The forums were designed to help users with all of their computer questions. However, they have not been designed to help users obtain illegal content, bypass protection, and/or cause users grief. Below is a short list of what Computer Hope and the forum members will not help with.
Spam and solicitationSpam, affiliation programs, referral link sites, schemes, and/or any type solicitation is prohibited on the forums and can result in a ban. Computer Hope will allow in moderation a mention of your own personal web site if you're a contributing member in your signature. In other words, if you're just looking to advertise or sale something look elsewhere because it wont be worth your time to try it here.
Copyrighted material- Downloading or using a program (e.g. torrent / P2P program) to download a copyrighted software program, game, movie, song, TV show, book, or any other content protected by copyright laws.
- Finding places on the Internet to watch movies or TV shows or listen to copyrighted music.
- Making backups of copyrighted DVDs.
- Help users use copyrighted material in their own video, song, and/or website.
- Posting any copyrighted material, even if it's being used for helping others.
Unlicensed/Cracked versions of Windows- We will not help with making an illegal or invalid installation of Windows work. You need to get a legitimate key from Microsoft.
- To activate Windows go to the Microsoft Product Activation website and follow the instructions to activate Windows or call Microsoft at 1-866-PCSAFETY (1-866-727-2338)
- In the event you bought a computer and are being told your Windows key isn't valid, help is available from this site: Protect Yourself from Piracy
Bypassing protection- If you need or lost your CD-KEY or other authentication key for a software program or game you’ll need to contact the developer of that program. We will not provide you or link you to where you can find a new one.
- Bypassing any type of password protection in place by parents, schools, or other family members. We will provide limited assistance for users who've forgotten their Windows password. Before posting you may want to review the suggestions on document CH000172.
- Filters on school computers and in the workplace are there for a reason. If they don't want you to do certain things on their network, it is your obligation to respect that. We do not assist in bypassing these filters. If you feel that you have a good reason, you need to discuss it with the network's administrator.
Causing users grief / hacking- Treat others as you expect to be treated. Do not harass any member of the forums.
- Make posts / comments that only relate to the original question / topic.
- If you’re looking for help with getting revenge on someone else and/or hacking into a program or service look elsewhere. This also includes supposedly "harmless" pranks. This is not what Computer Hope was designed for.
- Stealing or otherwise obtaining another users password.
- Flooding the forums with huge amounts of unnecessary text.
Additional information about why Computer Hope has these rules in place and why you shouldn't participate in these types of activities is found on our
underground page.
Religion and politicsPosts can be made in the off-topic section only about religion and politics as long as they're purely informative and contain no bias. This same rule applies to avatars, signatures, and private messages.
LanguageAlthough we love helping all people at this time Computer Hope and the forums are only capable of answering questions asked in
English.
ReportingSteps on reporting to a forum moderator can be found by
clicking here.
Finally, additional legal information relating to Computer Hope found on our
legal page.
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