Forum Terms of service

Using the forum. By registering on this forum, you agree to use it properly, and to refrain from posting any content that is aggressive, offensive, defamatory, hateful, or in violation of applicable laws and regulations. You agree not to post messages inciting or evoking illegal practices, or violating the terms of use of the service.

The moderators and administrators of this forum will do their best to delete or edit any reprehensible messages that may be posted on the forum. You acknowledge that all messages posted on this forum express the opinion of their respective authors, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the moderators and administrators.

In order to ensure the moderation of this forum, any message violating the preceding provisions may be edited or deleted without notice by the moderators and administrators of the forum. Any abuse may also be sanctioned by banning or deleting the user account. We reserve the right to inform your access provider and/or the judicial authorities of any malicious behaviour.

Your personal data. By registering on this forum, you agree that it may collect some of your personal data. This data collection is done either through the information you provide us, or through the use of the services itself, for technical data used for the forum proper functioning. You can access, modify or delete your data at any time. Users under 16 years old certify that they have obtained the consent of their legal guardian in order to proceed with this registration. For more information, please read our privacy policy.

This forum uses cookies to store information on your computer. These cookies only serve to improve the user experience. You can read the purpose of cookies on our forum help center. You can choose in your browser settings not to enable cookies, as this may disrupt the forum proper functioning.

This forum may send you electronic messages (e-mail), such as activity notifications, or newsletters, sent by Forumotion or by an administrator of this forum. You can choose in your profile preferences to receive or not each of these messages.

2. Overall Posting Conduct/Behavior:
2.1. Your access to theseforums is a privilege, NOT a right. Your access here can/will beterminated at moderator/admin discretion. While we want to allow asmuch tech-related discussion as possible, there is no “free speech”here.

2.2. Be reasonable. Be civil and respectful when postingregardless of what you’re saying or to whom you’re speaking. Beingcivil means, at a minimum, all of the following: no harassment, racism,sexism, homophobia, nation-hating (“country bashing”), etc…. This ruleextends to EVERYTHING related to the forum: name, threads, posts, PMs,images, your profile, etc…

2.3. Constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. If you’re not sure about what “constructive” is, see rule 2.2.<

2.4.If your thread/post gets locked or you receive a warning about yourbehavior, do NOT start new threads asking “why” or complaining aboutit. If you want to discuss it, PM a mod to pursue it further, one ortwo PMs is enough. Do not bombard moderator/admin PM boxes.

2.5.If you have a problem with one of the moderators, admins, or anothermember of these forums, either email them or send them a PM.

2.6. No spamming the forums.

2.7. Do not incessantly whine or complain about the same things over and over. Being relentlessly negative is not welcome.

2.8.ALL RULES here apply to the private messaging feature as well. PMing isnot some “get out of jail free” card to allow boorish or otherwise lamebehavior that we wouldn’t allow in the public forums.

2.9. We do not support piracy in any way, shape, or form. Discussing or promoting piracy, etc… may result in an instant ban.

2.10.While you're free to be critical, if you are relentlessly negative andhave a history of doing nothing but complain/whine/*****, you may beremoved.

3. Topics/Threads:
3.1. Post threads to the correctforum. Have a great idea? Then go to proper forum. Having a problem w/your hardware? Then Off-topic -> Hardware is the place for you.

3.3.No "Hi, I'm new to the forum" threads. We realize its just beingfriendly, but if every new person who registered posted one of these...well, you get the idea.

3.4. From time to time things will bedeclared a "dead horse". This is usually some topic that's been beatinto the ground so much that's its pointless to discuss and/or theadmin team has stated that its not going to be done in thenear/immediate future and, thus, is also pointless to discuss.Forumgoers are expected to let "dead horses" go.

4. Links/Images/Signatures/Content:
4.1.Do NOT post links/images/content to the following types of sites (andthat includes in your sigs or profile)… NOTE: these are all instantban-worthy.

* software/media piracy
* gambling
* pornography
* hate/racist
* viruses/trojans or anything harmful at all
* comments intended to provoke, incite, or attack a particular person/group
* anything else inappropriate for a forum of this type
* the sale of your product
* ebay linkage

4.2.If the link you attach has pop-ups or anything, content-wise, thatwould be inappropriate for youngsters, PLEASE SAY SO YOU IN YOUR POST.

4.3. Do NOT steal (“leech”) bandwidth from others. Stealing bandwidth for your signatures or images is bannable offense.

4.4. All signatures must be of a maximum image size 450w x 150h and contain a maximum of 1 image and 5 line breaks.

4.5. We will remove signatures or parts thereof at our discretion per the stated rule 4.4.

4.6.User-Titles are strictly reserved for admins and other importantmembers of Computer Bay, Forum administrators and moderators, andanyone we wish to reward w/ one. Do not ask us for one. If we see thatyou deserve one you will get it. Nagging is not the way to do thingshere.

5. Registration/Names
5.1. We do not give out youremail address to anyone and never will. You can choose to hide youremail address for total privacy.

5.2. The email address youenter must be valid. You cannot finish registration unless you respondto our confirmation email we send to that email address.

5.3. One account per person.

5.4. At times, we moderate new registrations, so if you can’t post right away, give it a day or two before contacting us.

6. Tips
6.1. Read the stickies. They are your friends. Reading them will save lots of time for you and other forum posters.

6.2.Use the search function before posting an "idea" thread or a thread todebate something. Doing so saves a lot of time, space, energy, andemotion for all concerned.

6.3. The fact that you have 1 post,5000 posts or have playing with computers since they were the size ofentire rooms is IRRELEVANT. It may inform your opinions and certainlymay mean other posters will give greater weight to what you say, but,in terms of how you treat other people, please drop the elitism.

6.4.Give your threads useful titles so that a reader will have a good ideawhat the thread is about just by seeing the title. For instance, “Howto maximize your Windows” is a much better title than “look here” or“my thoughts”.

6.5. While we’re not grammar nazi’s, you’d besurprised how much more credibility you’ll have if you make an effortto use correct grammar and spelling. We’re not looking for perfection,just effort.

6.6. When posting images, do not use .bmp. Use .jpgor .gif, or something similarly small. .bmp’s are just too large. Youmay run the risk of having your images deleted if you are beingreckless w/ posting .bmps.

6.7. Do not post your signature in every single post you make. Once or twice per thread.

7. Consequences/Bans
7.1.Violating the above rules can result in being banned from the forums.Depending on the reason, you may have some or no warning. For instance,racist/hatespeak will be an instant ban, no warning, but if the problemis, say, flaming between 2 people warnings will be issued. We are underno obligation to warn you since the rules are posted, but we will tryto do so when the problem/infraction is of less significance.

7.2.How do I get unbanned? First off, DO NOT re-register. Doing so justreduces your chances of ever being unbanned. You will have to contact aforum admin or moderator to make such a request. Obviously, you willhave to do this off-forum. You may also use a friend w/ an account tocontact us via the forums.

7.3. If you receive a message sayingyour IP has been banned, email or PM any of the forum mods/admins. Itmay well be that an IP range was blocked and you got caught up in this.We will try and rectify this when possible.

7.4. Bans are not up for public discussion.

7.5.Posts made into incorrect forums can/will be moved or deleted atmoderator discretion. As much as possible, we will try and note why thethread was locked/moved.

DISCLAIMER:

The Computer Bay Forums are here for the enjoyment of all who register and decide to post here. While these rules cannot cover our entire base of rules,they are provided to you as a guideline for behavior which "WE" deem as appropriate for our organization. This is NOT to say that any behavior that is NOT listed here gives a person carte-blanche to act in a manner or post in a manner which would be observed by a sampling of"normalized society" as offensive.

Please make yourselves aware that by registering here, you agree to these rules and agree to be bound by them should you decide to post here -- if at all. We understand the needs of individuals to be contrary to our rules andwish to make you aware that any behavior we understand as negative or having no positive contribution may also result in removal from these forums.

At no time are we responsible for any content or information which passes through our forum software although we shall make every effort to monitor such information and if necessary intercept and remove it.

The tips and tricks on this site should be taken at the users own risk, thecomputerbay.com and its producers will not be held accountable for actions that result in unwanted or unsolicited results.

These rules may be subject to change or interpretation at the discretion of the administrators of these forums so choose. You will however be notified once changes have been effected so as to give you time to read and understand any changes.

These forums are provided by the admins of Computer Bay AS IS and come with no warranty or guarantee of service or free speech. At no time should you expect anything from these forums beyond being able to use them in what we deem to be a "timely manner."