Mark Pierce's forum logon problems

Mark sent me an email today and included a brief description of his problem he is having when logging on to the forums. Please find it attached. Sorry about the "yellow pad" thing as I'm in a hurry and on my iPad. I will pass any thoughts or suggestions back to Mark via phone or email. Thanks in advance

Giggitoni said:

Mark sent me an email today and included a brief description of his problem he is having when logging on to the forums. Please find it attached. Sorry about the "yellow pad" thing as I'm in a hurry and on my iPad. I will pass any thoughts or suggestions back to Mark via phone or email. Thanks in advance

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I just forwarded this to Janet but it sounds similar to what happened to me a few weeks ago. I cleared my cache in my browser(Chrome) and the problem was solved after a system restart.

I agree- I am no tech guy but he needs to clear his cache. As well, he should try switching over to Mozilla's Firefox or even over to Chrome. Both are way better than internet explorer. In fact, he really ought to just go ahead and switch to a mac.

Thanks. I'll pass your suggestions on to Mark.

Isn't Windows NT circa 1995? Does Mozilla/Chrome etc.... support Windows NT? It may be time for him to get a new computer or upgrade his Windows. I can only imagine how slow that computer is...... Actually it's coming back to me like a bad nightmare.....


Woodsong and CPS..... I think it may be wise to give some guidelines as to which browsers are supported. That way there is no confusion when a member with a 20 year old operating system/browser has problems logging on.

Wow! I just looked up Windows NT. First release was July 1993. I'll pass it on should he not see this exchange. Thanks.

While Windows NT is indeed coal fired and steam powered, Mark has apparently not been experiencing any problems using it until very recently. So I'm thinking that while upgrading to an operating system that actually runs on electricity would be a good thing, the problem he is having is rooted in something that has occurred recently. Cache, cookies, preferences, virus, etc. Unless the forum itself has made a change in it's coding and format or whatever the correct terms are and is no longer properly compatible with NT.

Marin said:

While Windows NT is indeed coal fired and steam powered, Mark has apparently not been experiencing any problems using it until very recently. So I'm thinking that while upgrading to an operating system that actually runs on electricity would be a good thing, the problem he is having is rooted in something that has occurred recently. Cache, cookies, preferences, virus, etc. Unless the forum itself has made a change in it's coding and format or whatever the correct terms are and is no longer properly compatible with NT.

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I just cant see cookies being the problem after 20 years...... It has to be support for the operating system/browser when the forum updated with the new add campaign. Anyone with outdated computers/browsers will experience issues with the new format. IMO Hopefully the site admins can shine some light on system requirements.

Unless the forum or Google or both have changed the ad format very recently, Mark has been accessing the forum with no problems long after the Google ads thing started a couple of months ago. Not saying that's not the source of his problem, but it seems odd that it would start just a few days ago when nothing changed with the forum. Unless something did.

i9 tried for 2 weeks to get my password changed and it sent me to a site that wanted 9.95 to get it and about 10 ems to the forum, i finaly got it changed ,but it quite a problem???????????????????????

If mark is running Windows NT I am guessing this may be the cell phone he uses:




Which version windows explorer is he using or is he still also using netscape since he is on NT?

Now that everybody has had a go at Mark for using a robust OS and not feeding Bill Gates retirement fund I'd like to point out that I have had similar problems logging on with IE8 and Win 7. Good on ya Mark for not buying into the Windows hype. Its not that many years ago that I gave up running W2K simply because I couldn't run the software that I wanted to, not because there was actually anything wrong with W2K. If the browser runs on NT then I doubt NT is part of the problem.

I wonder if the site has so much traffic now that it's getting throttled by Andy's website provider?

I have noticed that as the ads have become more bibbity, bobbity, it is a bit slower to load stuff, even on a Mac with 4 GB Ram, and with latest Firefox browser, so it might have just overtaxed an older OS and browser enough to cause issues..?

Well, guys, I got on this page (happens one in fifty attempts). My computer is a three-year old HP desktop. The internet explorer is an 8/16/2012 (yes, updated about a week ago) automatically updated version, and the Windows NT is dated 7/13/2009. A sticker on the computer cabinet says "Windows 7." So it ain't that old. Not sure what/how is "clean out the cache" but I clean out all the cookies (generally 30 or so) every day using Norton.

This is terribly frustrating.

Temporary Internet Files - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How to Delete the Contents of the Temporary Internet Files Folder

Cache is AKA Temporary Internet Files. Computer issues can be frustrating to me as well.

markpierce said:

Well, guys, I got on this page (happens one in fifty attempts). My computer is a three-year old HP desktop. The internet explorer is an 8/16/2012 (yes, updated about a week ago) automatically updated version, and the Windows NT is dated 7/13/2009. A sticker on the computer cabinet says "Windows 7." So it ain't that old. Not sure what/how is "clean out the cache" but I clean out all the cookies (generally 30 or so) every day using Norton.

This is terribly frustrating.

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If CPS's links don't help get you back on.....Just for shits and giggles, download Mozilla (its free) and the ad-block add on. It should take you 20 minutes to load it on your computer. Then attempt to get on again. I know you want to figure out what is wrong with Internet Explorer, but this will help you with the process of elimination.

Mark this is nuts. You say "but I clean out all the cookies (generally 30 or so) every day using Norton." I HAVE NEVER CLEANED OUT ANY COKIE EVER. I have a standalone 27" i-mac w a "Time Machine" router. I don't do back ups either ... the Time Machine does that automatically every hour, every week or whatever I program it to do. I don't even think about that kind of stuff. Good thing as I don't know much about it. I have Norton but think it was a carryover from my PC. I've got Safari and Firefox but use Safari most all the time because I like the favorites and bookmark features there.

Having said all that I now must admit my "Trawler Discussions" bar on the right is missing???

manyboats said:

Having said all that I now must admit my "Trawler Discussions" bar on the right is missing???

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If you are running an ad blocker you may not see the right column. There is also a setting in you r user cp regarding the right column (it can be disabled).

Mark, Deleting cookies probably won't solve your issue. We actually use cookies to keep you logged in at page changes... but it's IS likely that you have old versions of the site cached in your devices memory so dumping your temp browsing history is important.

The site gets regular software updates and is designed to function with current web browsers, while older browsers may work , there are no guarantees.

Duh ... Thank's Janet. I clicked on the little arrow on the right and it came right back up. My troubles are usually self inflicted as I'm and old guy way behind the curve on computers. Good thing I have one that's not troublesome but then from necessity that could be the road to competence .. Hmmmmm

manyboats said:

Duh ... Thank's Janet. I clicked on the little arrow on the right and it came right back up. My troubles are usually self inflicted as I'm and old guy way behind the curve on computers. Good thing I have one that's not troublesome but then from necessity that could be the road to competence .. Hmmmmm

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If it makes you feel better I've turned off my side bar accidentally before and took almost an hour to figure out "I" was the problem, not the computer or site

FWIW all my home computers will soon be Mac's for most of the reasons listed here and other places. FAR more user friendly machines plus they integrate seamlessly with my other Apple products at home. After well over 20 years of using PC's I'm done. Will still be PC based at the office but we have 20 people in the IT department that have grown used to the job security.

Downloaded Firefox as suggested. Using Firefox, I no longer have a problem accessing TrawlerForum. Thanks everybody!

Welcome back, Mark! TF hasn't been the same without recent pix of the ol' Coot. You've got some catching up to do.

Thanks, Al. The Coot is back in the water as of yesterday, but installation of blowby-oil-recovery system and engine maintenance still needs to be done, hopefully to be completed in time so we can accompany Ray and Vicky to Ayala Cove this coming Thursday.

Call in sick, Al.... What are they gunna do, fire ya'!!!

glad to hear firefox worked for you. It is a much more stable internet platform. Chrome is good too.

Giggitoni said:

Call in sick, Al.... What are they gunna do, fire ya'!!!

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:lol: Agreed...but with 69 days remaining, I don't want to give them a reason! After that, Mark and I will be texting you from our cruising adventures during random weekdays just because we can!!

Glad you guys are hitting AI together. I'll be watching for a trip report as it's one of my favorite destinations!!

Yup, something is going on here that is odd. Some of my responses are getting cut off before I can Submit and browsing the site is laborious - it is hardly worth messing with anymore until I get home to my desk top speed demon. Shades of why PMM drove us away? The quest for revenue, littering my e-mail with junk and political correctness seems to have infected TF.

Oh for the good old John Baker days.

I've been having the same grief as mark on this and cruisersforum. I took to heart the cache, cookie, operating system comments. Today, brand new computer running windows 7 through a 3G connection, first day of use for all and the symptoms are exactly the same. Occasionally I get lucky on my work computer tethered to my HTC phone as is happening for this reply. I'm in a developing nation so bandwidth is a bit of an issue but forum software should be able to deal with this. As both these forums are for people who are not necessarily living their whole lives next to a large telco provider and plugged direct into their mainframe then I feel the forum software providers need to step up to the mark and identify and sort the problems. I pay nothing to belong to these sites so can't really moan too much but the people that are paying for the software should be getting value for money and if some of their members are being alienated by poor/no access then the situation needs addressing.

I'm on Win 7 and IE and have never had a problem.