NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 5 Posted March 5 39 minutes ago, chermany4ever said: had a bad experience Totally understood! For me, it's FIREFOX !!! To this day, it is the only program that has ever resulted in a complete reformat/reinstall. That was the late 90s and the sour taste still remains. Long before things like Proxomitron, uBO, NoScript, et cetera. The sour taste *never goes away*. 1
chermany4ever Posted March 10 Author Posted March 10 (edited) On 3/4/2026 at 2:25 PM, NotHereToPlayGames said: Herein is where your issue lies. You're thinking the problem is with FDM where it is technically with Sphinx 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. Edited March 10 by chermany4ever
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, chermany4ever said: Maybe it's that SP3 patch to get the WPA2 security protocol working in SP2? Can you provide the source for this patch? I'll install it into my SP2 and see if that breaks FDM. re: Sphinx versus Comodo - Sphinx is the inferior product. It's intended to be inferior, it's goal is to get you to buy the unrestricted "Plus Edition". That isn't to say that Comodo is the best and you may like something "better". Comodo was a *MUST* for my use at the time due to PARENT-BASED RULES. I ran one set of rules if web browser was opened from a desktop icon, a DIFFERENT set of rules if same exact web browser was opened from the Start Menu, and an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT set of rules for the same exact web browser if it was opened by an "installer .exe" that attempted to phone home to the Mother Ship by way of launching a "default browser". At the time, Comodo was the only firewall that could set rules for one .exe file (web browser) but enable/block communications right down to port number incoming versus outgoing and TCP versus UDP for that .exe all because of what "parent program/file/dll/exe" executed that one .exe file. Not even my "clever" kids could find their way around that little "trick". Edited March 10 by NotHereToPlayGames 1
chermany4ever Posted March 10 Author Posted March 10 1 hour ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: Can you provide the source for this patch? 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.
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 Step 1: I can confirm that FDM *works* with UE6 Spanish "out of the box". 1
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 Step 2: I can cofirm that FDM *still works* after installing that Spanish Hotfix. 1
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 10 hours ago, chermany4ever said: Maybe it's that SP3 patch to get the WPA2 security protocol working in SP2? It doesn't seem to be this SP3 patch. I suppose in hindsight I would say that it can't be. Because that would mean that FDM would work in SP2 but would not work in SP3. 1
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 10 hours ago, chermany4ever said: Perhaps the hosts file? I can try that next. Care to share your hosts file?
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 10 Posted March 10 Oh, are you trying several downloads via FDM? Or the same exact one with each test? If the same exact one, it is possible that the server you are downloading from denies "permission" to download via download managers.
chermany4ever Posted March 11 Author Posted March 11 (edited) 15 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: I can try that next. Care to share your hosts file? 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. 12 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: are you trying several downloads via FDM? Or the same exact one with each test? 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. Edited March 11 by chermany4ever
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Appears we are getting somewhere. ie, IDM corrupted your system! I've never used IDM. At least not to the point of KEEPING IT. I always always ALWAYS "try" ANYTHING of that nature INSIDE A VM. Then DELETE the VM when done "trying". My *HOST* machine never gets "corrupted" that way. But that can't save you now, the damage is already done. In desperation, what happens if you *reinstall* IDM? Does FDM come back to life? Does *uninstalling* the second IDM install affect FDM? Are there IDM forums where other users have posted similar issues with IDM corrupting their system?
chermany4ever Posted March 11 Author Posted March 11 32 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: In desperation, what happens if you 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.
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Antivirus programs are INFAMOUS for this type of uninstall "shadow" corruption. Avast, McAfee, Norton, etc all release their own "uninstall TOOLS", because you can't just uninstall them via normal means. And not even "Revo" can solve those uninstalls, you really have to use the developer's "tool" to properly uninstall. ie, does IDM have an "uninstall TOOL"? 1
chermany4ever Posted March 11 Author Posted March 11 18 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said: does IDM have an "uninstall TOOL"? 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.
NotHereToPlayGames Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Google's AI does suggest that IDM is known to break FDM: The "official uninstallation instructions" link: https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/register/new_faq/functions7.html 1
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