 

[fryke]

One _always_ knows when a moderator (!) will edit or delete a post. It happens when rules are broken. Those rules can be read on macosx.com. Also, you'll see if a post is edited. The post then says "last edited by". If you then need to know why (and can't tell even after re-reading macosx.com's rules), you simply ask the person who edited your post. If that person doesn't answer you in an understandable way, ask another moderator. Easy. Did anything bad really ever happen to you on macosx.com? Or is it certifiable paranoia?