JavaScript et Ajax, ne fonctionne que lors de l'utilisation d'alerte ()

J'ai des problèmes avec mon javascript. Il semble agir étrangement. C'est ce qui se passe. J'ai une forme, une fois que l'utilisateur l'a soumise, il appelle une fonction (ONSUBMIT EVENT) pour vérifier les données soumises, si quelque chose de mauvais ou si le nom d'utilisateur / e-mail est déjà dans la base de données (à l'aide de Ajax pour cette partie). et afficher des erreurs utilisant DOM. Voici le code ci-dessous. Ce qui est bizarre à ce sujet, c'est que cela ne fonctionne que lorsque j'utilise un message d'alerte vide (''), sans cela, cela ne fonctionne tout simplement pas. Merci pour l'aide.

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function httpRequest() {
    var xmlhttp;

    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        // code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
        xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
    } else if (window.ActiveXObject) {
        // code for IE6, IE5
        xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
    } else {
        alert("Your browser does not support XMLHTTP!");
    }

    return xmlhttp;
}

function validateRegForm(reg) {

    var isValidForm = true;
    var warningIcon = "";//for later in case we want to use an icon next to warning msg

    with(reg) {


        var regFormDiv = document.getElementById("registration_form");

        //Check if dynamic div exist, if so, remove it
        if(document.getElementById('disp_errors') != null) {
            var dispErrorsDiv = document.getElementById('disp_errors');
            document.getElementById('reg_form').removeChild(dispErrorsDiv);
        }           

        //Dynamically create new 'div'
        var errorDiv = document.createElement('div');
        errorDiv.setAttribute('id','disp_errors');
        errorDiv.setAttribute('style','background-color:pink;border:1px solid red;color:red;padding:10px;');
        document.getElementById('reg_form').insertBefore(errorDiv,regFormDiv);




        var xmlhttp = httpRequest();
        var available = new Array();
        xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
            if(xmlhttp.readyState == 4)
            {   
                var response = xmlhttp.responseText;
                if(response != "") {

                    //Return values
                    var newValue = response.split("|");
                    available[0] = newValue[0]; 
                    available[1] = newValue[1]; 
                }
            }
        }

        xmlhttp.open("GET","profile_fetch_reg_info.php?do=available&un="+u_username.value+"&email="+u_email.value+"",true);
        xmlhttp.send(null);


        alert(' '); ////////////WITHOUT THIS, IT DOESN'T WORK. Why?

        if(available[1] == "taken") {
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Username is already taken!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else if(u_username.value.length < 4){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Username must be more than 4 characters long!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else if(u_username.value.length > 35) {
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Username must be less than 34 characters long!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }


        if(available[0] == "taken") {
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Email address entered is already in use!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else if(u_email.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Email address is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else {
            //Determine if email entered is valid
            var filter = /^([a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-])+\@(([a-zA-Z0-9\-])+\.)+([a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4})+$/;
            if (!filter.test(u_email.value)) {
                errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Email entered is invalid!<br />';
                u_email.value = "";
                isValidForm = false;
            }
        }


        if(u_fname.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML = warningIcon+'Your first name is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_lname.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Your last name is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }



        if(u_password.value.length < 4){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Password must be more than 4 characters long!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else if(u_password.value.length > 35) {
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Password must be less than 34 characters long!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        } else if (u_password.value != u_password2.value) {
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Password and re-typed password don\'t match!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }


        if(u_squestion.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'A security question is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_sanswer.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'A security answer is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_address.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Address is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_city.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'City is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_state.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'State is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_zip.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Zip code is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(u_phone.value == ""){
            errorDiv.innerHTML += warningIcon+'Phone number is required!<br />';
            isValidForm = false;
        }

        if(isValidForm == false)
            window.scroll(0,0);

        return isValidForm;
    }

}