Signing into HPC:Factor

Before you can make use of some of the services offered by HPC:Factor, you must register with us and sign-in using your web browser.

Contents

• Why require signing in?
• How do I sign in?
• Why must I type the verification code (Captcha)?
• I cannot see the Captcha on the log-in page
• I keep being signed out when I close my browser, what can I do?

Why require signing in?

The process of signing in enables us to authenticate you as a valid member of the HPC:Factor community and as such ensure that you are presented with all of the options available to you based upon your registration level.

You may find that you do not always need to sign into HPC:Factor to make use of the facilities on offer through the site, however it is encouraged so that you can feel a part of this community and make the most of your time at the site.

The sign-in system is principally a security and cost reduction process, it enables us to ensure that spammers do not get to upset our systems and that casual internet users cannot hot-link content from us at considerable expense to the community budget.

It is not designed to be a process that allows us to data mine you. We do not have any advertising on HPC:Factor, we are not involved with any web tracking companies and we are not using the small amount of information that we hold on you to analyse your web browsing habits. To date the only statistics we have drawn from user information has been to see which of our users sign-in to the site the most - which as you might expect is fairly well related to user post count!

How do I sign-in?

To sign into HPC:Factor you can click one of the many links distributed around the site, or if you prefer you can visit https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/logon.asp to sign into the site directly.

Using the ordinary sign in system, you will be presented with the following log-in screen:

1. Type your username as you entered when you registered (you will have received a confirmation email of this) - the Username IS NOT case sensitive.
2. Type your password as you chose during registration - the Password IS case sensitive.
3. Type the verification code (aka Captcha) as you see it in the image into the box - the Captcha IS NOT case sensitive.
4. Click submit to log-on
5. If successful, you will be returned to the page that you were on before you clicked into the log-in system

Why must I type the verification code (Captcha)?

The Captcha is designed to prevent automated internet spamming software (spam-bots) from registering, logging onto the forum and posting dangerous, malicious, upsetting or generally disruptive content onto the forums.

The Captcha or "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" is designed to prevent automated robots from being able to access the forums because they are unable to interpret the data in the image and fill-in the form themselves.

Unfortunately the Captcha is a necessary evil in the modern world. It was not implemented by HPC:Factor staff without due consideration, however in the weeks leading up to its introduction the forums here at HPC:Factor were being bombarded with up to 30 SPAM posts a minute at the peak of the attack. These posts were advertising anything from banking scams, to medication and pornography on a family orientated forum. We apologise for any inconvenience caused due to difficulty in interpreting the Captcha, however please do understand what the alternative is and what you are asking us to do if you were thinking of emailing a staff member to insist on its removal.

I cannot see the Captcha on the log-in page

Unfortunately the security system uses rendering technology that is more sophisticated than can be handled by Pocket Internet Explorer. At this time it is not possible for you to sign into the site using these browsers.

I keep being signed out when I close my browser, what can I do?

If you find that you are always being signed out of HPC:Factor when you close your browser then the most likely cause is in cookie handling in your web browser.

Some web browsers and web browser plug-ins have the option to purge all browser history when the browser is closed; this will also happen when you perform maintenance on your browser history under some web browsers including "delete all" under Internet Explorer 7 and on the Microsoft Handheld PC browsers.

You may have your browser cookie settings configured too high, preventing HPC:Factor from saving your session information in your browser cache (necessary for seamless sign-in). You can either lower your browsers cookie security settings or add hpcfactor.com to the safe list in your browser - rest assured that we are in no way associated with advertising agency tracking cookies or any internet statistics monitoring organisation.