Q&A for How to Use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

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I have tried logging into GoAnimate from November 2013, but it can't let me because it keeps saying "Unable to Sign in" because of robots text. What can I do?

Community Answer

You can't sign in to websites on the Wayback Machine for the same reason you can't see behind a wall in a photograph by flipping the photograph over. What you are seeing is a reconstructed image of the front-facing architecture of the website, but the back-end containing user accounts cannot possibly be copied and archived.

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Question

When I archive a YouTube link and try to view the capture, it says, "An error occurred. Please try again later." The video is still available on YouTube. Did I use the wrong link?

Community Answer

When you save a page to the Wayback Machine, it saves the "face" of the web page, basically what you see when you visit a web page. It does not capture the internal workings of the site, so features like videos cannot be played.

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Question

Sometimes I can't access some details on websites, what could be the problem?

Community Answer

Some things may not have been archived or cannot be archived, as such you cannot view certain parts of a website, (i.e. flash content, sign in screens, etc).

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Question

Is it possible to watch a video someone deleted if it's not archived on the Wayback Machine?

Community Answer

No, it is not possible. It's only a screenshot of the site during whatever time you're looking at. However, if you know the name of the idea, you can google it and see if it shows up anywhere else.

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Question

How can I save Websites with a different date? For example, today is July 30th, 2017, but I want to save a website with the date of August 5th, 2016. What do I need to do?

Aasim

Top Answerer

Move your cursor to 2013, click on the archive, choose the month and day, and view the version as of that day.

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Question

How do I find my old YouTube channel from 2013?

Community Answer

You need to copy the link to your current YouTube channel, which can be done by going up to the search bar on the top of the web browser, pressing CTRL+A, then pressing CTRL+C, then bring it to the Wayback Machine, CTRL+V the link in the URL box, then select 2013.

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How do I use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine on a mobile web browser?

Community Answer

As long as the browser supports it, then it will be work the same way as outlined in the article.

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Question

How long will it take for my newly created website to start showing up on Wayback Machine?

Hawaiifunsun

Community Answer

Usually instantaneously, but if there are issues - it can be from a few hours to never.

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Question

How far back can I go?

COMPUTER COMMANDER

Community Answer

The oldest page archived was on May 12, 1996, and it was infoseek.com. So that's the furthest you can possibly go.

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