I get an error message, "That Email/Membername/Password combination is not valid. Please try again". What does this mean?
This one is straightforward - it means that the account name and account password that you are trying to use are not a valid combination. If you don't have your password stored on in your browser and do not remember what it is, refer to the "Welcome to Delphi Forums" email you received shortly after joining Delphi Forums, which contains a reminder of your account information.

You can use your Membername and Email Address interchangeably when logging into Delphi Forums, so if you've forgotten one, try using the other. If all else fails, use the "forgotten password?" link that appears on the login screen, to have a new password sent to you via email.

If for some reason the "forgotten password" link doesn't work, you may need to post to Member Services for assistance.

If you still encounter the same error message after receiving a new password, then your Delphi Forums account might not be active. If you had requested that your account be cancelled at some point then we would have disabled access to your account. If that is the case then you can opt to create a new Delphi Forums account - you'll need to choose a new Membername and specify a different Email Address in the process.

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After logging in, the same login page comes up again! Why is that?
You have "cookies" disabled, or are using a browser that does not support cookies at all. A cookie is a line of text that is stored on your computer, that contains information about your Delphi Forums identity. When your browser reads this information, it allows your Membername and Password to be stored in your browser so that you do not need to type your account information each time you wish to login to Delphi Forums.

Cookies are supported in version 2.01 and newer of Netscape Navigator, version 2.0 and newer of Internet Explorer, version 3.0 and newer of AOL, and version 2.7 and newer of Lynx. To enable "cookies" in Internet Explorer 4.0, click on View, Internet Options, Advanced. Choose "Always accept cookies", or "Prompt before accepting cookies", then manually accept any cookies set during the Delphi Forums login procedure. In Netscape Navigator 4.0, click on Edit, Preferences, Advanced. Choose "Accept all cookies". You can optionally choose "Warn me before accepting a cookie", but you will need to manually accept any cookies set during the Delphi Forums login procedure.

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I'm trying to get into a private Forum that I was invited to, but after logging in I just get a "non-member request" screen that prompts me to put in a Group Access Code! What's the deal?
By sending an invitation to a specific email address, the Host of a Forum has preapproved that email address for access to their private Delphi Forum. However if the invitee alters the email address during the registration process, they will not be able to access the Forum as expected.

At this point the "invitee" should use the "non-member request screen" to send an email to the Host of the Forum, letting them know that they wound up signing up for Delphi Forums with an email address that differs from the one that was pre-approved for access to the private Forum. The Host can simply resend the invitation to the address that was used - then the invitee will have instant access to the private Forum.

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My hard drive crashed and I had to reinstall everything. I don't remember any of my account info. How do I get back in without having to create a new account? Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!
Don't panic, this is an easy one. If you had to reinstall your operating system (or got a new computer, or want to access Delphi Forums from a different location from where you signed up), then your browser essentially has a 'clean slate' as far as Delphi Forums knows. When you try to access a members-only area on Delphi Forums, we send you to the login/registration page so that you can login to your existing account or create a new one. If Delphi doesn't detect an existing cookie in your browser, then we assume that you're not yet a member and present you with a 'new member registration' screen.

However if you're already a member, just click on the "Already a member? - Login" link that you see at the top of the registration screen. This will reload the page in "login" mode instead of "registration" mode, and let you put in your existing Membername or Email Address and Password combination. If you can't remember your Membername and/or Password, use the 'Forgotten Password?' link that you'll see there, to have a new password sent to you via email. You'll simply need to confirm the correct email address that is attached to your Delphi Forums account. After receiving the new password, use it along with your email address to login to Delphi Forums. Then visit your My Forums page for a refresher on the rest of your account info.

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There are a bunch of Delphi Forums account names that appear on my login screen that I don't want there anymore. How do I remove them?
It is not necessary to remove unused account names from the Delphi Forums login screen, but if you wish to do so you will need to manually edit your browser's cookie file. Exit out of your browser before following these steps:

Netscape:

If you're using Windows it's called "cookies.txt", usually located in "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\default". On a Macintosh it's called "MagicCookie", usually located in "System Folder: Preferences: Netscape f". If it's not there then use your operating system's "Find" feature to locate the file. Open the cookie file in any text editor (like Windows "Notepad" or Macintosh "SimpleText").

Locate the line that begins "Delphi Forums", and delete the entire line. Save your changes then exit. This will remove all previously-stored Delphi Forums account information from your browser - the next time you visit, you will need to re-enter your Membername and Password in order to successfully login. There is no way to selectively remove only certain account names from the Delphi cookie.

Internet Explorer:

If you're using Windows, each cookie is stored as a separate file, usually located in "C:\Windows\Profiles\Name\Cookies. In the "Cookies" directory, locate the cookie with "delphi" in the filename, and delete the file. On a Macintosh, open Internet Explorer, then click on Edit, Preferences, Cookies. Select the "Delphi Forums" cookie, then click 'Delete'.

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I have my password stored in my browser, but it always shows the wrong number of "asterisks". How do I fix this?
The number of asterisks displayed on the login screen will almost never accurately reflect the number of characters that are actually stored for your Delphi password - this is an added security measure so that any onlookers, or anyone that shares the use of your browser and also visit Delphi Forums, won't know how many digits are in your password.

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I have my Membername and Password stored in my browser, but occasionally when I go to login to Delphi Forums, all that is gone and I get the new member registration screen instead!
Delphi relies on your browser's 'cookie file' to store your own account information on the login screen. If you manually delete your cookies, or have some 3rd-party utility that does that for you periodically, you'll be wiping out the personalized account name (and optionally password) that Delphi Forums stores for you when you go to login. If you encounter a "new member registration" screen instead of the "existing member login" screen, and you wish to login to an existing Delphi Forums account, simply click on the "Already a member?" link that you see there.

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When I try to go to my Forum, I get redirected to a login screen which has my Membername and Password stored in it. Will anyone who goes to my Forum see my information on their browser?
No. Because your account information is stored locally in your own browser's "cookie", only you will see your account information. Other Delphi Forums members see their own account information when they encounter the Delphi Forums login screen, because their account information is stored locally in their own browser's cookie.

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After logging in I get a "404 Not Found" or "403 Access Forbidden" error. What do they mean?
These errors indicate that you may be trying to reach a Delphi Forums page via an outdated bookmark in your browser, or via an invalid link on someone's Web page. Because we are constantly making changes to improve our service, it is sometimes necessary for us to change the URL's (Web addresses) of various services within our site. We try to maintain backwards compatibility with older URL's but that is not always possible. As a result, this will cause your Delphi Forums bookmarks to fall out of sync.

To ensure that you're trying to get to a place on Delphi Forums that actually exists, you should always use your My Forums page - http://forums.delphiforums.com/my-forums , as your starting point for reaching your favorite Forums and Chat rooms on Delphi Forums. My Forums is the center of the Delphi Forums universe, and will always provide accurate links to Chat rooms, Message Boards, Homepage maintenance tools, and your own Delphi Forums account information.

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I can login and get to a Message Board, but as soon as I click on something it sends me back to the login screen, or I can get to the Message Board but the login screen appears again in each of the frames! Why?
Your browser doesn't have full support for cookies, or you have some 3rd-party content-control software installed, or if you are using Internet Explorer, you have "Content Advisor Ratings" enabled. If you are using Internet Explorer:

In Internet Explorer, click View and choose Internet Options.
Click the Content tab. Under Content Advisor, is there a button that says "Disable"? If so, click it to disable the Content Advisor software. You'll need to know the supervisor password that was chosen when this was first turned on. Restart your browser and try logging into Delphi Forums.

If you are using some other browser, or if this does not fix the problem, be sure that you are not also running any 3rd-party utilities like Webcelerator, that are designed to do fancy things with your browser cache or cookies, or suppress banner advertisements on Web sites. Any such software will cause login problems on Delphi Forums.

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What are the minimum browser requirements for logging into Delphi Forums?
In order to successfully login to Delphi Forums you must use a browser that supports "cookies", and have that feature enabled. To use Delphi's Message Boards your browser must also support frames. It is highly recommended that your browser support Javascript for some advanced features of Message Boards, and Java for Delphi Chat. However, neither of these are required.

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When I try to signup for Delphi Forums, I get an error message that "This Email Address is already in use" or "The MemberName you have chosen is not available." How come?
You appear to already have an account with Delphi Forums. You may have signed up with Delphi long ago, or perhaps you very recently tried to signup and thought that your registration attempt had failed. After joining Delphi Forums, we will send you an email welcoming you to our community - this email also contains a reminder of your account information.

You can refer to this email if you're not sure what name and password to use to login to Delphi Forums, or simply use the "forgotten password?" link that appears on the Delphi Forums login screen, to have a new one sent to you via email. If your account information is not already stored in your browser, use the "Already a member? Log-in now" link that appears when you encounter the Delphi Forums Registration screen, to login as an existing member.

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