Welcome to the Microsoft Software Forum Network! You have chosen to join one of the best and fast-growing forums on the Internet dealing with everything related to Microsoft. We started as a small group back in Aug. of 2001 and have grown to be one of the most knowledgeable forums around. We hope you stay a while and share your XPeriences with others as we have.

Below are some guidelines that will keep you out of trouble here.

» Posting Guidelines

1.a This is not a warez site! Links/Requests to warez and/or illegal material (e.g., cracks, serials, etc.) will not be tolerated. Discussion of circumventing WGA/activation/timebombs/license restrictions, use of keygens, or any other illegal activity, including, but not limited to, requests for help where pirated software is being used or being discussed, will also not be tolerated. You will be warned on your first offence. If you choose to continue, you will be banned without notice.

1.b Respect the requests of companies who do not permit redistribution of their products without express permission - including unmodified hotfix/feature pack packages. Download sources for official software should be from the vendor directly where possible. Posts made containing this type of content may be removed immediately without warning, and offenders may be banned on first violation.

1.c Users should be made aware of what they are getting prior to any download/install package from a Member provided link. As such, every post which contains links to repackaged software MUST state specifically the nature of the software. This includes, but is not limited to, trialware, shareware, payware, freeware etc. If a trial version, the length of the trial should be stated as should whether an uninstall is part of the package. If registration keys/information is required to be input for continued usage of software in the package, then the post must state that fact as well. Any message with link(s) found to not state this required information will be removed and will result in measures being taken against the poster, up to and including a ban. Also, if the stated information is found to be deceptive or the software redistribution is found to be illegal (rule 1.b ). the poster will be banned.

2.a Use some common sense. Do not create identical topics or make identical posts in more than one forum. Think before posting and choose the right topic for your question or answer. Do not "bump" newly created topics until at least 24 hours have passed. If a topic is been "bumped" three times without any new replies, please consider reviewing and editing your original post and adding any information which you think may help other members in answering your question(s) or concern(s). When posting, have something to say, not just "My First post!" or "Cool site!!!" We sort of have the idea by now. :-)

2.b Topics devoted to political debate, unless technology related, are prohibited. MSFN is a technology forum and political debates have caused many problems and distractions in the past. Political links in signatures and polite, courteous comments in non-political topics are allowed, but we cannot allow any topics in which the sole purpose is to debate political issues.

2.c Requesting help with academic material, such as assignments, is not permitted on MSFN. Receiving such help is often viewed as plagiarism in many schools, and therefore cannot be allowed. This is for your own protection in your academic career.

2.d Be mindful of other users on this forum and post in English. If you must post in your native tongue, please include an English translation so that it can be better read and responded to by the rest of the forum members; if it ends up being a useful post, others will be able to view and read it later. This site is unilingual, so be mindful of that when you post.

3. Do not post screenshots within threads that exceed 300x200 pixels in resolution and 150kB in size. Provide a link to the image and host it on your own web space, if possible. Always keep in mind we have several members on 56kbps connections and loading a thread with a few large screenshots can be quite slow for them.

4.a Spamming will not be tolerated. We have provided a section for those who wish to share your personal websites, not commercial ones; use these sections only. We do keep a log of all IP traffic that comes in and out of this site. We will report spamming to your ISP!

4.b Should you be suspended or banned from MSFN, you are not allowed to open a new account to re-obtain the ability to post on the forums. Suspensions and bans are given for a reason and are not up for debate. Users found to be using multiple accounts on the forum, regardless of being suspended/banned or not, will have their accounts immediately banned.

4.c In extreme cases and only if deemed necessary, MSFN staff reserve the right to immediately ban any member whose post(s) violate(s) the rules set forth in this post. MSFN staff also reserve the right to make changes and to allow exceptions to the said rules on a case-by-case basis.

4.d Accounts may be purged from MSFN's database for any of the following reasons:

• When a temporary e-mail address was used to activate the account (i.e., one that does not require registration). Such users are welcome to register a new account using a secure e-mail account. This is done to maintain some degree of accountability, since anonymous e-mail services provide no protection against hijackings.
• When a user has not used his or her account (read: posted) for a period of one month from its initial registration date. Such users are welcome to register new accounts, however, we would like to see some level of participation from all of our members.
• When a user has not used his or her account (read: posted) for a period of one year or more and whose account's post count is low. Such accounts are subject to moderator review and may be deleted if a moderator finds that the account user's posts do not contain any information of value or that may be of use to our members (i.e., posts that consist of short responses such as "Me too," "+1," "LOL," etc.).

5. Images in signatures shall not exceed a total of 380x100 pixels and 100kB. Flash and animated signatures and avatars are not permitted. You can enter a maximum of four (4) lines of text in your signature for a text-only signature, or one (1) line of text above or below a signature that contains an image. Advertising and/or affiliates are not allowed in signatures nor avatars. Avatars are to be a maximum of 100x100 pixels. If your avatar or signature goes above these guidelines they will be taken off without notice. Any avatars or signatures found to be attached to a thread on MSFN being used as a host will be removed. Members with slow connection can disable other members' signatures when reading posts by going to: My Control - Options - Board Settings.

6. If you need to attach something, it'd be great if you could find a host for the file. Only attach something if you absolutely have no other option. This will help keep the size of the database down and keep MSFN running smoothly for our members.

7.a You are expected to be mature when discussing in threads. Racism, pornography, threats, profanity, or excessive vulgarity is not tolerated. You will be promptly banned. No exceptions.

7.b This community is built upon mutual respect. You are not allowed to flame other members. People who do not respect personal opinions and/or personal work will be warned in first instance. If you ignore the warning and keep on flaming, you will be banned without notice.

7.c User accounts that are purposely created to impersonate any of MSFN's members will be banned and in some cases, members visiting from the same IP address can be and will be banned for creating the alternate account as per rule 4.b.

7.d Posting the contents of a private message (PM) in the public forum, for any reason, is expressly prohibited. Posting the contents of a PM in any public thread will result in an immediate ban. If this occurs, please contact any moderator via the "report" button at the bottom-left of the post.

8. Has the thread you started or participated in been moved, closed or deleted? Check with the forum moderator via PM. Under no circumstances start threads asking why other threads were moderated. Forum moderation is not up for public debate, and such threads will be deleted and the thread starter warned. MSFN reserves the right to edit, delete or move posts made on this site.

9. Do not bash old topics when a member has made it active again; it's been made active for a good reason: to answer an unanswered question, or to bring up new information. It does not need to be closed or deleted.

10. We do not encourage the raising of post counts or creating threads that state you have reached a post count milestone, unlike other forums that do. Remember, there are no prizes in store for those with a very high number of posts!

11. Do not use CAPITALIZATIONS in the topic title or when participating in threads because they will not attract attention - instead it will annoy many of MSFN's members. Using unnecessary font formatting (i.e., bold font, increased font sizes, colored fonts, etc.) on the full body of posts is also discouraged.

12. Very often we see meaningless subjects in topic title. They give no clue of what the posts are all about. For example:

• Oh no!
• Help
• I'm mad
• Please help
• Question
• I need your help
• Hmmmm....

This should be avoided. Users should enter something more specific in the topic title so that it is easier for others to help.

A few good examples:

• Strange problem with DirectX9b redist
• RunOnceEx install problem (double installation)
• Change Internet Explorer's Icon back to default

13. No user shall, by any means:

1. Sell, trade, or give away hardware, software, or any other goods whatsoever.
2. Offer any type of paid service or services to other members of the community. Offering any type of service in exchange for other goods or services is also not permitted.
3. Directly request donations or otherwise solicit forum members for financial assistance. If you have an external site, attachment, download or other such resource for which you would like to solicit donations, references or links to external sites that give information on where a member might donate are acceptable, but linking directly to PayPal or otherwise directly soliciting members is not tolerated. The only exceptions to this rule are for member projects directly hosted by MSFN, or for projects where MSFN hosts the main support forums for member projects.

MSFN does not support any type of trade and shall not be held accountable. Any violation of this rule may result in an immediate ban with no further warning.

With that out of the way, we hope that you enjoy your stay at MSFN!

» The MSFN Team

Last updated: October 7th, 2009