I get an error about "Leeching" when attempting to view content

[Detomah]

When attempting to view content from Total Format, you may get an error message stating that you're leeching due to a number of reasons:

• You may be attempting to view content from Total Format via another site. If another site links directly to our content our system picks up on this and will block your attempt. This is nothing against you, but our resources cost money to provide, and by linking directly to our content you are putting our resources under strain for no benefit. If you wish to the content you were seeking, please feel free to search it out and find it here on Total Format. It may prove more useful also as we provide information about all our content which could help.
• If you are browsing the Total Format site, and totalformat.com is in the URL from the page pointing to the download and you are still having problems viewing content and getting a leech page displayed, this may be due to an incorrectly configured internet browser or poor security software like Norton. Please continue reading the section on Browser Troubleshooting.

Browser Troubleshooting

Remove Junkware

While it is important to have antivirus protection on a Windows PC it is important to understand that packages like Norton Internet Security and Mcafee Security are pretty much considered junk by advance computer users. Not only do they drain massive amounts of resources bringing your PC to a stand still, they also make a number of changes to your Web Browser with the idea of making it secure. The first port of call if you have one of these packages is to disable every feature except for Antivirus and Firewall. Total Format uses standard HTTP protocols and part of this protocol is the "referer" tag, which tells the webserver where it is coming from. This is the feature Total Format uses, making sure that when you request a download that you're coming from a page within Total Format (having totalformat.com in the URL). If your security package blocks this, you will find content on Total Format and many sites over the internet will no longer be working. There is no benefit to blocking this, it does not improve your security and instead just breaks websites. Companies like Norton and Mcafee add this feature just to make another selling point for their junkware.

Norton Guide to allowing referer tag:
Passing referrer information to specific Web pages in Norton Internet Security and Norton Personal Firewall

For other packages, it's worth considering contacting their support page and seeking a solution from them.

If you are willing to get rid of your Internet Security package from these makers, you can get a free antivirus package called AVG Free from:

AVG Free - Download antivirus and antispyware software for Windows XP and Vista

If you choose the AVG package, be sure to re-enable Windows Firewall in XP / Vista to ensure your PC is protected.

It is important to note whatever you choose for security, that you are secure. Do not rush into uninstalling all protection and not placing some protection back on your system. If you are a computer novice the best choice would be to keep your security package for now, and just work with the makers on restoring the referer in your Web Browser

Try an Alternative Web Browser

While your security package may interfere with your default internet browser called "Internet Explorer" there is a chance it will not interfere with other browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

If you are unable to configure your security package as talked about above, you may consider trying an alternative browser. The first point of call would be to try the Mozilla Firefox browser which is the most popular alternative to Internet Explorer due to its close following of W3C standards and high level of security.

You can download Firefox from the following link:

Firefox web browser | Faster, more secure, & customizable

Please understand, Total Format supports the right to choose whatever browser suits you, and the site will work with all the leading internet browsers, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. An internet browser is a users choice and will always remain that, we are not requiring you to use Firefox to access this site but merely as a suggestion if your Internet Explorer is being altered and damaged by packages like Norton Internet Security.

An alternative to Firefox and Internet Explorer is Apples Safari web browser:

Apple - Safari

Use another computer or get a friend to help.

• If neither of the suggestions above work and you still cannot access our Downloads there is one more option. If you have another computer or access to a computer at work consider downloading the content from there. It's highly likely most people have access to another computer without junkware installed preventing downloads.

Alternatively contact a friend over email or instant messaging and ask them to do the download for you and pass the file onto you.

FAQ

Why do you install such protection if it causes problems for a few people?

It was never our intention to install protection like this to stop leechers. When we first opened we had no such protection installed, but over time as we added more exclusive content, many sites decide to rip our content off of us and place direct links to our downloads causing massive stress to our web servers and giving us high bandwidth costs.

It got to a stage where we couldn't afford our bandwidth bills anymore and we had a choice, either force people to visit us directly to download, or continue to allow everyone to download the content but block other sites from linking to it. In the interest of all Total Format visitors we went for the options of blocking other sites from linking as we didnt want to have a site that forced people to sign up just to view pictures. If we did force people, we would be no worse than other sites on the internet.

So we apologize if this is causing you an inconvenience, but fixing your web browser won't just benefit you using this site, many sites depend on the referer check before allowing downloads.

If I register, will I be able to view the content?

Registeration is optional, and please don't register if you don't feel the need to, you won't get around the leech protection by being a registered user. The protection effects every visitor and member using the site.

If I contact you, will you be able to send the file to me?

We would love to say yes to this, but the staff of Total Format are very busy with work commitments (some of our staff are still at University). Your best bet is to just get a friend to download it for you and send you the file.

If you have a serious question, or any solutions for other users please feel free to reply. Posts saying "I cant download" will just be ignored.