TrevMUN

Awesome! This has been a big help, man. Thanks. Do you recommend partitioning 90 GB for a 120 GB SSD, if I do not plan to have any other partitions on the drive? I saw on the first page that @TELVM recommended partitioning 100 GB on a 128 GB SSD for overprovisioning. Well, as @Dave-H said, it might not be difficult to you ... I do appreciate the clarification, however. I don't intend to have more than one partition on the SSD. In fact, I don't think I've ever put more than one partition on any drive I've owned. Regarding "the partition needs to be aligned to a multiple of the cluster and possibly to a multiple of the device page, 2048 sectors before is fine," given bluebolt's advice would that mean in diskpart I would need to either need to input create partition primary align=1024 size=90000 Or create partition primary align=2048 size=90000 And either would work? What would be the advantage of one or the other?

Alright, so ... I'm still having a hard time understanding from this discussion the proper course of action. If you want an SSD prepared for use with Windows XP and XP64, the drive needs to be formatted and partitioned by Windows Vista, 7, 8, or 10. Windows XP and XP64 cannot properly format, partition, and align an SSD and doing so will result in having an SSD with a shorter life span than it would otherwise have. Am I correct in that assumption? I found out today that there is a Windows 7 computer I will have access to for a period of time which I may be able to use to format the SSD I've bought. Would all I have to do is just plug the SSD into the computer (I have a SATA/IDE to USB adapter) and let it format with default settings, or are there specific settings/procedures? I don't meant to be curt about this, but my situation has become a bit difficult. On top of trying to manage the rebuilding of my desktop computer my landlord has asked me to move out by the end of next month; I believe he's giving my room to a relative of his. Combined with me trying to figure out how I'm going to get my yearly medical scan there's a lot of plates spinning over here, so to speak, and I have a small window of opportunity to do this right.

Hey guys, apologies for the necro, but I thought it would be better to ask here and get some definitive confirmation before I go about doing this. I've been reading through the thread, but the ensuing conversation from it has made it a little difficult to determine the best course of action. I recently bought a Kingston 120GB SSDnow v300 for my pending overhaul of my desktop computer. I plan to have put the OS (XP64) on it, as well as one or two programs that would benefit from loading from the SSD provided I can find a way to keep said programs from constantly writing to the disk. I don't think I have easy access to a machine with Windows 7 on it. I may, but I am not entirely sure, have Windows 7 repair discs on me. Provided I remembered to pack those when I moved cross-country. If I can find them, can I use them to format an SSD as per the recommendation that Windows 7 be used to format SSDs for XP? Are there other ways to align the SSD for use with XP, specifically XP64? Finally, what programs are recommended to TRIM a Kingston SSD? I was thinking I could use XP's task scheduler to have the program automatically launch or even execute the TRIM weekly, unless the program can do so automatically so long as it's running in the background.

Indeed. A 120GB SSD I was looking into getting had a special deal for $30. I was pleasantly surprised. Still, for sheer volume and potential of data recovery in case of drive failure, I prefer HDDs for storing files and such. So what's your take on the power supply needs? I can't seem to find any power supplies that come in 800W spec, only in the 750W and 850W ranges. 650W might be too close for comfort from what the power supply calculators say the peak wattage would be ...

I'm not sure why you're comparing yourself to dencorso. You've been a lot more constructive in your replies. My offhand remark last page about people making condescending "" comments wasn't about you, either; even when I first came here years ago I could see " " was something like a writing tic or catchphrase of yours. Anyway, it looks like there's someone else posting in this thread eager to cheer anyone on who appears to be dunking on me ... I think this is a case where either I've not made my intentions with the new setup obvious enough, as I did refer to them previously. For example, you say that my desktop's new setup won't need a 650W power supply unless it's a high end workstation or gaming machine. In responding to dencorso I linked to one of my earliest threads on MSFN where I briefly mentioned the sorts of things I do with this rig. In fact, in that same post I had mentioned to you that I do multimedia production, albeit not directly. Part of the reason I needed high-end parts (for the time) when I overhauled my desktop in 2008 was precisely because of the stuff I do regarding multimedia production. This desktop is also my daily driver and so I often find myself having a lot of things running at once. In the years hence, what was awesome for a PC in 2008 is not so hot in 2019. To be frank though, I was feeling the squeeze as far back as 2011 because my machine would run out of resources to handle many of my 3D rendering and animation, 2D animation, illustration, and audio/video production projects. I had to seriously cut back on what I do with this machine. I was looking forward to DDR4 back in 2014 for that very reason, it seemed like an opportune time for an overhaul. Of course, cancer threw one big monkey wrench into my life, and it's only now that I can afford to make big (if piecemeal) purchases toward my goal. Nevertheless, I'm going to do now what I did in 2008, and aim for parts which will provide a major boost in performance and serve me reliably for a very long time. I'm down for that. While I do that, I'm also going to explain my thought process so certain people don't make assumptions. First: As I indicated elsewhere recently the new setup is using an X99 motherboard. Around this time last year @XP-x64-Lover announced getting drivers for that OS working with the ASUS SABERTOOTH X99 series, and I wound up purchasing the TUF variant after conferring with her. That means having to pick a CPU compatible with the Intel X99 chipset. I'm currently looking at purchasing a Broadwell-E CPU to capitalize on this, as the Broadwell-E series is better suited to tasks like multimedia production instead of gaming (which tends to benefit more from fewer but faster cores) compared to, say, Skylake. The price on these chips has gone down significantly since their initial MSRP, too. So, I'm trying to consider whether to go for the Core i7-6950X or the Core i7-6900K. Even the Core i7-6900K is a huge investment, but I aim to make this an investment hat will last at least a decade. For the power supply calculator, though, I was assuming the 6950X. Yes, I can see myself using those ten cores. I abuse the hell out of the four cores on my desktop's Q6600 as it is. RAM has been one of the biggest bottlenecks for my work, as my current setup runs out of resources rather quick (and having to rely on lot of virtual memory is bad news given the hardware problems happening ... ) For RAM, I got a pretty good deal on four 16 GB (64 GB) of DDR4 sticks. However, I plan to (eventually) buy another four sticks and put this machine at 128 GB, but I think the 64 GB is plenty for now, until the desktop is running on the new configuration. Still, for power supply calculation purposes I assumed a full eight sticks of 16 GB. When it comes to the GPU, I initially considered getting an older AMD FirePro at first. I reasoned the price would go down enough that I could snag a great multimedia production card at a fraction of the price it was at launch. However, I've found that the current lineup of general purpose GPUs has caught up to the 2012 era AMD FirePros. In fact, the GeForce GTX TITAN X is currently selling for as much (or a little less) than the AMD FirePro W9000, and yet from the tests I could find it's not only on par in many stats, but appears to outperform the FirePro in several benchmarks! What's more, the TITAN X appears to draw considerably less power (a techie friend attributes this to newer, more energy efficient tech). A dude named Matt found a way to get nVidia's 970/980/990 and even TITAN X to play nice with XP and XP64. This is the major reason why I'm considering getting a GTX TITAN X. (For those thinking this is a gotcha moment, let me point out what Matt himself says: "But, even as revolutionary as OS emulation has become with the advent of hardware virtualization, it still doesn't compare to a bare metal native OS install. This is especially true when running games that may utilize OpenGL or DirectX, 3D applications and other computer-intensive processes. This typically comes down to GPU restrictions, although even that sector of virtualization is making strides with innovations like NVidia Grid. In my case specifically, I keep Windows XP 32-bit on-hand for a select handful of very obscure and specific applications, including some games and programs developed with older technologies and frameworks from the 1990s." I have similar habits regarding my work.) I'm also looking at getting an SSD, after conferring with XP-x64-Lover and also looking at the topic on proper SSD care and maintenance under Windows XP we have here on MSFN. I had previously avoided SSDs given the problem of limited write cycles and what happens when one fails compared to a traditional HDD, but seeing the guides here on MSFN I'm willing to set one up purely for the operating system and nothing else. This will be in addition to a the Blu-Ray drive I already have, and the HDDs I already use (two at the moment) along with my assorted USB devices. In the power supply calculator I highballed an estimation of what devices I have; even though I'm currently using a basic keyboard and mouse, for example, I picked "gaming keyboard and mouse" and four USB 3.0 devices. (All I really have is a SATA/IDE to USB external adapter, a pen tablet, a wireless adapter and some thumb drives, though.) Also, a word on the desktop's case. I use the NZXT Phantom 820, which has a 200mm fan, three 140mm fans, a built-in fan controller and card reader, and a few strips of LED lighting. We're not talking anything too crazy like the RGB rainbow stuff that's popular nowadays, but I think it bears factoring in. The case is the last major upgrade the computer's had, which was years ago. The reason I got the case was because my computer used to have a mid-tower with a few 80mm fans, and I kept experiencing hard drive failures due to woefully insufficient cooling. This case keeps my drives clear away from the rest of the hardware, which I like; helps keep dust out and isn't bad at cable management, either. I should say, one of the fans wore out and had to be replaced, and I wound up getting a Thermaltake RIING 140mm Red LED fan to replace it. Some of the other case fans might need replacing in the future, too. So, there you go. I hope that gives you sufficient information on my projected power usage. Also, your postscript about horsepower is amusing given my colloquial reference to that earlier in this thread.

Pretty sweet little system, @jaclaz! The "gate guard" idea I had for reusing my desktop's current setup probably won't be feasible until and unless I have the financial stability to get a large enough living space, like a studio apartment or something. At the moment internet access is being handled by the landlord. Speaking of power supplies, do you think the 80+ efficiency ratings would have an impact on the recommendations I've gotten from others? That is to say, people who recommend getting a power supply with 50% more wattage than your predicted peak usage, or like my techie friend who says I should get double that amount to account for performance degradation? In terms of accounting for efficiency loss as the power supply ages, would I be in better shape if I got a 750W or 800W PSU that's Platinum or Titanium 80+ efficiency rather than a 1200W PSU that's not? Also, some other observations regarding my system: prior to shutting the system off for a whole day, my keyboard had been developing an odd behavior pattern where it would appear to "fall asleep," as in, stop responding and then suddenly repeat the last keystroke it recognized for a second. Leading to things like thisssssssssss. When hooked up to my laptop computer, the keyboard didn't exhibit this odd behavior, but it would do so when hooked up to the computer later; didn't matter whether I used the front panel USB outlets, or the motherboard's outlets in the rear. Another thing is that the LEDs on my case flickered a few rare times. At the moment I can't recall if they plug directly into the power supply or if they go through the motherboard first. When I shut down the computer for a while day on the 5th after finding RAM errors, the keyboard no longer acted strangely when hooked up to the desktop computer, and there hasn't been any flickering in the LEDs either. Describing this situation to some of my other friends, they still think this points more to the motherboard failing than the power supply, but I'd like to test and see.

I'll take your word that you didn't mean to offend, but from my perspective, you did make such statements in a nondirect way; "you actually want me to believe" and such. It shouldn't have been a surprise; I did outright state "Because it's taking time for me to earn the money I need to buy parts for an all-new setup, I am continuing to try and determine what's causing the problem and if it is salvageable." So it's not like I didn't already talk about working toward buying new parts for my PC. I had actually been thinking about using the current parts in my desktop for just such a purpose. That is to say, as a hardware router/firewall PC. I had first heard about Linux-based PCs acting as routers and firewalls in 2009ish and the idea intrigued me. I thought it would be a good way to continue getting use out of these parts even after a future overhaul. It'd all be moot, though, if it turns out the motherboard or the CPU are behind the hardware failures. It just wouldn't be worth hanging on to everything else, especially when I am gathering parts for a comprehensive upgrade.

At this moment I'm trying to figure out whether I do or not. A techie friend of mine doesn't think I would get much benefit from overclocking the CPU, unless my multimedia production projects sufficiently rely on the CPU and properly take advantage of hyperthreading. Since I don't know if I will need that extra horsepower, I wanted to leave the option open of pursuing it with a sufficiently beefy PSU rather than having to buy a new one down the road. Assuming that it would be safe to do so with my current UPS. If I don't do any overclocking, the peak load wattage for my intended setup would be 698W. The calculator recommended a 750W PSU for that. Well within my UPS' capacity. However, that techie friend of mine said that when buying a power supply, I should buy one that actually has 50% more wattage than the peak usage determined by power supply calculators. He says this factors in power supplies losing performance as they age, and he considered the PSU the most critical part of a computer. By his metric that would mean that I'd need to look at buying a 1200W PSU. So I'm not sure what to think. I've canvassed some of my other techie friends; most either say "don't hook your UPS up to a computer with a PSU wattage rating that's higher than your UPS' output, ever" or "As long as your peak wattage doesn't exceed the UPS's output it should be fine." Roughly an even split. I don't know what to think. Reviewing my posts in this thread, @dencorso, I have no idea how you came to such a conclusion. This leads me to believe you are intentionally and maliciously misinterpreting what I said. To be clear, I don't fault you for not remembering my previous posts and threads in MSFN over the years, like when I had asked almost five years ago about the feasibility of upgrading my desktop to a DDR4-based configuration. (Even though you were active in those topics.) I also don't fault you for seeing some of my recent posts elsewhere in which I have mentioned being in the process of buying a new set of parts of my computer. (Which outright invalidates your claims about what I've said.) I certainly can't fault you for not knowing about the extensive discussions I've had with friends and acquaintances on viable parts for a new setup, though @XP-x64-Lover can vouch for me. I do fault you for putting into people's heads (like @Mcinwwl, who upvoted you) the idea that I said something I didn't, particularly when there was no reason for you to stoop to such a level. That's an absolute dick move on your part, and I do not appreciate it at all. But fine. Let's clear the air, since this thread has gotten off-topic as it is. In 2008, I overhauled my desktop computer with the goal of having a long-lasting, future-proofed setup which would not need a complete overhaul for a long time. That included parts which were, for the time, a big investment. Up until these hardware issues started happening last year, it seemed like these parts would last indefinitely no matter how hard I pushed them on a daily basis. I don't like contributing to the e-waste problem. If a computer's still working, I'd prefer to find that computer a use. As I already mentioned earlier in this thread, I had plans to reuse the entire setup in another PC, something which would not need current-generation high-end parts. However, there's a two major considerations where I am in my life right now that shape my choices: First, I've been diagnosed with cancer and have a genetic predisposition for other cancers. I had to go through chemotherapy while I was studying for my Bachelor's, and that left me with very little money by the time I got started on my career. This is a major reason why I have not worked on upgrading my desktop computer sooner: I have had to spend the past year or two just trying to make back the money I had to spend finishing my degree and staying alive. Even then, I've been saddled with medical debt, some of which was sent to a debt collection company despite trying to stay on top of the bills. In order to ensure I live for a while longer I need annual monitoring with CT scans and MRIs. Where I live now, these are incredibly expensive. I would have preferred to wait a few more months before buying the parts I need for the new configuration, but the hardware issues with my current configuration have forced my hand. Yet it's still a slow process precisely because of my financial situation. I've been trying to rebuild my credit, which has suffered at the hands of debt collectors even as I continue to negotiate with them. I can't just snap my fingers and buy everything I want right this minute. The other major consideration is that I don't have a large living space. In spite of my best efforts, my career prospects required me to pack my bags and move halfway across the country to one of the more expensive places to live in the nation. I took only what I could fit in a car. To avoid having to spend half my paycheck on rent and half-again on utilities, I've been living in sublets. So, having walked you through my current life situation, you should now have a better understanding of my thought process. If the problems behind my computer's current configuration were relatively inexpensive to fix (replacing an aging, faulty PSU or a few RAM sticks) I would be inclined to hang on to those parts, even given my current living conditions. Just so we're clear, using a new PSU intended for a far more power-hungry setup in order to diagnose whether or not the PSU is the source of the hardware problems does not mean I would keep using that new PSU for my current setup. I would be more inclined to buy a less powerful PSU to replace the ailing PSU, were it confirmed that the old PSU is indeed ailing. Replacing the CPU or motherboard, however, is a different story. At that point I would be more inclined to just sell the parts that still work and recycle the rest. So, there you go. I didn't expect to have to explain my life situation just for because I sought help regarding how power supplies and UPSes interact, but here we are.

I'm currently working to overhaul my desktop machine, which uses XP64. I've got an ASUS SABERTOOTH TUF X99 mobo I'll be using and apparently it can support NVMe SSDs, although I do see one person saying that the drives get zero airflow and heat up to 80 C / 176 F when using the mobo's native connection, which ... does not sound ideal. Will this driver work with the SABERTOOTH X99s? Also, what would you recommend in order to TRIM? We have a thread on that for XP32, but I don't know if what software would be recommended for XP64, especially for this type of SSD.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown came out recently and I've been losing my mind over the sheer quality of its soundtrack. Dropping bunker busters on nuclear missile silos has never felt so good.

I'll see if I can scrounge up one of those erasers you guys recommended. Speaking of which: from the power supply calculators I've been looking at for my new setup, I can get away with a 750W supply, but if I plan to do any overclocking I'll need an 850W supply to handle the added power load and any additional cooling. (The calculator estimated a peak load of 802W if the CPU I'm considering were overclocked to its most stable setting.) The only problem is that my uninterruptible power supply has a capacity of 1350VA/810W. Even if I never actually use anywhere near 810W, would having a 850W PSU installed still cause problems for the UPS?

Any specific eraser types you'd recommend for the job? When I think "soft" I think of those kneadable erasers you can get at arts and crafts stores ... Also, I was talking with some friends about my plans to use the PSU I buy for the new setup to diagnose whether or not the currentsetup's PSU is the culprit for the hardware failure. One of them warned me that if there is hardware trouble it can affect the PSU. That seemed a bit weird to me. Is it possible for failing hardware to damage a PSU like that? I would have imagined it needed to be a catastrophic failure, not ... something like this.

Update on the situation: The last stick of DDR2 RAM left in the machine after I pulled out the other three finally developed RAM errors 11 days later. Because it's taking time for me to earn the money I need to buy parts for an all-new setup, I am continuing to try and determine what's causing the problem and if it is salvageable. (Condescending "" replies aside.) A friend of mine suggested earlier this week that I try leaving the machine completely off (power supply switched off and unplugged) until the whole thing cools off and then try testing the RAM again. Strangely enough, the errors vanished when I did that, and no errors appeared after leaving MemTest86+ to run overnight. Today, after repeating the cool-off process, I reinserted the three sticks I took out two weeks ago, and ran MemTest86+ again. So far, no errors. I'm not sure what this means. The issues weren't relegated to one slot, but eventually affect all the sticks no matter how many I pull out. Yet, the RAM errors go away when the sticks are reseated, and also go away when the computer is left off long enough to cool entirely. Is it possible that the power supply could be causing this? I guess I could test by making a power supply my next priority purchase, testing it on my current setup, and if the problems do not go away that would rule out the older power supply as the problem ...

It's going to be very interesting if we see tech journalism (followed by everyone who bought the FUD) treat 7 users in 2020 the same way they treated XP users since 2014. That's not the same thing as @heinoganda's ProxHTTPSProxy is it?

It's a great surprise when parts which seem to not be having an issue (that is, the middle RAM sticks/slots) suddenly have it so dramatically. Usually when I catch the RAM in that one particular slot misbehaving, it would at most a dozen errors in a single pass. Even one error is bad, of course. None of the other slots/sticks showed signs of problems until today, and the result was quite severe. I don't have any other boards which can accept DDR2. I could ask around and see if anyone has a spare motherboard to test the RAM's integrity, but at this point if the motherboard is a write-off then it's not much use keeping the RAM or CPU, either.

An update on my situation here; what I assumed might be the RAM clips on that slot might not be the case. I had been testing to see if keeping the slot I described bereft of any RAM sticks would confirm whether or not my issue is that specific slot. Up until now, it had seemed like reseating the stick in that slot would solve problems for a time. Today, I came back from work to find my computer BSoD'd. I ran MemTest86+ as soon as I could, and in the first 30 seconds, found over three thousand errors. When I removed a second stick (the one adjacent to the slot closest to the CPU) and tried again, I still had tons of errors, thirty in the first 30 seconds. Far as I could tell, in both cases each slot's levers were still closed. They did seem to be a little wiggleable in their slots, though I don't know if that is normal. So now I'm down to one stick of RAM in the slot furthest from the CPU. Neither the two middle slots nor the sticks that were in them ever showed a problem before, so it's curious I would suddenly have such an explosively bad episode happen now that the slot I thought was a problem had been left vacant. I'm at a loss as to what's going on here, and if it's even fixable. A friend had considered the possibility that my motherboard might be missing a standoff and that the board is flexing. We also checked to see if there are any bulging or leaking capacitors, but there aren't any. Anyone have any ideas? Is this setup salvageable, or is it time to junk these parts?

What was your method for installing XP on the Fatal1ty? Did you have to go through a process similar to what XP-x64-Lover did for installing XP with SABERTOOTH X99?

Yeah, that's the type of lever on the RAM slot. Rubber wouldn't be a danger to the other parts in the CPU when it breaks, yeah? How long would a rubber band hold out? What would be my options to build an external clamp? The sticks I've got are Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1024 MB DDR2-800s, the kind with the red and green LEDs that cycle when the RAM's in use.

@Dietmar @Dibya and @deSSy2724 ... Do you think it might be possible to get XP64 running on a Fatal1ty Z370 Professional Gaming i7? I've been finding that my need to overhaul my rig is growing a bit more urgent. I held off trying due to financial concerns. As a result, the SABERTOOTH X99 boards that @XP-x64-Lover recommended last year have all but vanished from the market. I'm in a somewhat better financial position now, and I'd like to get my XP64 rig running a more modern, DDR4-based setup. It's due to my financial problems that I don't have a lot of money or space to spare on experimenting and potentially breaking hardware in trying to find a setup that works, so if you guys can give me pointers on if it's possible and how to do it, I'd appreciate it.

Hey gang, I've got a rig with an ASUS P5Q PRO TURBO motherboard. I've been using this setup since 2009. Since May last year I've been having a problem with the RAM; far as I can tell through hours of MemTest86+ runs and seating/swapping RAM sticks, it's not the sticks themselves that are causing the problem, but one of the RAM slots. Specifically, it appears that the slot closest to the CPU is no longer keeping the stick locked in place. When I start experiencing memory errors, reseating the RAM makes the problem go away for a time; before reseating the RAM I'll see errors come up right away on MemTest86+, but after reseating I can run the program for an entire day (six or ten passes or more) without a single error ... and a few weeks (or even days!) later, the errors come back. I'll have to pay attention the next time this happens but I think the PCI-E side of that particular slot I mentioned has a lever that isn't closing all the way shut, or won't stay closed shut. I noticed this when swapping the sticks out just earlier today when I came home from work to find the errors were happening again. I had to press down on that side of the stick to get that particular lever to snap into place. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remedy this problem? Far as I can tell everything else is still working great and I'd like to reuse these parts for a different PC in the near future, once I can finally overhaul this rig. EDIT: Things have gotten worse and it doesn't seem isolated to that single RAM slot now.

Perhaps not. There is, however, the issue of programs that use one or the other as a basis for their web-based apps and launchers ... (In that example I tried using an undocumented feature to switch the base browser type used for said program's launcher, to no effect.)

I don't suppose there's a way we could get this working for XP64, is there?

Just a heads up for the future, @Windows 2000. Earlier last year FFXIV suddenly dropped TLS 1.1/1.2 support, and that kept me from actually connecting to FFXIV's servers. However, ProxHTTPSProxy allowed me to continue playing the game as normal (for now at least). I've run into a few cases where a site won't load on Chrome or Advanced Chrome unless I have that running. Firefox hasn't had this problem. Still, I'd recommend pinging @heinoganda for ProxHTTPSProxy in case you come across problems like this again.

Can confirm. I happened to have, miraculously, a copy of Steam from before the countdown update which still works with the servers. For now. Really hoping Valve doesn't pull a dick move and block access to the servers for older versions. Though I suppose they could still technically be used to run XP-friendly games as Steam does offer to run offline if it can't connect. It's true that some of the games on Steam which once supported XP get updates that cease compatibility. I've noticed this happen with some of the titles I own, to my chagrin. However, it's still worth it for the games that don't get such updates, especially for offline games. I'm currently having a problem with my computer (one of the motherboard RAM slots isn't keeping the chip secure and it's throwing bad data ... My hand may be forced and I may have to overhaul my desktop now) but once I can confirm my other RAM is working fine and my hard drive data is still valid, I'll see about preparing an archive if no one else does.

For what it's worth, @sdfox7, I don't think Tommy was reprimanding you, considering he didn't edit your post. He edited the other guy's. I was alerted to an update to this thread by e-mail and was rather annoyed when it turned out to be that guy sounding off about his personal political opinions here. His post offered absolutely nothing of substance or relevancy to the topic at hand; he treated this thread like his own little soapbox. Being notified of such updates is the equivalent of being woken up early in the morning on a weekend by a door-to-door salesman or a telemarketer. For the record, I didn't contact the mods. I just turned off updates by e-mail and put the guy on ignore. I don't come to MSFN to debate politics, but to find solutions to problems. Such as, in this case, finding ways to access the products I've bought via Steam once Valve blocks XP and Vista users from their service.