My avatar looks like a cloud and nothing I do helps

[CarrieHale]

My avatar looks like a cloud and nothing I do helps. I've gone through some blogs and chats and tried their tips and even deleted and reloaded the application. I released enough storage for SL, tried different outfits, skins and shapes, updates are on time, etc. This has never happened before but I've been in SL only for three months. I'm not any expert with computers either so I'd need really detailed guide that even kid could understand it. But seriously I need help ASAP. This been like this about three weeks now. Thank you already!

[Rolig Loon]

That cloudy appearance is a sign that your avatar's appearance files haven't loaded fully.  We all look cloudy for a second or two as we log in, because that's when those files are being downloaded from the SL servers.  Usually the cloudiness goes away very quickly.  If it doesn't, it may mean that you have an unreliable Internet connection (not lousy bandwidth, but packet loss or slow, irregular transmission). If so, you may be able to fix things by rebooting your router and modem, and then restarting your computer.  Also, by getting off of wireless, which is neither supported nor recommended by Linden Lab.

Cloudiness can also be caused by wearing a skin, shape, eyes, or bald cap that are not rendering properly.  The cure, then, is to replace one or more of those four components, or simply to drag a completely different avatar onto your body temporarily.  Use one of the classic avatars in the Library >>> Clothing >> Initial Outfits folder in your inventory.  It helps if you have kept a backup copy of your favorite appearance somewhere so that you can drag it onto yourself again once the cloudiness has cleared.  ( Mine is called Emergency Me. )

Doing a clean install of your viewer usually won't make any difference at all, and it has the disadvantage that it wipes your cache files, so that everything will look gray for a while until your viewer has created a new cache.

Here's a good summary of other methods that usually work for most people >>> http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/fs_bake_fail