info Autoshite technical help. Ask questions about how the site works here.

[Brigsy]

Ive just had the cloudflare verication thing. Good to keep the bots out.

[SiC]

Yeah we seem to be getting hammered again. So I turned on the "Under Attack" mode which makes everyone get that prompt. Usually I restrict it to the countries that have machines hammering us - like China, Russia, etc.

Hopefully it has made the site a bit more responsive. Even if it's a bit infuriating to have pop up. 

[High Jetter]

I had one too, no sweat. Glad you're on top of it, as always, @SiC

[Snake Charmer]

A friend of mine seems to be stuck in a loop trying to register on the forum, who would best be contacted to help? I can PM his details, thanks. 

 

[Mrs6C]

9 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

A friend of mine seems to be stuck in a loop trying to register on the forum, who would best be contacted to help? I can PM his details, thanks. 

 

If you can send me a PM with their chosen username and/or email address, then I'll have a look at it.

[RustyNuts]

On 08/03/2026 at 20:23, SiC said:

Yeah we seem to be getting hammered again. So I turned on the "Under Attack" mode which makes everyone get that prompt. Usually I restrict it to the countries that have machines hammering us - like China, Russia, etc.

Hopefully it has made the site a bit more responsive. Even if it's a bit infuriating to have pop up. 

You must be kidding mate, more responsive? slower than ever!

I visit from a windows VPS (netbook is XP but using remote desktop to a VPS gives my netbook a new lease of life). Because the VPS is in america, i keep getting the bloody cloudfare thing. Worse, I went to post a topic this evening, the text was quite long and when i hit submit... cloudfare and new topic lost. 

Fucking cloudfare is becoming a pain in the arse. They went offline a month or two back and wiped out loads of the internet. Yes the tech is slightly clever but it's overkill and frankly lethal to the web. 

[IronStar]

4 minutes ago, RustyNuts said:

 

I visit from a windows VPS (netbook is XP but using remote desktop to a VPS gives my netbook a new lease of life). Because the VPS is in america

This setup will trigger every single "something's fishy" detection known to man and the machine. I know people's budgets are tight, but there's a time when you have to retire your hardware (or dedicate it to retro tinkering) and upgrade. 

[myglaren]

I get the CloudFare on several sites but not here usually.

I'd say this site is fast enough most of the time but as said this laptop is getting slow.

If I watch some YT videos, or iPlayer, I have to clear each browser of cookies and temp files, run BleachBit and reboot.  iPlayer just sticks and does nothing.

[RustyNuts]

6 minutes ago, IronStar said:

This setup will trigger every single "something's fishy" detection known to man and the machine. I know people's budgets are tight, but there's a time when you have to retire your hardware (or dedicate it to retro tinkering) and upgrade. 

Not all of us can retire the hardware. I earn peanuts (not by choice obviously) and the reality is that I can't get another netbook / laptop. I'm stuck with this one.

I'm in such a shit position, I cannot see my existence continuing for much longer. It's not economically viable to continue.

[IronStar]

1 minute ago, RustyNuts said:

Not all of us can retire the hardware. I earn peanuts (not by choice obviously) and the reality is that I can't get another netbook / laptop. I'm stuck with this one.

I'm in such a shit position, I cannot see my existence continuing for much longer. It's not economically viable to continue.

FWIW, you can get something that will happily run a modern Linux distro for under 50£

[RustyNuts]

30 minutes ago, IronStar said:

FWIW, you can get something that will happily run a modern Linux distro for under 50£

That's £50 I'd rather spend on parkside or some other shit i can't really afford but fool myself into thinking I can.

The reality is that remote desktop works well for me and i can leave stuff open on it and come back to it another time from any other device. For me, it's a great solution to a linux problem.

[Nomad]

Just info for mods (and anyone else)...

I tried several times to register but never received the "Reply to this message to confirm your registration" email.

Eventually a very helpful chap who was already a member on here has had a word with the right people, today I got the confirmation message and everything after that was straightforward.

Thanks to everyone who helped fix the issue 

[SiC]

Looks like Hotmail/Outlook.com email addresses are being rejected from Microsoft servers again 😒

I'll try putting another removal request into them later.

[RustyNuts]

It's becoming a problem sending to outlook emails. I've had a few bounce back to my site and all my spf records are good. Soon nobody will be able to email anybody.. and we'll all be going back to pen and paper as its the only thing that seems to work (sometimes).

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 27/03/2026 at 21:10, RustyNuts said:

Fucking cloudfare is becoming a pain in the arse. They went offline a month or two back and wiped out loads of the internet. Yes the tech is slightly clever but it's overkill and frankly lethal to the web. 

Strong disagree.  Cloudflare is far from perfect but they do provide excellent DNS hosting options, even on their free tier.  They had a single internal DNS glitch that briefly took a fair amount offline - but so has AWS and Microsoft recently.

The issue is that we are far too dependent as a society on a small number of very large providers for infrastructure and any one of them having an issue creates chaos.

Cloudflare’s site protection feature is very useful and having used other forums that don’t have it enabled is a nightmare.  One forum I frequent only worked about 25% of the time without it and it was much smaller than this one.

Unfortunately your bizarre VPS setup flags it but that’s probably because the IP address is seen as risky, what with VPS services and the like frequently used by threat actors to host C2 for malware, or proxies for phishing attacks, etc.

I’m sorry that you’re not in a position to purchase a slightly newer device but this isn’t a forum issue and the team have taken the right steps for the sake of everybody by enabling protection.

[RustyNuts]

On 29/03/2026 at 23:15, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Unfortunately your bizarre VPS setup

There is nothing bizarre about using Remote Desktop to use a different computer to use the web or software on it. Many companies use similar tech such as citrix for their employees to use dumb terminals to access desktop sessions on a dedicated server. The council i used to work for was doing that in 2009!

But my VPS is in america so I'll agree the IP probably makes it suspicious.. however today for instance, no sign of cloudfare at all. Maybe it adapts to traffic from the same IP that keeps passing the tests..

[GrumpiusMaximus]

32 minutes ago, RustyNuts said:

There is nothing bizarre about using Remote Desktop to use a different computer to use the web or software on it. Many companies use similar tech such as citrix for their employees to use dumb terminals to access desktop sessions on a dedicated server. The council i used to work for was doing that in 2009!

But my VPS is in america so I'll agree the IP probably makes it suspicious.. however today for instance, no sign of cloudfare at all. Maybe it adapts to traffic from the same IP that keeps passing the tests..

Remote desktop to use what amounts to a thin client running a deeply obsolete operating system in a domestic setting is deeply bizarre.

Of the 120 companies on our books, none are currently using  thin clients.  Two used to but have migrated.  Plenty use Azure-based cloud VMs as remote desktops for specific applications from Entra-joined devices and a handful use locally-hosted remote desktops on Active Directory, etc. Some use Docker and host apps on Linux servers - but all use full-fat clients.  Not thin clients.  They’re practically extinct.

You do you by all means but I’m not surprised you’re running into issues with the VPS.

[RustyNuts]

16 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Remote desktop to use what amounts to a thin client running a deeply obsolete operating system in a domestic setting is deeply bizarre.

Of the 120 companies on our books, none are currently using  thin clients.  Two used to but have migrated.  Plenty use Azure-based cloud VMs as remote desktops for specific applications from Entra-joined devices and a handful use locally-hosted remote desktops on Active Directory, etc. Some use Docker and host apps on Linux servers - but all use full-fat clients.  Not thin clients.  They’re practically extinct.

You do you by all means but I’m not surprised you’re running into issues with the VPS.

But it isn't a thin client is it. It's a netbook with it's own OS, hard drive, softwares etc but given that the modern web has moved on and chrome is no longer updateable on XP, using remote desktop is a solution that works. While it's not something many talk about, I very much doubt I am the only person doing it on the whole planet.

You could use remote desktop to administrate the server, install software etc - far more complex things - so why is using it to access the web bizarre if it works? It's extended the lifetime of a device that would otherwise be obsolete or running linux (shuddering at the very thought). It also lets me leave stuff open / running and come back to it later from any device. That means i'm not restricted to the same fat PC all the time - which when the missus has gone to bed, is a pain when the PC is in the bedroom! Instead I just boot the nettie and carry on (sometimes i use the TV instead).

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Thin clients definitely have their own OS, hard drive and software.  My argument is that your netbook is so functionally useless in the modern environment that it serves as a de facto thin client.

For the continued capital expenditure of your VPS, you could quite easily purchase an inexpensive laptop and whack Linux on it.  My latest is a Carbon X1 6th gen in a good spec that I got for £140 at the beginning of last year.

I accept your have your own way of doing things, that’s fine but it really just feels like you’re holding a contrary position for the sake of it.  Cloudflare is not the bad guy here.

[loserone]

Browsing from a VPS definitely feels like the kind of thing that I would have done in 2010.  Indeed, I had a VPS for VPNs, mail server, IRC and various shell stuff I used to do.  Back in the dark ages.   I seem to recall hosting it in Iceland because they had the least invasive surveillance laws, which was reinforced when I got a job where my role technically met the requirements to be able to request investigative data  of anyone in the UK without any legal oversight using the IPA.  

Nowadays it's much cheaper to just use tutanota, proton, brave and a well configured cheap linux laptop / tablet than piss around with managing a VPS, especially one in the US of all places.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Christ, if you’re being really paranoid just carry a TAILS bootable USB everywhere you go.

[egg]

Hi - someone I know is trying to register on the forum - but has not got the registration emails to complete. I know their username. Can anyone help please?

[High Jetter]

Overly protective email rejection is not unusual. @SiC?

[Zelandeth]

2 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Overly protective email rejection is not unusual. @SiC?

Correct.  There are a couple of the major providers which keep blacklisting us.  There is a process to go through to request that's corrected but it's not immediate and as far as I'm aware is a blind process - you just have to wait and hope the emails start getting through.

[High Jetter]

21 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Correct.  There are a couple of the major providers which keep blacklisting us.  There is a process to go through to request that's corrected but it's not immediate and as far as I'm aware is a blind process - you just have to wait and hope the emails start getting through.

On another site gmail seems the most unwelcoming

[LightBulbFun]

7 hours ago, RustyNuts said:

and chrome is no longer updateable on XP

https://github.com/win32ss/supermium

https://github.com/win32ss/supermium/releases

may have issues understanding @hairnet

 

 

 

[beko1987]

5 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

https://github.com/win32ss/supermium

https://github.com/win32ss/supermium/releases

may have issues understanding @hairnet

 

 

 

Oooh nice! Might fire up my Windows 7 thinkpad I keep about and try that , thanks!

[shrubhill]

Is my account in some sort of doghouse? I haven't posted in many years but coming back I've found I need moderator approval. What's happening?

[Mrs6C]

21 minutes ago, shrubhill said:

Is my account in some sort of doghouse? I haven't posted in many years but coming back I've found I need moderator approval. What's happening?

Hi shrubhill, welcome back! You are in the 'Junior Member' group currently. Posts from this group's members need Moderator approval. When your count of approved posts reaches 10 and you have received 5 or more 'Likes' or other responses from members, you should move over into the 'Full Member' group and be able to post at will.

[shrubhill]

Ahh thank you very much!