--- a/mailnews/news/src/nsNNTPProtocol.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/news/src/nsNNTPProtocol.cpp
@@ -558,16 +558,21 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsNNTPProtocol::GetIsBusy(
   *aIsBusy = m_connectionBusy;
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP nsNNTPProtocol::SetIsBusy(PRBool aIsBusy)
 {
   PR_LOG(NNTP,PR_LOG_ALWAYS,("(%p) setting busy to %d",this, aIsBusy));
   m_connectionBusy = aIsBusy;
+  
+  // Maybe we could load another URI.
+  if (!aIsBusy && m_nntpServer)
+    m_nntpServer->PrepareForNextUrl(this);
+
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
 NS_IMETHODIMP nsNNTPProtocol::GetIsCachedConnection(PRBool *aIsCachedConnection)
 {
   NS_ENSURE_ARG_POINTER(aIsCachedConnection);
   *aIsCachedConnection = m_fromCache;
   return NS_OK;
@@ -853,16 +858,17 @@ PRBool nsNNTPProtocol::ReadFromLocalCach
           rv = pump->AsyncRead(cacheListener, m_channelContext);
 
         NS_RELEASE(cacheListener);
 
         if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) // ONLY if we succeeded in actually starting the read should we return
         {
           m_ContentType.Truncate();
           m_channelListener = nsnull;
+          NNTP_LOG_NOTE("Loading message from offline storage");
           return PR_TRUE;
         }
       }
       else
         mailnewsUrl->SetMsgIsInLocalCache(PR_FALSE);
     }
   }
 
@@ -944,31 +950,43 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsNNTPProtocol::AsyncOpen(
 
   rv = NS_CheckPortSafety(port, "news");
   if (NS_FAILED(rv))
       return rv;
 
   m_channelContext = ctxt;
   m_channelListener = listener;
   m_runningURL->GetNewsAction(&m_newsAction);
-  // first, check if this is a message load that should come from either
-  // the memory cache or the local msg cache.
-  if (mailnewsUrl && (m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionFetchArticle || m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionFetchPart
-    || m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionSaveMessageToDisk))
+
+  // Before running through the connection, try to see if we can grab the data
+  // from the offline storage or the memory cache. Only actions retrieving
+  // messages can be cached.
+  if (mailnewsUrl && (m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionFetchArticle ||
+                      m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionFetchPart ||
+                      m_newsAction == nsINntpUrl::ActionSaveMessageToDisk))
   {
-
     SetupPartExtractorListener(m_channelListener);
+
+    // Attempt to get the message from the offline storage cache. If this
+    // succeeds, we don't need to use our connection, so tell the server that we
+    // are ready for the next URL.
     if (ReadFromLocalCache())
-     return NS_OK;
-
-    rv = OpenCacheEntry();
-    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(rv)) return NS_OK; // if this didn't return an error then jump out now...
-
+    {
+      if (m_nntpServer)
+        m_nntpServer->PrepareForNextUrl(this);
+      return NS_OK;
+    }
+
+    // If it wasn't offline, try to get the cache from memory. If this call
+    // succeeds, we probably won't need the connection, but the cache might fail
+    // later on. The code there will determine if we need to fallback and will
+    // handle informing the server of our readiness.
+    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(OpenCacheEntry()))
+      return NS_OK;
   }
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIRequest> parentRequest;
   return nsMsgProtocol::AsyncOpen(listener, ctxt);
 }
 
 nsresult nsNNTPProtocol::LoadUrl(nsIURI * aURL, nsISupports * aConsumer)
 {
   NS_ENSURE_ARG_POINTER(aURL);
 
   nsCString group;
@@ -5259,18 +5277,16 @@ nsresult nsNNTPProtocol::ProcessProtocol
       */
       FinishMemCacheEntry(PR_FALSE);  // cleanup mem cache entry
       if (m_responseCode != MK_NNTP_RESPONSE_ARTICLE_NOTFOUND && m_responseCode != MK_NNTP_RESPONSE_ARTICLE_NONEXIST)
         return CloseConnection();
     case NEWS_FREE:
       // Remember when we last used this connection
       m_lastActiveTimeStamp = PR_Now();
       CleanupAfterRunningUrl();
-      if (m_nntpServer)
-        m_nntpServer->PrepareForNextUrl(this);
     case NEWS_FINISHED:
       return NS_OK;
       break;
     default:
       /* big error */
       return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
 
     } // end switch

--- a/mailnews/news/src/nsNntpMockChannel.cpp
+++ b/mailnews/news/src/nsNntpMockChannel.cpp
@@ -270,16 +270,17 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsNntpMockChannel::AsyncOp
 
 nsresult
 nsNntpMockChannel::AttachNNTPConnection(nsNNTPProtocol &protocol)
 {
   // First things first. Were we canceled? If so, tell the protocol.
   if (m_channelState == CHANNEL_CLOSED || m_channelState == CHANNEL_UNOPENED)
     return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
 
+
   // We're going to active the protocol now. Note that if the user has
   // interacted with us through the nsIChannel API, we need to pass it to the
   // protocol instance. We also need to initialize it. For best results, we're
   // going to initialize the code and then set the values.
   nsresult rv = protocol.Initialize(m_url, m_msgWindow);
   NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
 
   // Variable fun