How do you create a custom 404 message? My site is on a Cobalt Raq4r
server (I'm not sure if that matters, but I thought I should mention
it). Here is what the 404 message on my site looks like:
http://www.toppest.com/blahblahblah

Here is vastly superior 404 message: 
http://www.apple.com/blahblahblah

Please let me know. Thanks.

Thanks for asking!

I verified that your website, www.toppest.com, is running
Apache/1.3.20 Sun Cobalt (Unix) mod_ssl/2.8.4 OpenSSL/0.9.6b PHP/4.0.6
mod_auth_pam_external/0.1 FrontPage/4.0.4.3 mod_perl/1.25 on Linux
(courtesy: Netcraft - http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph ).

The 404 Research Lab offers step-by-step instructions for using custom
404 documents on Apache servers using an .htacess file, and uploading
it to your root directory. The 404 Research Lab at Plinko.net also
offers additional hints and tips for creation and deployment of custom
error pages.

Do It Yourself 404
Customizing your 404 with Apache
http://www.plinko.net/404/howto.asp?article=11


Additional Resources
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How to Set Up A Custom 404 File Not Found Page, by Christopher Heng
http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/custom404.shtml

Custom Error Pages With Apache
http://www.websiteowner.info/tutorials/server/apacheerrors.asp

Google Search Terms
**********************************************************************

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Should you have any questions about the information or links provided,
please, feel free to ask.

--larre

Led me to the information that I needed. Well done.