Site inaccessible May 3-4 from the U.S.

[ClippyBeer]

I tried with my phone initially on Saturday but couldn't connect. I then checked from my computer when I got home, same issue. I checked the Windows 7, 10 and 11 forums, same problem - except for one Ian's forums, the Garden Pond forum I previously mentioned.

Well that's it, they're gone was my initial thought. This brought mixed feelings for me.
Sad because I've been a member here since 2019 when XP was my main OS and I knew lots of information would be lost forever that would be useful to XP enthusiasts and legacy gamers.

Relieved because that meant my obligation as a moderator were over. Moderating is a thankless unpaid job but someone has to do it otherwise this will happen.

Windows 10 Forums

Technical support and discussion forums for Windows 10. Our helpful experts are full of advice for any of your questions.

www.windows10forums.com

Forums have long been a hobby of mine that I indulge in when I'm in the mood. There's some forums where I go weeks without logging in due to time constraints/other hobbies and interests. Once you become a moderator it becomes an obligation that you have to check at regular intervals to keep the miscreants at bay and provide a better experience for forum members.

I have absolutely no way of contacting the admins so they can appoint another moderator so I continue with my obligation until I am no longer able or the site vanishes without explanation or announcement as has happened with Ian's other forums.

I have archived all threads I deem useful to me and I once again advise forum members to do the same.

 

[Madeleine Takam]

I tried with my phone initially on Saturday but couldn't connect. I then checked from my computer when I got home, same issue. I checked the Windows 7, 10 and 11 forums, same problem - except for one Ian's forums, the Garden Pond forum I previously mentioned.

Well that's it, they're gone was my initial thought. This brought mixed feelings for me.
Sad because I've been a member here since 2019 when XP was my main OS and I knew lots of information would be lost forever that would be useful to XP enthusiasts and legacy gamers.

Relieved because that meant my obligation as a moderator were over. Moderating is a thankless unpaid job but someone has to do it otherwise this will happen.

Windows 10 Forums

Technical support and discussion forums for Windows 10. Our helpful experts are full of advice for any of your questions.

www.windows10forums.com

Forums have long been a hobby of mine that I indulge in when I'm in the mood. There's some forums where I go weeks without logging in due to time constraints/other hobbies and interests. Once you become a moderator it becomes an obligation that you have to check at regular intervals to keep the miscreants at bay and provide a better experience for forum members.

I have absolutely no way of contacting the admins so they can appoint another moderator so I continue with my obligation until I am no longer able or the site vanishes without explanation or announcement as has happened with Ian's other forums.

I have archived all threads I deem useful to me and I once again advise forum members to do the same.

I think the web host may have automatically taken offline, as a precaution to what it perceived as an overloading of the database on web host servers. I presumed the site had gone for good. I logged on from China, USA and UK just to check.

 

[cleverscreenname]

I was so annoyed that I created an account on tenforums just to PM you and say you owe me an explanation for banning me. But clearly you didn't
Would you explain more of how you are backing up threads?

 

[Mr Siamese Cat]

I think the web host may have automatically taken offline, as a precaution to what it perceived as an overloading of the database on web host servers. I presumed the site had gone for good. I logged on from China, USA and UK just to check.

Yeah, it would be perceived as an attack. 94 writes to the database in three and a half hours from a singular IP Address, compared to the normal 5 to 10 in a 24-hour average from multiple IP Addresses. Explains why Windows 10 Forums went down as well. The moment he created an account on that site, it would have shut down. That IP would have already been flagged as potentially dangerous.

Luckily anyone needing emergency Koi Carp advice was safe. As obviously not a fan of exterior aquatic hobbies.

That is why I stick to Jack Daniels and cigarettes Madeleine, rather than crystal meth.

 

[Chiron]

I tried with my phone initially on Saturday but couldn't connect. I then checked from my computer when I got home, same issue...

Same here.
The first sad thought was "Damn, all good things come to an end!", the second was "why did I always say 'mañana' rather than making a note of everything interesting or potentially useful in there?", and the third "I'll bitterly miss many decent people I met in the forum, and now there's no way to reach them again! :-(".

Then a few days later as by magic the presumed deceased came back to life, thus offering an unexpected opportunity to turn regrets into wise precautions, possibly with some help from those of us who know better.

About "all good things come to an end" I'm afraid there's no way out - unless some fairy makes Ian reappear, which doesn't look very likely..

About "making a note of all interesting stuff in XPforums"...

I have archived all threads I deem useful to me and I once again advise forum members to do the same.

How did you do that? Is there a quicker way than spending days or weeks in an endless copy&paste?

About staying in touch with all decent interesting people I met here - and at the same time preventing some obnoxious brats from flooding my mailbox with their crap - I'd really appreciate a PM (or "conversation") from those who may be interersted so that we can exchange E-mail addresses in safe privacy. Will you do that?

Moderating is a thankless unpaid job but someone has to do it otherwise this will happen.

Unpaid will it be, but definitely NOT thankless!
I'm sure we all appreciate a lot your wise, polite and witty moderation. Do I really have to say it aloud?

THANK YOU CLIPPY!!!
​

 

[ClippyBeer]

I was so annoyed that I created an account on tenforums just to PM you and say you owe me an explanation for banning me. But clearly you didn't
Would you explain more of how you are backing up threads?

I use the Save Page Web Extension in MyPal 68.

Save Page WE â Get this Extension for ð¦ Firefox (en-US)

Download Save Page WE for Firefox. Save a complete web page (as currently displayed) as a single HTML file that can be opened in any browser. Save a single page, multiple selected pages or a list of page URLs. Automate saving from command line.

addons.mozilla.org

It saves the active tab as a single HTML file with inline images. Ignore the "You need an updated version of Firefox" warning and just click on the "download file" link to install it. It preserves the formatting, content, links etc for off-line viewing.

As I said before I have lots of saved content from forums long-gone. One day all that will be left of XPForums will be whatever you have archived.

Someone mentioned saving to PDF in a previous thread. No. PDF destroys the page formatting making it useless.

There are plenty of tech forums on the web that have XP sub-forums but this is the only one dedicated entirely to Windows XP.

 

[cleverscreenname]

Yeah, it would be perceived as an attack. 94 writes to the database in three and a half hours from a singular IP Address, compared to the normal 5 to 10 in a 24-hour average from multiple IP Addresses. Explains why Windows 10 Forums went down as well. The moment he created an account on that site, it would have shut down. That IP would have already been flagged as potentially dangerous.

If you're speaking of me, I don't know where you got 94 posts from, but I created an account on www.tenforums.com, not www.windows10forums.com

 

[Madeleine Takam]

If you're speaking of me, I don't know where you got 94 posts from, but I created an account on www.tenforums.com, not www.windows10forums.com

You aren’t being accused, or blamed for anything. We are just debating ideas, as to why the site went off line. Every comment, like, happyface, or sadface is considered a change to the database. It is fantastic to have such an enthusiastic member of the forum. However, computer algorithms, and web site defined auto rules, can’t spot the difference between a genuine contributor and someone who is spamming, they don’t have the intelligence of humans.

This is a rather dusty corner of the internet. Most days it will average between 10 to 20 comments, likes, sadfaces and happyfaces. Many days none at all. So when someone enthusiastically performs 94 comments, likes, happyfaces and sadfaces in the limited span of 3 hours. The sites assumes it is an average of 752 per day. Obviously, you will note that 752 is more than 20. Roughly 40 times more.

Note this is 94 data base changes from just one IP Address. Nothing wrong, but this isn’t a large extensively used site with lots of traffic. It’s likely that is what tripped it. We are just speculating. To paraphrase Winston Churchill. “Never in the history of XP forums, was so much contributed to so many, so quickly, by one person”

Thanks for your enthusiastic input.