Forums Closed
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As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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08-31-2004, 11:51 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: In the state of Disney Dreaming!
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 10,572
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Computer Problem
Wasn't sure where to post this, so I chose Chat.
I have a new laptop. Last night I had a problem shutting it down -- something was trying to install itself. I'm not sure what it was but this is what's happening today and it has never happened before.
I have Microsoft Internet Explorer popping up ads left and right. I can't even type a post without 3-4 ads popping up. I don't know why this is happening, where it came from or how to get rid of it.
Does anyone have any expertise in this field?
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08-31-2004, 12:01 PM
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#2
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Wannabe Snowbird
Join Date: May 2002
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 34,137
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Re: Computer Problem
I don't have any expertise, but I've got a couple suggestions.
First, get a spyware zapper and run that. I use Lavasoft AdAware
I'm not certain if it's Microsoft XP or the Internet Explorer that gave me terrible problems with those popups that look official, but really they're spam popups. If that's what you're getting, this is how I got rid of them (remember I have XP, if you don't have XP this might not work):
-go to control panel
-go to administrative tools
-click on services
-look up on list messenger
-click on messenger
-in window that pops up go to startup type, and change to disabled.
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08-31-2004, 12:54 PM
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#3
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Baltimore, MD USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 5,684
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Re: Computer Problem
Oh, yeah, unfortunately I do have some experience with this!
GoofyMom is definitely on the right track; what you have is called "adware", or sometimes "spyware". It's a type of program that installs itself without your knowlege or permission in the background (you usually catch it from web sites and sometiems from SPAM emails). It is not designed to hurt you, it's designed to sell stuff to you through pop-ups and altered links in web pages. But it does hurt because it pops up those ads constantly (even when you're no connected to the net!) and slows down your computer's performance.
The program GoofyMom linked to, AdAware, is one of two programs that will scan your PC like an antivirus program and get rid of the adware. Download it and run it once a week or so to get rid of that stuff.
The other programis called Spybot Search and Destroy. I use AdAware myself but it's usually a good idea to run both programs in case one of them misses something.
You might also think about upgrading your anti-virus software, and if you don't have a firewall program, look into getting one. Firewalls and anti-virus help to prevent adware from installing themselves in the first place.
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08-31-2004, 01:55 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Colorado
Posts: 585
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Re: Computer Problem
Diz,
The previous are both good suggestions. Another place you can go is to Symantec's home. (The Norton Antivirus people) http://www.symantec.com/index.htm
In the lower left corner is a free spyware and trojan check. I found this invaluable when my laptop was dying a slow death and I could not run any downloaded programs. |
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08-31-2004, 03:12 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 254
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Re: Computer Problem
Here's another good thing DH & I always do ...
Go to your Internet Options screen...
Click the "Privacy" tab at the top...
Under "Settings", click the "Advanced" button ...
Check the box that says "Override automatic cookie handling"...
And then set both options under 1st and 3rd party to "Prompt", click "OK" at the bottom to save.
This is something of a hassle at first - a little box will pop up for EVERY site you visit. It will say something like "www.passporterboards.com is trying to save a cookie on your computer", and you can check a box that says like, "Always from this source" and then an Accept or Decline button. If you check the Always box, and pick accept, it won't ask you anymore for that one website. If you don't check the Always box, it will ask you every time you visit a site.
I usually choose to decline anything that looks like a tracking program or an ad, except for sites that I know and trust, like this one!! But if I am randomly surfing the web, and going to sites I don't visit often, I will always decline. I've had major problems with viruses and spyware in the past, and now keep NOTHING on my computer - luckily DH is a tech, and can fix most any problem I have. But since we have started doing this with cookies, I have never had a problem!
Oh, and ditto on the spyware stuff - that's a must-have!!
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08-31-2004, 07:53 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,405
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Re: Computer Problem
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09-01-2004, 12:56 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: In the state of Disney Dreaming!
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 10,572
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Re: Computer Problem
 everyone!
I am still having major problems. I am going through each and every one of your suggestions hoping something will help.
It's unbelievable that you're just clicking away and something attaches to your computer and begins downloading itself!
I hope I can come back with good news soon!
Thanks again!
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