It hasn't been published in many years. The latest one will be at least ten years out of date. But since then, server space has gotten less expensive, and the volume has (I'm pretty sure) gotten way too large to save to a CD.
It hasn't been published in many years. The latest one will be at least ten years out of date. But since then, server space has gotten less expensive, and the volume has (I'm pretty sure) gotten way too large to save to a CD.
Sixteen years out of date. I uploaded the CD for the benefit of mankind, but it's only value is a curiosity of what the early forum was like. The most recent one only covers 1999 to 2000.
Originally posted by jscott1: Sixteen years out of date. I uploaded the CD for the benefit of mankind, but it's only value is a curiosity of what the early forum was like. The most recent one only covers 1999 to 2000.
Cliff make it available thru Torrent sites years ago after gave up trying to sell. Even then now many times can't get it because no-one seeds the torrent.
Making CD version was hard work and made very little to no money. Vol2 max out CD capacity @ ~ 710MB and like PFF site, Many didn't like Search function for CD.
Updated disks will have same problems w/ dead images because pictures post thru photobucket etc and people deleted moved a picture or link expired. With pictures is likely too big for 2 layer DVD. Might be big BR burn disks too. Many PC and other devices still are built w/o having BR players so less people will buy. (Many Others w/ BR players only can use 2 layer disks.)
Note: If you don't like PFF search... try use Google and add site:www.fiero.nl to search.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Cliff make it available thru Torrent sites years ago after gave up trying to sell. Even then now many times can't get it because no-one seeds the torrent.
Making CD version was hard work and made very little to no money. Vol2 max out CD capacity @ ~ 710MB and like PFF site, Many didn't like Search function for CD.
Updated disks will have same problems w/ dead images because pictures post thru photobucket etc and people deleted moved a picture or link expired. With pictures is likely too big for 2 layer DVD. Might be big BR burn disks too. Many PC and other devices still are built w/o having BR players so less people will buy. (Many Others w/ BR players only can use 2 layer disks.)
Note: If you don't like PFF search... try use Google and add site:www.fiero.nl to search.
I agree the forum CD/DVD/BD/BD-XL is not going to be a huge money maker. But there does seem to be continual interest in having an archive of the fourm. Blaming the disc size seems like a hollow excuse not to do it.
BD-XL is 100 GB. I doubt the forum is bigger than that. Someone that knows could answer for sure. Yes the picture links to online sites will go dead without internet access and will eventually go dead even with. But the online forum has that same issue. There is software out there that can painlessly archive an entire website. How difficult would it be to dump that to BD-XL? By the way I have a blu-ray burner in my laptop.
Oh and why does it have to be a disc? A 1T drive is about $50. for those folks that really want an archive sell them a hard drive with the entire forum on it.
[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 04-10-2017).]
We were kidding around Here about finding "the original Fiero on Mars photoshopped image" from 1999. I remembered that years ago I had downloaded the PFFCD when it had been made available online, so I figured it would be easy enough to search through those files to find the image.
Wrong.
First up, I had to create an ISO image of the files and folders for this CD that were on my hard drive. I then mounted this ISO image on a virtual drive, so that it comes up in Explorer as a CDROM.
I installed the program from this "CD", and the program then opens fine.
I click on "Force Offline Mode", run a search... and instantly, results (threads) are displayed.
So far, so good.
However, when I then ask to View a thread (that I've put a tick beside), I get the following error message...
Run-time error '76': Path not found
When I click "OK" in the error box, the program then instantly closes.
What is the problem? Is it because I'm using a virtually mounted ISO image of the CD instead of an actual physical CD? If so, there's surely a way around this!
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-08-2023).]
Actual PFFCD VOL 2.ISO is 702 MB (736,565,248 bytes) Another copy, PFF.CD2.-.Pennocks.Fiero.Forum.CD.-.Volume.2.iso is 701 MB (735,334,472 bytes) from a torrent. so likely your missing something.
Files in C:\Programs etc are often missing parts + many problems installers added "Environment Variables" in Registry etc too.
Example: So VCD isn't same Letter as CD at install time then can't use the "disk."
Old Alldata CD/DVD had similar problem if CD letter changes for any reason. In that case, You have to tell the program where the data is again.
That's ignoring many 32bit programs & drivers don't work on Windows x64. (Any 8 or 16 bit programs don't work w/ WOW32 in x64. & why many keep WinXP around to play old Windows games & more.)
Data files are .CGI file is a "Common Gateway Interface script." Reality Often only a programs written for a set of files can truly use them.
[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 10-08-2023).]
Actual PFFCD VOL 2.ISO is 702 MB (736,565,248 bytes) Another copy, PFF.CD2.-.Pennocks.Fiero.Forum.CD.-.Volume.2.iso is 701 MB (735,334,472 bytes) from a torrent. so likely your missing something.
Hmmm... interesting. I still have the original RAR file that I had downloaded a long time ago. Explorer states it's 483,160 KB. I'm just unzipping it again to see if it matches what I already unzipped ages ago (which was used to install the program). I'll report back.
[EDIT] No change. The unzipped contents are exactly the same.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-08-2023).]
As we've all probably witnessed when acquiring file/folder size, it appears to make a difference how exactly one accesses this info. What I posted earlier does not match what I get when I simply access the size of the ISO image... which is 702 MB (736,473,088 bytes.)
So it appears that I do indeed have all the data... but the program seems to be confused how to open the threads, despite being able to list the threads when a search has been run. There's probably a simple way to re-orient the program, but I don't have the skillz required!
I'm running this on a Windows 7 machine. I've tried installing the program with Win98, XP, and Win7 compatibility modes, to no avail.
*Cliff, with the knowledge that this program was written a very long time ago, is there any chance that the program (or parts of it) were written to only look for a CD drive designated to be "D"? I'm just wondering if this might be why at least part of the program can't find the data that it requires. My virtually mounted ISO file is on CD drive "V".
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-09-2023).]
Ogre, you've been confusing me with this reference to VCD... as VCD was a video format (on CD) years ago (before DVD). I couldn't understand why you were bringing this up. However, it's finally sunk in that you're referring to Virtual CD.
quote
Originally posted by theogre:
Example: So VCD isn't same Letter as CD at install time then can't use the "disk."
Yes, I was aware that this could potentially cause a problem... so I did install the program from the same location (virtual CD drive "V") that the program would then need to look in for any/all data.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-09-2023).]
Some programs don't like this even if installers don't care. It maybe even exact software used for virtual disk. Many things hate RAM "Disk" too even in old MS DOS world.
Many things hate M$ ReadyBoost & other add on disk caching too & can even cause Windows BSOD errors when used. I've played w/ ReadyBoost many times but never saw any different to load any program or data. Been around since Vista & Some or all W10 could use it.
Yes, when installing the program a multitude of times, I've instructed the EXE file to use Win98, XP, or Win 7 compatibility modes. Made no difference.
quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:
Also, try running it in online mode.
Same error message as posted above.
Depending on what thread I select to view, I occasionally (very rarely) will get my browser opening and the URL address is C:\Program Files (x86)\PFFCD Volume 2 something or another. Of course, it doesn't find the thread there.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-09-2023).]
I probably can, although I'll have to give my present D drive (a secondary hard drive) a different designation. I'll make an attempt tomorrow, as it's getting late on this side of the globe.
I'll file a report after I've tried it. Thanks Cliff.
Wait, it might be necessary to start it with Administrator rights since it writes its config files and temp files in a subfolder of the folder it's installed in. And that is no longer allowed without admin right since Win 7.
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: Wait, it might be necessary to start it with Administrator rights since it writes its config files and temp files in a subfolder of the folder it's installed in. And that is no longer allowed without admin right since Win 7.
PIP has that problem too since Vista. More so Win7 & up x64.
It could be it's confused by the virtual drive's drive letter (V: ). Can you change that to something like D:?
quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:
Wait, it might be necessary to start it with Administrator rights since it writes its config files and temp files in a subfolder of the folder it's installed in.
Well... I changed the virtual drive letter to "D". No difference.
I tried starting the program with Administrator rights. No difference.
Okay, out come the big guns. I'm going to fire up an old XP computer, burn these files to a CD, and see what the hell happens.
Fired up the XP box, opened good ol' Nero, burned a CD (first time in ages!) and installed the program from the CD. Ran fine.
Then just out of curiosity... I uninstalled the program, then re-installed it from the CD installation files on the hard drive (which also happened to be drive "D"), opened the program... but it would choke when asked to view a thread. So it appears that the program is hard-wired to access the threads (to display) from the CD, and from the CD alone.
Now that I had the installation files on an actual CD, I installed the program on my Win 7 computer (with no compatibility issues). It does need to be run with Administrative rights (not a big deal), and works just fine. Even though it's needing to access data on the CD, it all occurs very quickly.
What started this journey was my curiosity regarding an image posted in 1999 of the Fiero found on Mars. I wanted to see if this iconic image was on the disc, as it no longer resides anywhere online. With great anticipation, I opened the thread...
Yes, I had found that thread also. The image resided on a external site that no longer has the image. If you check the online version (by enabling "Force online mode"), you can see the URL of the image. Wayback Machine doesn't have that image either.
