Frogboy Frogboy

Not quite dead..

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Not quite dead..

A coincidence of disasters

from WinCustomize Forums

What is it with bad things happening in groups?

The "Foghorn" server died today. That's the main web manager for WinCustomize.com. When it's down, WinCustomize is quasi-down because the DNS has to be set to go to another manager.  So we're up but not really fully up.  The other servers are now taking more load and they're already stressed.

Meanwhile, back at Stardock HQ, the team was barely able to do much about this because its ISP went down (and still is down as I write this) so that no one at Stardock could actually get on from the office. Totally unrelated.

Next Wednesday the new mega server we've been talking about will finally go on line.  Weeks and weeks of prep work has been going on to prepare the way for the monster to come on-line.  It will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.

Anyway, stay tuned. Sorry about the flakeyness today.

16,620 views 45 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Using SDC to download has been broken since yesterday and is still down at this time.

Yes, it did seem to be down....however if it's a current issue there's always IE or Opera or Firefox, etc.  You can always revert back to SDC as/when the issue is resolved....

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hey, does this new server have like 12 CPU processors or something like that? Just curious... also, what do you plan to call it? LOL MONSTERS BALL? I like that name!
Star Control: Origins
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Friday 2nd of June here in Oz....everything is running like clockwork on my end.

A big thank you to Brad, Tman and all the Stardock/WC staffers.
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok, downloads for the WC/SDC Browser are working again.  Sorry for the delay (was on a field trip yesterday with my daughter).
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
was on a field trip yesterday with my daughter


A much higher priority. Hope you had fun.

Thanks for putting everything to rights.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Still very sluggish here attempting to navigate the site - clicking through the libraries, attempting to look at articles or forums. I am on a broadband connection. This problem has been fairly longstanding. Any estimate on when this will change?
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This problem has been fairly longstanding.


The same has been for me as well. I'm getting kinda fed up with the site the way things are now. Every morning I give it another shot and its always the same thing...error after error...or nothing loads at all and my uploads are practically non-existent right now. I submitted one dock on the 27th...got nothing but red X's after about 10 tries and just gave up and deleted it. Then after another attempt it got through somehow and it was entered about 6 pages back with the original date of attempt instead of what it should have been. So I deleted that as well out of frustration. Its very frustrating seeing all these other submissions getting through while mine either gets red X's or I get nothing but errors or they are stuck in moderation for days and hearing how everything is just zipping along fine for others while I'm stuck in pageloadhell.
Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't know what the problem is WG . . It's flying here in Texas.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wish I knew zubaz...feeling kinda alientated here right now.
Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I share your frustration WebGizmos.  My experience is similar to yours and I own the site.  The site is slow, flakey, gives errors, etc.

And even though I know the causes of those errors, it is still frustrating. If we had more people like you WebGizmos, the site wouldn't have these issues. The reason we have these problems is that we lack the staff for a site of this size. It's really that simple.

WinCustomize.com has THREE full-time people working on its backend (and they get shared on other sites).  A site of this size should have more like 10 people.  If we had even two more people, we could implement changes much faster (such as have more redundancy, more mirroring, etc.).

A site that gets 20 million visitors per month should generate enough revenue to support more people. But so few people subscribe. And with the problems we're having these days, who can blame them?

The most significant backend change for the past year will be occurring next week.  That mega server will come on-line.  4 duocore CPUs, 12 gigs of memory, 64-bit.  If all goes well, the difference should be blatantly noticeable. 

Reply #36 from WinCustomize Forums Top
And even though I know the causes of those errors, it is still frustrating


So what's the cause . . . I'm on the site for nine hours a day, M-F and I haven't got an error all week. I use SDC, IE, Firefox. I download skins, comment but don't upload much.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #37 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for the comments Brad! At least I know I'm not the only one having these problems...I was starting to wonder. I wish there was something more I could do to help the site out...I just don't know what that is.

The thing I don't quite understand is why for some people things zip right along and for others its down to a crawl. I used to never really have as many problems with the site as I have over these past few months. But I'm still hangin in there hopin things will get better. And in case it slipped your mind Brad...I offered to help out some time ago. And since I'm on here so often I could help things get through moderation a bit faster. Just a thought.

And I have a bunch of docks waiting to get uploaded...I just haven't been able to get them through.
Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top

WebGizmos ....recent problems with the SD emailing, etc meant that moderation was next to impossible.  Zubaz may not have been having 'problems' in his 'nine hours a day' but you can take it from me....40 minutes to get 4 uploads 'processed' classifies as a 'problem'.

I've even had new and interestingly refreshing error messages....[fotunately not quite "haha...you wanted to do WHAT?!!!!!" ....yet]....

When mods find their lives ticking away while a page refreshes they tend to tire of Spider Solitaire...and take a trip outside into the Real World [tm] and watch grass grow instead...

No-one is anticipating this new SuperThunderStingCar Server coming online more than me [except maybe Brad AND T-Man]...

Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jafo...I can imagine the frustration of having to mod all the uploads...fortunately for you mine haven't even made it that far

And I've seen some different error messages as well. And I know what you mean about Spider Solitaire...I'm gettin pretty good at it now.
Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Brad...just had some success for a change...was able to get two sets of docks uploaded tonight.
Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As of today I've noticed that the main page is loading much faster as well as the other pages!
Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sunday June 4 (Oz time). I've noticed a slight slowing of page loads today, but it's not dramatic and still better than some sites I've visited lately.....

Has anyone been to devArt recently? Their page loads seem to be slower than in the past, as with a couple of other places I go to...even MS was experiencing difficulties yesterday, very slow page loads or sometimes not at all. With patience I eventually got to where I wanted to go, but it seems site issues are not confined to WC alone, though I suppose the focus would be on it if one spends most (if not all) their time here.

Wincustomize, by far, is the best skin site on the www, and Brad and crew are to be commended for the valiant efforts to keep the site going, safe and spyware/malware free. I used to go to Skinbase, but every time I went there and ran Spybot afterwards, I discovered nasties like 'firewall.disable.notify' 'windows.security.disable.notify' 'Fastclick' 'MyCoolWebSearch' and others. Sure, I can remove these parasites with a multitude of programs, but when the mongrels who proliferate this garbage are becoming more sophisticated to avoid its detection, why take the risk?

Long live Stardock & Wincustomize!!!!
Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well starkers...it ought to be speeding up again for you. Yesterday is was moving pretty quick for me for a change...and now I see it is slowing down for you. And now its back to a crawl here, so I guess it should be picking back up for you again.

I just clicked on the forums and it just sat there. I could almost hear a snicker.
Reply #44 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well starkers...it ought to be speeding up again for you. Yesterday is was moving pretty quick for me for a change...and now I see it is slowing down for you. And now its back to a crawl here, so I guess it should be picking back up for you again.


There's not too much changed speed-wise since last posting, but for a couple of hours earlier on I kept getting an 'unavailable' page when trying to access the site. Oh well, it gave me the opportunity to defrag and clean up my system some.

I can't complain cos I've had it pretty good (as compared to some), but hopefully the new server will kick in soon and have the site flying along for everyone.
Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The most significant backend change for the past year will be occurring next week. That mega server will come on-line. 4 duocore CPUs, 12 gigs of memory, 64-bit. If all goes well, the difference should be blatantly noticeable.


COOL!!! Ever seen one with 36 CPU's? I have heard about them. Must cost a grip and a half.