chermany4ever

Went back to the 2021 image to check... and IDM is installed. Guess I was so happy I made an image lol. So I don't have a clean system image. My system is messed up and can't be fixed. You're right again. I've been trying all day with the ISO of Windows UE 6 SP3 hoping to at least take a step forward and customize my entire system from scratch. I think I remember how to do it but after struggling all day, realized my Maya audio card wasn't properly connected to the motherboard after several crashes and freezes. So I'll try again tomorrow. As I recall, SP3 is "harder" to customize, although many have told me it's superior to SP2, including yourself.

Used FDM for a long time. It was my fav for a long time. But back then downloads sometimes failed and speeds were very slow compared to today. As I recall FDM sometimes failed to resume downloads. At the time it was said that IDM had a much more polished download resumming feature. That's why I also used IDM for a long time and although it is true that it takes its time to grab links and then assemble the file, it was much better at resuming downloads. It even allowed you to do it using completely different links IF they corresponded to the same file (impossible to do this with FDM back then). Of course now with all these problems I think IDM will be going on my blacklist. I agree with you on this. On Windows 11 (aka X-Lite Micro 11) I use a portable version of FDM for everything. FDM has also worked as a torrent client for a long time. The newer versions do everything well.

(sorry it took me so long to reply but I was busy for many days; now I'll have plenty of rainy days here) They offer an uninstaller that's quite similar to the one that comes with the program. I ran it, and it did little more than create a mess on my system and nothing was fixed. I've attached a screenshot of the message the uninstaller displays when it finishes. Thanks my friend. I'll look into this and see if I can figure something out. The problem is that at this point I'm feeling frustrated and I'd rather go back to the 2021 image or do a clean install of UE6. Music is the most important thing to me. I've always used separate sound cards 'cause I don't like the ones that come with motherboards. The one I have doesn't have drivers for Win11 aka X-Lite Micro 11. So for a while I went back to using the motherboard's integrated sound card but I could never fix some hiccups I get when playing audio. Going back to the 2021 image perhaps would solve the FDM issue and also allow me to listen to music properly again. I'll look into this and see if I can fix anything. Also tried a scan with IObit Uninstaller which removes remnants of old programs and checks for errors. Although it found many old crap it did not fix the FDM problem.

I'm looking at several websites that explain how to get rid of IDM and the remnants it leaves on the system but I don't see anything like an uninstaller. I don't think they're interested in solving the problems of anyone who's never paid them a penny. I've already cleaned up the remnants and registry keys but FDM still doesn't work. It's strange that all other programs connect without any problems. Maybe the fix I used back then wasn't so harmless. It was a simple resetter. Anyway, I should go to sleep now. It was a very long day. I'll continue later and I'll let you know if anything comes up.

I searched for information about IDM corrupting a system and found nothing. I'll keep looking for info. Decided to stick with IDM 'cause I liked its speed when it was working properly. I have a system image from 2021. I'll have to go back to it to check if I had already installed IDM or not. Then I'll run some tests. Thanks so far, NHTPG. You're a genius. If anything comes up, I'll let you know.

I was about to but on the same page that said where to find it they explained how to fix it and I did. It had many lines of programs that I used "on trial mode" if you know what I mean and several lines related to IDM. Deleted everything and cleaned it like it's supposed to but nothing changed. Still can't download anything with FDM. Seeing so many IDM lines in the hosts file made me think maybe that program modified something and that's why FDM doesn't work? Uninstalled IDM recently 'cause it was no longer downloading from many links and was constantly nagging about updates and that it was just a trial blah blah blah. Just did an "IDM" search and some folders and files related to it still appeared. Should I delete everything? Or maybe they will serve as a clue to try to fix FDM? Capture attached. Tried several links. Especially from sites like Mediafire where I have my files uploaded without any type of blocking. Mediafire works great. I always download from there at full speed. Also tried other files from various other sites but FDM refuses. As soon as the download should start the download box turns Red which indicates precisely that it is not connecting and automatically stops the downloads.

It is mandatory to use the patch in the same language as the OS. The patch in English: https://www.mediafire.com/file/vgh30uwy5b67jw8/WindowsXP-KB893357-v2-x86-ENU.exe/file If you prefer to install UE6 in Spanish and give it a try: https://www.mediafire.com/file/enr0r9fxs1htwcq/WindowsXP-KB893357-v2-x86-ESN.exe/file Don't get mad at me: remember that these patches are for SP2 only. I think you said earlier that the UE version you found in English was already SP3. Just in case. Another thing I noticed since installing this patch is that some links do not download at maximum speed. Here there is internet with 5 MB speed and some links do download at that speed but many others do not exceed 0.700 MB/s. Never complained 'cause it already seemed incredible to be able to use high speed and my breaking wall WiFi antenna in XP SP2 aka UE6. The upload speeds are also super slow. That's why I still switch to Windows 11 aka X-Lite Micro 11 to be able to upload stuff. I agree with everything you said about Comodo Firewall and I thank you for all the information you give me. Didn't put much emphasis on that 'cause I'm still focused on solving what's happening with FDM but I surely noticed that it is far superior to Sphinx. Although more complex it offers much more.

Here I am again. Had to go back a few pages to get back on track. First thing I did was uninstall Sphinx. Right then and there I tried downloading files with FDM without a firewall but couldn't. Next installed Comodo Firewall 2.4.16.174. I liked it; it's quite lightweight. Comodo asked to define rules for system processes which I obviously allowed. Was happy when upon running FDM, Comodo asked for permissions about five times! Sphinx would ask one time to Enable or Disable and that was it. So thought maybe this time it would work... but no luck. Couldn't download anything with FDM. Maybe my system is just so dirty that FDM can't work? Maybe it's that SP3 patch to get the WPA2 security protocol working in SP2? Perhaps the hosts file? I took screenshots but one of the download managers I tried that day was a portable version of FlashGet 2.0 which completely wrecked my system when I ran it. Without thinking, reverted using a backup image sadly forgetting that I would lose the screenshots.

Thanks. Not contradicting you, just as I told you, had a bad experience with Comodo and it's the first time Sphinx has caused a very particular problem. Been using it for 4 years now and everything was normal. Does its thing, not intrusive, super light. Anyway, now I have couple more programs to test! Reality is I need to go "fishing" and also start collecting firewood 'cause winter is coming. I'll let you know as I progress. Thanks again, I'm humbled.

Couldn't say. It was so long ago. If you remember any lightweight version of Comodo Firewall please let me know and I'll try it if I decide to stick with FDM.

Perfect. Understood. Hats off to you, NHTPG. Did the same here but this version of Sphinx tells me that only the Plus Edition allows "System" apps access management. Won't let me edit those rules and if I delete them they reappear. FDM still blocked. This means I'll have to decide whether to change the firewall or discard FDM. Still have several download managers to try. Want to see which one gives me the best experience. Such outdated versions. They all seem to have some bug or missing some feature. Not that I've stopped loving FDM. Need to try them all and decide. I remember back in the day many people recommended Comodo Firewall. They said it was very good, so I tried it. While I liked it, I remember my machine became slow. Was like it started carrying a load I hadn't noticed before. So I uninstalled it but was incredibly difficult to uninstall and when I finally managed to it completely wrecked my system. At that time I wasn't using hdd images and I remember I had to format, reinstall, and customize EVERYTHING from scrap. So I hated it! lol I like my system to be snappy fast and responsive. If no other download manager surpasses FDM think I'll try an older version of TinyWall or one of those other simple and lightweight firewalls that had a good reputation back then. I'll let you know.

Back to the topic now. Was just thinking about this when you mentioned it. Did one last test before going to bed and it didn't work. Only disabled the firewall. Not going to uninstall it. It works fine with all other programs. Uninstalling it'll be leaving the floodgates open which doesn't seem advisable. Think would be more sensible to try and figure out what's wrong with FDM.

Good strategy. Here when talking to English speakers they want to speak Spanish so everyone understands and no one gets left out of the conversation. But the Spanish they speak is awful lol. Just the other day I had to read the drummer from The Doors praising Bad Bunny on Facebook. The world went down the drain, man.

Actually I think it takes 1gb or maybe 1.2... so let's say 1.3gb since I have no way to prove it right now. What I can confirm is that my UE6 fully loaded takes up 3gb.

<OT> I call "BS" I call it "BM"... bad memory! It's been a long time! You're right again NHTPG, a freshly installed UE6 takes around 1.3gb. Sorry for the mistakes. It wasn't intentional. Here's another one: just realized I said something wrong a few posts back. The version FDM's official site recommends for XP is 3.9.7. That's the one I can't install or run portable. The one we3fan recommended is 3.9.4; now understand why I was able to install it.

It's called Sphinx Windows Firewall Control Free 7.5.100.200. One of the lightest ones that still work on XP. Think someone here on the forum recommended it. Works well. It does the job. I liked the idea of blocking at hardware level. Looked for information and found it as web filtering? If you could summarize it a bit I might try. Can't promise I'll implement it thou.

I've been testing xp-AntiSpy. It's a tool for disabling unnecessary, intrusive, and annoying Microsoft features. In most unbloated versions these are disabled by default and if any persist this type of tool is used. I don't think it has anything to do with the FDM connection problem. We were chatting about XP and the WPA2 issue here when asked for help getting the antenna working on my XP SP2 aka UE6.

It seems FDM can't reach the web. As I said, have it's exception in the firewall and I've been testing EagleGet and now Internet Download Accelerator, they connect without a problem. I know that they removed a lot of things from this version of XP and sometimes that causes some bugs but in the past FDM worked perfectly. That's the strangest thing. A few months ago had to apply a security patch to be able to use a wall-breaking WiFi antenna to have WPA2 security protocol working which is not native to XP SP2. Maybe it's something related to that? Didn't know xp-AntiSpy. In UE 6 -and most trimmed versions- Windows Updates are completely disabled by default. I'll take a look at it. Nothing more beautiful than discovering essential software from that era.

Here many times you can't even afford to eat to be able to pay the rent and most people die without ever being able to buy a house. So nobody will say anything to you about a freakin license. That's why these cut-down versions are born in the most appalling places of the planet. No choice but to improvise things to try to keep up, especially with technology.

I hear you. I've realized sometimes we have bad experiences and become sensitive. It's happened to me many times throughout my life. But every now and then I try again, and I've seen that there are ppl who have also learned to correct past mistakes. That's why I'm always trying new things, although I don't abandon what works. I love computers and software but I fish in a different way. So even though I love being here, I do other things and couldn't dedicate much time to learn how to strip down operating systems. Started with UE6 in early 2000s and never had any problems with these stripped-down versions. Of course, here in Argentina and Latin America in general laws are a joke.

I'm getting along really well with Windows X-Lite Micro 11. Works great. Tweaked it quite a bit and managed to achieve stability. It's making me think about abandoning XP. Believe it or not, I still can't do with it what I can do with XP. Win11 isn't as malleable. None of the subsequent versions were. They're more robust, sure. But that peak development era combined with XP's malleability is still holding up for me.

If I remember correctly the person who made UE 6 is a Latinamerican guy and that must be why it only exists in Spanish. I hope not. I think there were English versions. Or there must be a way to install and translate it. Win UE 6 was one of many. I know there were many trimmed versions of XP even more famous than UE 6.

Exactly, my bad. XP SP2 Unattended Edition 6. The first "stripped down" XP SP2 versions that were very small and ran very well. Didn't clarify this 'cause these kinds of hiccups are rare thou they do actually happen. I don't doubt it. I'm one of those who customizes the system to the extreme and when a massive update like SP3 comes along it simply breaks everything. It's no good for me. Using Windows 7 I realized that what Microsoft calls "security" is actually a way to block doors that I need open to continue customizing. I know it's good to have a robust system but if you restrict me too much to achieve that... I'll stop liking it. I acknowledge the progress thou. Just a few days ago discovered that there are patches that allow XP to see up to 128gb of RAM. No more of that 3.7gb limit. And more programs that are still compatible with XP and work perfectly fine. But only for SP3. It's just that in my case not all programs I use to customize my desktop work. Ain't that a shame? https://retrosystemsrevival.blogspot.com/2019/12/fix128-128gb-ram-patch.html I love it. Think it takes up 200mb freshly installed. Amazing. Still my favorite thou I sometimes complain about it... like now.

Thanks for the feedback NHTPG. This is Win UE 6. They took a lot of things away from the original XP SP2. It must be that. Happens every now and then. I'm going to try other managers.

Hello again jumper. Don't think I ever use ftp. I use the most common links around the web to download files. Checked all the FDM networking settings and everything looks normal. I know the program very well, used it for a long time. If it's not a compatibility problem due to not upgrading to SP3 I must be needing a security patch that applies to this 3.9.4 v. Was testing this same version on Win 11 and still works like a charm. Now I've been trying several versions of EagleGet and it seems the last one that worked on XP is 2.0.4.11. The good thing is I was able to download several files at very good speed. The bad thing is it does not detect video and media links in general and the Chrome extension no longer works. Have to use the clipboard monitor and copy the links by hand.