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After sitting back and thinking about this for a few days I have decided that Free PC Help Forum can not nor ever will support any software when you explicitly have to opt out of an installation of any other software that is bundled with it. I understand that most software products do ask if you want to install other products. They get paid to bundle these products from the company that created the software. I do, however, have a problem when you have to opt-out of the install of these extras by checking/unchecking a box. A novice user could get unwanted software that could cause them problems. While I will not be taking part in any chat sessions on Paltalk and Free…

I have upgraded the software used for this site to the newest version. I also upgraded the blog software and turned the gallery on again. Along with this I changed the style to something easier on the eyes. If you find any bugs let me know about them.

I am having some problems with the server this site is on. To troubleshoot it I have to take it offline. I am in the process of moving the site to another server. At times you might not be able to get to the site. You might notice some quirkiness when on the site. I have a powershell script querying the server from the backup server and if it finds the server went down it reboots it via the KVM. This causes a hard reboot, similar to unplugging the server, so when it comes back online you might get errors for a short time. After the script reboots the server it times out for 15 minutes and then runs a repair on the database. Each time the server has gone down today t…

I have set up a ban filter to disallow registrations from gMail accounts. If you attempt to register with a gMail address you will be denied. If you are currently registered with a gMail account then you will be required to change the email on your next log in. gMail is by far the most used email service by spammers and I am tired of spam bots using gMail email address trying to register. Until Google finds a way to stop these spammers I saw that banning gMail was the only option to stop this. In the last 24 hours there were 4234 attempted user registrations. 3 were by actual users and the rest were by spam bots or spammers. Of those 4234 attempts 4129 were using gM…

allheart55 (Cindy E) submitted a new resource: [plain]How to Extract Images, Text, and Embedded Files from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Documents[/plain] - [plain]Extract Images[/plain] Read more about this resource...

allheart55 (Cindy E) submitted a new resource: [plain]How To Solve UEFI Boot And Startup Problems[/plain] - [plain]Solving Boot and Startup Issues[/plain] Read more about this resource...

I have turned on new styles for the site. The old styles were outdated so I decided it was tie to make the change. The new styles use the same color schemes as the old so the change isn't too drastic. If you have any problems with the new styles let me know.

I have lightened up the sidebar on the new default style to make it better for those that don't particular like dark colors. I have also added an area to discuss the guides and tutorials posted in the Resources Section of the site. It was an oversight on my part not having a discussion area for that section. Now when a new resource is posted a thread will also be created in the resources discussion forum so that you can discuss the resource or ask questions about it.

I have done some major changes to the site and the software used on the site. This is to make your user experience at Tech Help Forum an enjoyable one. In the coming weeks you'll see more features added. With this I also added a new default style. This new style should correct the problems some of you had with usability and readability. If you should encounter any problems please post a thread in the Site Feedback forum and I will address then as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.

To condense things I removed some of lesser used forums with less than 5 posts. I moved the threads to the General Chat forum. The forums I removed are: Forum Games Members Photo Galleries Photo Editing and Restoration Hobbies In the future they could return if usage warrants it.

The site will be under going some major changes in the coming weeks. The biggest will be the software change from vbulletin to Invision Power Board. Due to the recent happenings with with vbulletin which I will not go into here I have decided to make the switch. Along with this change will be a new structure to the forum. Stay tuned these are exciting time for the users at Free PC Help Forum.

As some have noticed site features are being turned off. This is in preparation of a major software upgrade. At this point in the process I am removing all addons. They will not be compatible with the new version. You will see things changing during this process. I expect to be done with the upgrade by the end of the day today. If things don't go as planned then the upgrade will be delayed to after Christmas.

I am in the process of setting up a new server for the site. I will be moving the site to this server this week. There will be some downtime. I will try to keep it minimal.

I will be doing some long needed upgrades to the network this weekend. Expected downtime will be 2-3 hours while new hardware is installed and configured.

I have changed the look of the site. We now have a more modern style that will be easier for users to access all our features and Microsoft discussions. If you prefer to use the old style you can do so by selecting Microsoft Blue from the style dropdown at the bottom left of the page. If you have any comments on the new style start a thread in the Water Cooler forum and I will address your concerns.

I have installed a new default theme for the site. If you wish to continue to use the old default style then use the style chooser at the bottom left of the page to change back to it. Thanks and enjoy the community.

The site is now operating with a new domain, freepchelp.forum. This has been in the works to change domains for a while and it has now been completed. This is to make sure we can grow by gaining visibility in the search engine. The freepchelp.forum domain will continue to forward to here so any bookmarks you have will still work.

If you are browsing the site and someone replies to one of your posts, post something in your profile or send you a private message you'll get a real time notice in the bottom left corner of your browser while on the site. So if you see this popup you'll know what it is for and what it does. It's one of the changes towards making the site more interactive.

I was a little slow getting this one added. Better late than never I say. In any case I have added a new forum for Windows 11 help and discussions. Visit the new Windows 11 forum.

Free PC Help Forum is much more than a tech forum. We strive to be a helpful bunch, but, we also like to socialize. In keeping with those ideals we have created more forums for our members to enjoy conversation and interact with the members of Free PC Help Forum. You can check out the new forums at http://freepchelp.forum/f/21/

This weekend I will be changing the look of the forum. I have a new style selected and have it installed. I am doing some final tesing before I turn it on. I will leave the old style on for a coule weeks and then will shut it off. I am sure you will like the new layout. It will streamline the site so that means less page scrolling. The forum layout will also be better organize. [twitter]win2008forum[/twitter]

I have upgraded the site to the newest version of software and along with changed the style the site uses. I purchased a branding free skin and installed it as the main forum style. It much faster loading and doesn't have any of the little bugs the old skin had. If you wish to use the old skin you can change to it by using the style dropdown at the bottom left of each page.

As you can see I have changed the software that runs Free PC Help Forum. The new software is geared to make the user experience much better. The interface is new, exciting and extremely fast. With the change come some problems. Your login might not work although on another community that I recently converted users are telling me their username and password indeed does work and they are able to login without any problems. If your login does not work then use this link to reset your password. Reset Password Here If you no longer have access to the email you used to register then contact me with your new email address and I will update your user account and send you…