It’s so good to be back

[deuce]

These past few days I had felt as if I had lost a limb. Unfortunately I didn’t have too many emails because I always relied on the pms, but I am grateful for Mike’s work and dedication here and getting us up, though limping, quickly. I think as a gift for all his years of hard work building this community from the ground up, we should start a small collection to at least try and help get a new server. I’m not talking a lot, but only just a little. I think that if enough of us get together, a little from each of us can go a long way. Anyone interested?

 

[angel]

Amen to that! You know I'd help!

I also felt pretty much lost the last few days. I want Mike to promise he'll never put us though that again!!!

Keep up the good work!

 

[deuce]

Did you know windows-help.net came back online as windowsBBS.com the same time that TSG went down? A bit of a coincidence. I managed to survive over there for a few days while we waited it out along with the rest of my family here seeking refuge. I wonder what those BBS guys have been thinking? All of a sudden their site comes back up and all these TSG people flock over there and over-run the place. It seemed most of the people in random discussion over there were TSG people.

 

[hewee]

So now we know if something ever happen we can all just go to http://www.WindowsBBS.com/ and that way we will not feel so lost.

So lets all help Mikey out.

http://www.HelpOnThe.Net/how2help/donate.html

 

[SavvyLady]

Hey all ... sure is good to be back. I may have only been here about 3 months but its been "home" for that time & to suddenly not be able to get in was awful.
Not sure what happened to the server but Im hoping as w/ all computers... it doesn't happen again.
Mike really sorry this happened to your great setup here.
I clicked my heels together & chanted theres no place like home.... & the third time I was here.

its good to be back



ps. No my name is not Dorothy...lol

 

[eggplant43]

I'm no computer whiz, but I believe that what we need at TSG is redundancy. A backup system in place so that if one server goes down, there's another available to carry on. Obviously that would cost money. I'm prepared to help financially. I'm going to go send some money for the immediate repairs, and then ask Mike what he'd need so this doesn't happen again. If a bunch of us pledge $10.00 a month it shouldn't take too long.

I'd like to know if anyone else likes this idea, or has some other suggestion for making TSG solid and permanent.

 

[eddie5659]

Wahay!!!!!

Back online. Mike said that this server is an old one, so it may be a bit slow. Not seeing that at the moment, but then not everyones on at the same time.

I just donated $100 last week. Looks like it was good timing, in a bad sort of way. Even if its just $10, it all counts and this has become one of the best support sites out there on the web.

We need to keep it online. I think it was Tuesday night at around 2am GMT that I saw Mike, Heather and his dad smiling away. Think thats when they got the other server.

eddie

 

[Bunky]

This is "TechGuy's" Mike's Dad. The problem is not too many users, the server was hacked.
Mike worked for days (and nights) straight to get the main one reinstalled. Then he built a second one (old parts) for the forums and got it up late last night (early this morning).
I expect he'll make major improvements within a week.
Thanks for all your support, he loves you guys.

Bunky "Dad Cermak"

 

[RandyG]

Hi Bunky!

I hope you're proud of the work your son has done here! He has made a home for many of us to come and get help, give help, and hang out with some friends.

Like Eddie, and others I think, I jumped in and helped out when I saw the site was down for longer than the one day.


Eggplant - There are many of us here who have helped out when we could, but I would not be one of the ones who would be able to commit to a monthly donation, no matter how small. I will continue as I have been, coming here to hang out, and when my conscience gets the better of me, I donate, or if Mike is in serious straights, I donate. IMHO, a monthly donation would be a burden, but my infrequent donations make me feel good. I will continue to make myself fell good.

What can I say, I'm just a human animal after all!


Deuce - I know exactly how you felt, as I kept checking the site, at least daily, and sometimes several times a day. The first thing I did when I came online was to check the site, and then download my mails. I saw that TSG was up, and won't do anything else till I go through the lists.

 

[wen]

glad you've got everything going again mike.

wen

 

[TechGuy]

Heh, Dad's right about what caused the problem to begin with... although, because the temporary server that we're on right now is causing things to be slow because of it's slow CPU. But, again, speed isn't what killed the original one. It was a DoS (denial of service) attack.

 

[TechGuy]

I've been getting lots of questions on this, so just to clear it all up, if you're interested in donating, check out http://www.helponthe.net/how2help/donate.html

There, you'll find the current fax number, mailing address, and also online contacts. Thanks!

(By the way, to those who have emailed me: please be patient, as it may take me days to reply to everyone!)

 

[eddie5659]

Well, even though it was a DoS attack, which is not a good thing, you did extremely well in getting back on top and not losing the entire database as the other support site did.

Just got to catch up on my mail tonight as I had a few replies but obviously haven't been able to look at them. Then, back for most of the week.

Keep up the good work

eddie

 

[Whinyguy]

Mike: Thanks for all your hard work and effort on keeping TSG alive.

Do any of the the current firewall programs (Norton personal firewall, McAfee firewall, BlackICE defender) have a way to protect against a denial of service type attack?

 

[RandyG]

Hi Alan,

I don't believe they do, as the firewalls utilised by Steve Gibson also fell to a DoS (Denial of Service) attack.

Take a look at Steve's site for some good information on security issues. https://grc.com

http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/08/nt1708.001.html for a learning experience on DoS attacks.

http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/denial_of_service.html#4 for info on how to prevent them

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 to test how protected you are with your current security settings.


Last thing . . . the firewall programs you listed are not the best available. Take a look at http://www.zonelabs.com/ and get a better, free, firewall. I have also heard good things about http://www.tinysoftware.com/home/tiny?la=EN&va=aa Tiny Firewall, but don't use it.