Closing of relevant threads. Getting a response from OP.

[BCN1000]

I have the exact situation described here. Others may well do also:

Application blocked from accessing Graphics hardware

Hi. I have a new built PC and have been struggling with crashes for a month. I have tried more or less every "how to fix" suggestion found out there. I think. But it still crashes. It started with me getting the message: -------- Event 4101 , Display Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding...

www.techpowerup.com

There are other reasons for me to reply to the thread over starting a new one. Administrators may be in a better position than users to understand the answers to questions surrounding their posts. They are not in a better position than users to understand the MOTIVES of their posts however (certainly not without asking!)

The closing of the thread has make it impossible for the OP to respond , impossible for other with the same set of issues/same hardware to receive the solution of the OP. This attitude towards old threads also actively discourages users from posting on old threads where there may be specific reasons this is advantageous over starting a new thread.

What is the sense in this?

Will the OP still receive a notification of this or will I have to send them a PM to get a response?

 

[Tatty_Two]

Whilst I did not close that thread, the moderator that did would clearly have seen that the OP has not logged in to TPU for more than 2 1/2 years which is why I would imagine he requested that you start your own new thread, I recommend the same and therefore I am closing this thread down also, good luck in finding a solution, there are many members here that can help you.

 

[W1zzard]

I see no reason to close Threads like this either.

Making a new Thread will break the experience for people coming to tpu from google, because they don’t know the other Thread exists

 

[BCN1000]

Whilst I did not close that thread, the moderator that did would clearly have seen that the OP has not logged in to TPU for more than 2 1/2 years which is why I would imagine he requested that you start your own new thread, I recommend the same and therefore I am closing this thread down also, good luck in finding a solution, there are many members here that can help you.

The moderator didn't request, reason, or explain anything. They closed the thread. Is it really necessary for a user like me to explain to the moderators here the difference between the two, from the point of view of someone coming the thread from external sources or trying to get a response from the OP for some reason?

2.5 years of inactivity does not equate to their being no possibility of obtaining a reply from the OP. Rather cynical towards members of the forum to presume they will just ignore the notification they receive when the thread. I imagine there are plenty who would be willing to take the time to provide a quick reply in that situation.

What is the real reason moderators do this?

 

[bogmali]

The closing of the thread has make it impossible for the OP to respond , impossible for other with the same set of issues/same hardware to receive the solution of the OP. This attitude towards old threads also actively discourages users from posting on old threads where there may be specific reasons this is advantageous over starting a new thread.

What is the sense in this?

Will the OP still receive a notification of this or will I have to send them a PM to get a response?

Two things if I may:

1. As previously explained, OP has not logged in for over two years and the thread has not gotten any updates
2. The thread is just as old the last time the OP logged in and has some outdated info and that's why I suggested starting your own to get some newer info.

BLUF (bottom line up front) how difficult is it to make a thread of your own? You've created this thread and made responses which would have taken a lot less time if you just made a thread of your own like what I've suggested.

Real reason for moderation? I have explained my reasoning, what's your reason for making this an issue? Are you related to the OP in the other thread by chance? He/she has not logged in for over 2 years and you're arguing about notification that is probably irrelevant at this point because of reasons I have already mentioned.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Lots of threads get locked
Sometimes at the op's request.

I've not seen a lot of them moved or even merged
Various reasons.

People make threads of soon to be news threads weekly matter of fact
Mod's lock the original thread with many or just a few posts instead of merging it with the news thread
Seems like a waste @W1zzard

 

[Ware]

I feel like the OP's experience just went wrong here, and I want to encourage the OP to start a new thread as suggested.

What is the real reason moderators do this?

Who knows? Nobody is trying to shut you down - they are trying to help you.

I feel that closing the old thread was appropriate. Considering it had no useful information or solution, merging it would also be pointless IMO.

 

[OneMoar]

The moderator didn't request, reason, or explain anything. They closed the thread. Is it really necessary for a user like me to explain to the moderators here the difference between the two, from the point of view of someone coming the thread from external sources or trying to get a response from the OP for some reason?

2.5 years of inactivity does not equate to their being no possibility of obtaining a reply from the OP. Rather cynical towards members of the forum to presume they will just ignore the notification they receive when the thread. I imagine there are plenty who would be willing to take the time to provide a quick reply in that situation.

What is the real reason moderators do this?

Yes it does its been two years the question we should be asking you is WHY Do you care Mr 8 Posts

 

[Vayra86]

A different perspective: wouldn't it be MUCH better form to just send the OP a PM, ánd ask the question in a separate topic of your own?

You know, approach the problem from every angle to get what you need asap. I'd consider that more logical than going at it like this. Its not like this topic is getting you any answers.

 

[BCN1000]

To those suggesting I shouldn't care or have no reason to invest the time in posting here, I have no reason to respond to you other than to say that if you don't care about the issue's raised in the thread, then you have no reason to be here. Please leave the thread to those that do.

Regarding the lame adhominems about autism etc, having autism doesn't mean your wrong about anything. Quite the contrary sometimes. To those authors, I kindly ask that you leave this thread alone as well unless you are able to contribute something useful.

If there is indeed so much outdated information in a post that it becomes a good idea in the judgement of an admin to lock it, then that's fair enough (if it's really the case!), but the time to give reasons for locking a thread is when it gets locked. If continually writing such information when closing threads proves time costly, I would suggest that that actually underlines their importance, but if closing is indeed the best course of action and giving specific reasons is not gonna happen for whatever reason, then perhaps a canned message containing reasoning is better than nothing? As mentioned, no such reason was given before locking. Saying 'the way forward is to open a new thread' is not really an explanation of anything and leads community memebers to understand little, or nothing. I think perhaps admins sometimes dont fully realise how many people share my views on this but don't bother to express it after the fact in sub forums like this and on't know the reasons why their threads are locked.

There are dates on the messages in threads. A person needs nothing other than that to know the likelihood that information in the thread is possibly outdated. In my view forums gain nothing by then locking the thread, as far as I can tell. But well, that's what I'm here asking about.....

Not singling out powerup here for what it's worth. Reddit does this after arbitrary periods in some sub-reddits and it's a source of frustration for many.

 

[the54thvoid]

There are dates on the messages in threads. A person needs nothing other than that to know the likelihood that information in the thread is possibly outdated. In my view forums gain nothing by then locking the thread, as far as I can tell. But well, that's what I'm here asking about.....

And this is a very real issue. As a moderator I've seen many threads necroed and it's not unusual that the person doing so has skimmed over the date and doesn't realise it's out of date. Plus, I see alot of potentially harmful spam posts going up in those threads. Sure, we take care of that but still, old, untouched threads where the OP has since been vacant for literally years tend to be that way for a reason.

More, if I'm subbed in a forum but not the necro thread (highly likely), I'll not be alerted when a new post goes into a necro thread that I've not subbed to because it's been dead for two years. But, if a new member makes a new thread to disuss a similar topic, that thread will appear as an alert to me. That's a chance for more replies to a query.

 

[BCN1000]

Thanks for the above.

For me, whether a post is 'out-of-date' is not defined by it's date. It defined by whether the information in the thread is still useful to someone. Why can't/doesn't your forum can't simply activate a notification when accessing a thread that it is more than X months old indicating that the poster should check whether the information is indeed 'out of date', as many other forums do?

More, if I'm subbed in a forum but not the necro thread (highly likely), I'll not be alerted when a new post goes into a necro thread that I've not subbed to because it's been dead for two years. But, if a new member makes a new thread to disuss a similar topic, that thread will appear as an alert to me. That's a chance for more replies to a query.

Not sure I understand what subbed means here, nor how the post is a 'necro' post in any meaningful sense unless by 'necro' you guys mean a post that has had no response during some arbitrary period of time (2 years for example). As stated various times, the post and the information in it are all still perfectly relevant and the hardware is still out there in abundance in the thread in question.

However I understand that you are an admin, and you have your notifications configured a certian way that means you are more likely to be alerted to an old thread if you receive notifcation of a new thread on the same topic versus a reply directly to the same thread. If so, firstly what that says to me again is that such posts are relevant in a general sense, not the just from the point of view of the individual replying to the thread. If they weren't, why would admins set up their configurations so that they get alerts on those 'old' threads?

Also, that may be how you have set up your alerts as an admin, but unless I'm mistaken ordinary members do not have their alerts set up in such a fashion. Community members are often interested in getting a reply from the OP in particular, not just admins (as in the current case).

Are you saying that in cases where a thread is locked by an admin and someone comes along and wants to get the OP's resolution, the OP of the post (not just admins) is also more likely to respond with the resolution/information sought if the responder creates a new post versus if he/she replies directly to the thread of interest? How can that be? Does your forum not allow new post alerts to be sent to the OP of a thread if that thread is more than X months old, or something like that?

 

[W1zzard]

that the person doing so has skimmed over the date and doesn't realise it's out of date.

You must check the checkbox in the screenshot below, so no way they don't know this is an old thread

Why can't/doesn't your forum can't simply activate a notification when accessing a thread that it is more than X months old indicating that the poster should check whether the information is indeed 'out of date', as many other forums do?

like this?

 

[BCN1000]

Ok, so your forum does do that already? Based on the previous comment in this thread, where it was suggested that one of the reasons threads get 'necroed' is because new posters might not pay attention to the date of the thread, I got the impression that it didn't have that feature.

Can anyone confirm if your forum also sends notifications to OP's when their 'old' threads get a reply?

 

[Tatty_Two]

Ok, so your forum does do that already? Based on the previous comment in this thread, where it was suggested that one of the reasons threads get 'necroed' is because new posters might not pay attention to the date of the thread, I got the impression that it didn't have that feature.

Can anyone confirm if your forum also sends notifications to OP's when their 'old' threads get a reply?

Only if they set that feature in their preferences, I think by default it is "no". My earlier comment about the OP never having logged in for 2.5 years despite saying he would let the thread contributors know if a solution had worked, along with the fact that had he enabled notifications he would have seen the couple of later posts led me to believe that it is highly unlikely he is on notifications.

 

[stinger608]

Something else to consider OP: Many threads, just as the one you have pointed out, was started with new member that joined that very day.

This happens many many times on tons of tech forums. Someone joins, starts a thread about an issue, gets help to solve it, and is never heard from again. Usually the OP doesn't even post again to tell everyone if all the suggestions even helped or not.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand your frustration, especially if you are having pretty much the same issues.

And, as you might have noticed, the OP of that thread never did come back in and tell everyone if the issue had been solved.

With all of that said, I also feel it would be of more benefit to you to have started a new thread regarding your specific issue.

 

[eidairaman1]

Making a mountain out of a mole hill, yeesh.

I have the exact situation described here. Others may well do also:

Application blocked from accessing Graphics hardware

Hi. I have a new built PC and have been struggling with crashes for a month. I have tried more or less every "how to fix" suggestion found out there. I think. But it still crashes. It started with me getting the message: -------- Event 4101 , Display Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding...

www.techpowerup.com

There are other reasons for me to reply to the thread over starting a new one. Administrators may be in a better position than users to understand the answers to questions surrounding their posts. They are not in a better position than users to understand the MOTIVES of their posts however (certainly not without asking!)

The closing of the thread has make it impossible for the OP to respond , impossible for other with the same set of issues/same hardware to receive the solution of the OP. This attitude towards old threads also actively discourages users from posting on old threads where there may be specific reasons this is advantageous over starting a new thread.

What is the sense in this?

Will the OP still receive a notification of this or will I have to send them a PM to get a response?

The moderator didn't request, reason, or explain anything. They closed the thread. Is it really necessary for a user like me to explain to the moderators here the difference between the two, from the point of view of someone coming the thread from external sources or trying to get a response from the OP for some reason?

2.5 years of inactivity does not equate to their being no possibility of obtaining a reply from the OP. Rather cynical towards members of the forum to presume they will just ignore the notification they receive when the thread. I imagine there are plenty who would be willing to take the time to provide a quick reply in that situation.

What is the real reason moderators do this?

To those suggesting I shouldn't care or have no reason to invest the time in posting here, I have no reason to respond to you other than to say that if you don't care about the issue's raised in the thread, then you have no reason to be here. Please leave the thread to those that do.

Regarding the lame adhominems about autism etc, having autism doesn't mean your wrong about anything. Quite the contrary sometimes. To those authors, I kindly ask that you leave this thread alone as well unless you are able to contribute something useful.

If there is indeed so much outdated information in a post that it becomes a good idea in the judgement of an admin to lock it, then that's fair enough (if it's really the case!), but the time to give reasons for locking a thread is when it gets locked. If continually writing such information when closing threads proves time costly, I would suggest that that actually underlines their importance, but if closing is indeed the best course of action and giving specific reasons is not gonna happen for whatever reason, then perhaps a canned message containing reasoning is better than nothing? As mentioned, no such reason was given before locking. Saying 'the way forward is to open a new thread' is not really an explanation of anything and leads community memebers to understand little, or nothing. I think perhaps admins sometimes dont fully realise how many people share my views on this but don't bother to express it after the fact in sub forums like this and on't know the reasons why their threads are locked.

There are dates on the messages in threads. A person needs nothing other than that to know the likelihood that information in the thread is possibly outdated. In my view forums gain nothing by then locking the thread, as far as I can tell. But well, that's what I'm here asking about.....

Not singling out powerup here for what it's worth. Reddit does this after arbitrary periods in some sub-reddits and it's a source of frustration for many.

Thanks for the above.

For me, whether a post is 'out-of-date' is not defined by it's date. It defined by whether the information in the thread is still useful to someone. Why can't/doesn't your forum can't simply activate a notification when accessing a thread that it is more than X months old indicating that the poster should check whether the information is indeed 'out of date', as many other forums do?

Not sure I understand what subbed means here, nor how the post is a 'necro' post in any meaningful sense unless by 'necro' you guys mean a post that has had no response during some arbitrary period of time (2 years for example). As stated various times, the post and the information in it are all still perfectly relevant and the hardware is still out there in abundance in the thread in question.

However I understand that you are an admin, and you have your notifications configured a certian way that means you are more likely to be alerted to an old thread if you receive notifcation of a new thread on the same topic versus a reply directly to the same thread. If so, firstly what that says to me again is that such posts are relevant in a general sense, not the just from the point of view of the individual replying to the thread. If they weren't, why would admins set up their configurations so that they get alerts on those 'old' threads?

Also, that may be how you have set up your alerts as an admin, but unless I'm mistaken ordinary members do not have their alerts set up in such a fashion. Community members are often interested in getting a reply from the OP in particular, not just admins (as in the current case).

Are you saying that in cases where a thread is locked by an admin and someone comes along and wants to get the OP's resolution, the OP of the post (not just admins) is also more likely to respond with the resolution/information sought if the responder creates a new post versus if he/she replies directly to the thread of interest? How can that be? Does your forum not allow new post alerts to be sent to the OP of a thread if that thread is more than X months old, or something like that?

Instead of complaining about the thread why not focus on fixing your bunk laptop!?

vBIOS request fo MSI GTX 1050 Ti Mobile 4 GB

Hi, I need a vbios for the following card: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/msi-gtx-1050-ti-mobile-4-gb.b8524 The details of the current bios are: Sign-On Message : GP106 E2914 SKU 30 VGA BIOS IFR Subsystem ID : Blank Subsystem Vendor ID : 0x1462 Subsystem ID ...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[OneMoar]

why is this thread even allowed to exist I can't name anything else less deserving of existence then this thread

 

[Mussels]

The biggest problem is when people come in thinking an old post is the same as their problem, when its not

We often get a LOT of confusion from new members all posting at once about an issue, in a thread about something else - none give their system specs, none properly describe the problem... so the default is "go make a new thread so we can actually HELP you"

 

[BCN1000]

Once again, to all those claiming there is no point in this thread existing...if sufficient admins feel it isn't worthy of the server space I'm sure it will get locked or deleted, and your anguish will then be over. Until then you have the freedom to contribute to topics you feel are interesting or worthy of discussion. Please, take advantage of that freedom.

This topic of this thread is more than just a gripe about a thread being locked, it is about best practices when it comes to locking threads like the one in question, getting a response for an OP, and related questions. I think it's also quite informative (certainly for me) about the reasons threads do get locked, and why it arguably makes sense in some cases to lock, or why the chances of a response to a direct reply are slim. For me, on the former the explanations here have been enlightening. On the latter I feel (thus far) that this isn't much of a case for locking necessarily as there may be other members who have solutions to the exact same problem (among other reasons).

All those who feel that is a worthy topic of discussion and that this is the appropriate place for it, thank you for your contributions.

 

[Mussels]

BCN1000: You brought up a worthy topic for discussion, don't worry about that
Of course we have people thinking locking and new threads is the best course of action - because it's what we currently do.

I'm starting to think we may well need to leave threads open in case older posters do return or people find fixes for long standing bugs, but still give advice for new threads if we think it's a seperate issue

 

[qubit]

@BCN1000 You've brought up a good point by creating this thread and it's great to see TPU take on board your comments. Credit all round.

BCN1000: You brought up a worthy topic for discussion, don't worry about that
Of course we have people thinking locking and new threads is the best course of action - because it's what we currently do.

I'm starting to think we may well need to leave threads open in case older posters do return or people find fixes for long standing bugs, but still give advice for new threads if we think it's a seperate issue

On my forum. I don't believe in locking or deleting threads unless absolutely necessary, eg started by a spammer, even if they're many years old. I also don't have a problem with people posting in a thread that hasn't seen action for years, too. As long as their post is reasonably on topic and not just being bumped for the sake of it, I'm good.

Yes, I created a forum from scratch recently, with a little help from @W1zzard in a couple of places when I came to him for advice.

 

[Tatty_Two]

BCN1000: You brought up a worthy topic for discussion, don't worry about that
Of course we have people thinking locking and new threads is the best course of action - because it's what we currently do.

I'm starting to think we may well need to leave threads open in case older posters do return or people find fixes for long standing bugs, but still give advice for new threads if we think it's a seperate issue

I agree and I have always applied that thought to threads that have ideas/troubleshooting that have led to confirmed solutions because simply they are very useful, however like I said, I didn't close that thread but it contained neither as the OP didn't return to inform us sadly.