R.I.P. YAHOO FILES-EXTENDED TIME FOR DOWNLOADS-Now expired...

daglob · January 10, 2020, 11:47:06 PM

I got this today:

Hi Yahoo Member,

In recent weeks, we communicated the latest changes to Yahoo Groups and explained how to request a download of any content you hâve previously posted to the platform. Some Groups users asked us for more time, and in response to these requests, we have decided to extend the deadline. Groups users now have until Friday, January 31, 2020 at 11:59pm PST to submit a request for their data.

We have now taken down all user content from the Yahoo Groups website. However, we will continue to accept users requests for their data until January 31, 2020, and will ensure these have been fulfilled prior to deleting the data.

For additional support, users can email YahooGroupsEscalations@verizonmedia.com and our team will troubleshoot any issues.

Best,
The Yahoo Groups team

So, we have 'til January 31^st to get those files. As I stated in the other thread, it includes files from every group you are a member of, a lot of which may be useless, but who knows? They may have sent you an e-mail a few weeks ago with a link to ask for the downloads, then, a few days later, you will receive a link to the files themselves.

Panther_Gunn · January 12, 2020, 05:46:53 PM

I finally got my notice last night, almost 28 hours after you posted about it. I can only assume the large gap is due to them being sent out in batches to not trigger spam flags at various email gateways, but still, that's a big time difference, and I'm sure some people will be unhappy they didn't get as much notice as others.

It would have been nice if they had included the request link in the email again, for those of us (like me) who don't have the original notice anymore. Guess I'll have to email the Escalation address if I want that link again.

I notice the verbiage mentions any content "you" have posted to the groups, which would imply you would only get back anything you personally posted. Daglob, did you say that you had gotten *all* files from *all* groups you were in, regardless of who had initially posted them? And does it only include files, or are images or other content included as well?

daglob · January 12, 2020, 09:47:40 PM

Quote from: Panther_Gunn on January 12, 2020, 05:46:53 PM
I finally got my notice last night, almost 28 hours after you posted about it. I can only assume the large gap is due to them being sent out in batches to not trigger spam flags at various email gateways, but still, that's a big time difference, and I'm sure some people will be unhappy they didn't get as much notice as others.

It would have been nice if they had included the request link in the email again, for those of us (like me) who don't have the original notice anymore. Guess I'll have to email the Escalation address if I want that link again.

I notice the verbiage mentions any content "you" have posted to the groups, which would imply you would only get back anything you personally posted. Daglob, did you say that you had gotten *all* files from *all* groups you were in, regardless of who had initially posted them? And does it only include files, or are images or other content included as well?

It's kind of hit and miss: I don't know what your files will be like, but mine (six of them) are large zip files with a simple title, and inside are a bunch of zip files with gobbledygook titles that end with stuff that indicates if you are a member or owner of the group, and the name of the group. Inside the zip are MORE zips which seem to include files, links, and messages. The messages are in some obscure format that can be read with some kind of word processor (I think Word will do it), the links, and the files... but mostly it includes the stuff in 'FILES". I see also some pictures from some groups (a Robert E. Howard group, for instance), but not others (Beyonder's groups). I am also pretty sure that not everything is saved, but Yahoo has been losing stuff for months, so I don't find that surprising.

The message they sent me originally is this:

If you would like to keep any of the content you’ve posted or stored within your Yahoo Group, please download it by December 14 by accessing the Groups Download Manager at: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/getmydata. Once you provide your preferred email address, we will send you a confirmation of your download request and notify you once the download is complete.

I had to sign back in, I guess so they knew I was me. I know it says it will save my data, but, yes, it saved a lot (most) of the data from any site I was a member of (even the links to porn sites... maybe the video files from some of them too, I didn't really check). Some time, I would like to get together with others who do this and see if we can store all the characters someplace (like Medifire, for now), and let everyone have access.

Thinking of the loss of Tommy's and Alex's sites makes me queasy.

OrWolvie1 · January 13, 2020, 12:52:24 AM

Well, I downloaded all the files from every

&

group I was a member of, deleted all the messages and links, which were easy enough to do as Yahoo grouped them all into zip files so all I'm left with is the files themselves. The only thing I haven't done yet is open up each set of zips and delete all the porn files what unfortunately infected several of the groups. but, the good news is I have everything else from every group that was lost or that I was a member of, which I believe was around 50 or more, I never really counted them (my bad) But if we want to sort through them, and post them for everyone, I'm willing to contribute what I have.

daglob · January 13, 2020, 01:09:08 AM

Someplace I have a batch file that will list all the files/folders in a directory in a text file (had the thing for decades; at the time it was cutting edge). I'll do that tomorrow and post the list in another forum and we'll see what we can do.

Panther_Gunn · January 23, 2020, 04:59:51 AM

Submitted my request on Sunday, got the link Sunday night, and finally got around to downloading the zips last night. My antivirus kept alerting on a malware "webpage" that it found in one of the zips, so it would fail it every time at the end of the after-dl scan. Finally had to temporarily turn off that filter so I could open up the zip & copy the folders out to elsewhere. Unfortunately, Yahoo made me reauthenticate with a code sent to my email *every* time I attempted to download from the link after the first time -- that got a little tedious.

Mine were in two zips, and counting the objects between the two, I thought for the longest time that my antivirus had deleted one that it didn't like. Eventually I figured out that there was one group that had been split between the two zips.

For anyone that's interested (as there might be some semi-useful info there), the messages for the groups are in an .mbox file format, which can be opened in most Apple/Mac mail programs (from what I understand), but us Windows users have a much more limited pool of free options. If you have a Gmail account you *may* be able to load it into there (as downloads & archives from Gmail use the same format). Other than that, there's a Windows mbox Viewer (ideal for this purpose, as most of use won't need to access them for email purposes), which has a 2.5 Mb executable with no installation needed; and a full-blown email client, Mozilla Thunderbird. I couldn't find any version of Word that would open the file -- Notepad *did* open it, and while I could read the message content, all of the messages are clumped together, and you have to read around all of the coding, plus if the .mbox file is too big, Notepad likely won't open it.

So far, the only groups I've seen that have included any images have been ones that I was either the owner or moderator for, and even then it may not be all of them (my Dalek skin preview pic did not make the cut, just my "cover" images). The groups that did include images also had a .json file, which can be opened with Notepad, but it's really just the group metadata for any images uploaded (file name, type, time uploaded, etc.).

Panther_Gunn · January 23, 2020, 05:37:20 AM

ugh ..... started to look through some of the folders, and all of zuludelta's and Tommyboy's groups are empty of files, and they're not the only ones. I can only hope that the files showed up in someone else's zips.

daglob · January 23, 2020, 03:33:56 PM

I haven't correlated anything yet, but a month or more before the deletion I went through and downloaded everything from every group I was a member of, which included Tommy and Zuludelta (I think stuff was in them then-it's been a long year). I noticed the lack of files in some groups, but hadn't mentioned it yet. There is stuff missing from each group, too.

I'm kind of working on it.

OrWolvie1 · January 23, 2020, 04:44:18 PM

I, too, haven't had the time to go through all the yahoo files as of yet, due to personal issues as well as time constraints but perhaps this weekend I can start taking a look, but time will tell.

daglob · January 23, 2020, 06:29:45 PM

Yeah, but it might tell you something you don't want to know...

OrWolvie1 · January 23, 2020, 10:39:40 PM

Indeed. But as I said, time will tell

daglob · January 23, 2020, 11:30:13 PM

Oh, great; Windows 10 won't run my batch file. I guess DOS is sooo last century. I did get Powershell to give me this list of folders:

d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM 2nd rate characters
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM 3-d master
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM 555
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM accualt
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM adclaw
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM aequitas
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM afghan ant
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM alberik
d----- 8/3/2019 8:08 PM alex
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM ally catt
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM alphanaut
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM amalgam
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM angry red herring
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM anonymous
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM antimatter
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM aphex
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM archangel
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM area34
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM arlechino
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM artemis-ffv3r
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM artisan
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM atomic robot
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM avalanche
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM avalon
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM avatars united
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM b69-vertex
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM baroness
d----- 1/23/2020 5:04 PM bearded in lair
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM benton
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM bevo
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM beyonder
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM bf skinner
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM big al
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM billdamn
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM black casanova
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM black tarantula
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM blackbat
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM blobula
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM bloodshadow
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM bluewolf
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM buckeye
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM burned
d----- 1/23/2020 5:05 PM c4
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM c6
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM catastrophe
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM catman-alice
d----- 6/13/2019 3:40 PM cb
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM chuckles
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM commander koenig
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM copper age
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM cyber burn
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM daerdevil
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM dartmanx
d----- 1/23/2020 5:06 PM dean
d----- 6/13/2019 3:41 PM deaths jester
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM detorunme
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM dj
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM djs temp
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM dragonballz
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM el honez
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM el insentaz
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM electro
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM electro-static
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM engine angelus
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM eric
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ewzzy
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM extor prime
d----- 11/4/2019 5:51 PM fantasma
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ferrolho
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ffbase skins
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ffdbz
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM fffan15
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ffmeshez
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ffmulrtiplayer
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM ffskins1
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM fitz
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM flash22798
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM flying infnt
d----- 5/14/2018 3:24 PM for gearfried
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM foul pets
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM freedom force max files
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM freedom force resources
d----- 1/23/2020 5:07 PM freedomforcehero
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM freedomforcemachine
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM frontier forcde
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM frp pantheon challenge
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM fusion
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM general jerky
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM gennoro
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM ggiant
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM ghostmachine
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM gni
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM gpl
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM GRENADIER
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM gryphon
d----- 1/23/2020 5:02 PM g_i_joe
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM haljack
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM happy harry
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM hedleschkn
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM helix
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM herofirce
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM hmarrs
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM hoss20
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM hulkgray
d----- 1/23/2020 5:03 PM human ton
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM ink
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM intensity
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM ips
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM iris
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM irrational
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM j-foam
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM jazzbutcher
d----- 1/23/2020 4:56 PM jik
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM jkc
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM jkj
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM jlafan
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM john jr
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM johnny patches
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM junkyard
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM kasumi
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM kennx
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM kno2skullobscure
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM kraven
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM ks_saints
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM laughing paradox
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM lemon red
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM lightning man
d----- 1/23/2020 4:57 PM lil_vamp
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lion23sj
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lion_h
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lop group
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lord trelaine
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lord_e
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lord_jay
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lp superteam
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM lugaru
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM Lyzander
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mac402
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM marcello
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM martialstorm
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM matrix
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM megatallica
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM megsunfire
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM meshfrekzarus
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mics ffstuff
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mjb
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM morrowind
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mr Aratak
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mr sinister
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM murs
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM mysterio
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM neich
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM night
d----- 11/9/2019 3:03 PM nomadforce
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM outcast
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM ow tiobie
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM p4ros
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM panther gun
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM paradox
d----- 1/23/2020 4:58 PM phalanx 5
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM phantom stranger
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM pinnoccio
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM pjabello
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM plankton
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM podmark
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM power ranger
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM psiblaze
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM pwime
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM qwazy
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rachmin
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rajin
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM randomdays
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM randy ripoff
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM ranvage
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM ratz
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rayman
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rayzer
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM redback
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM redbird
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM redfire
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM remyskins
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM renegade
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM revenant
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rick battlemange
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM riddlebox
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM riddlemethis
d----- 1/23/2020 4:59 PM rival
d----- 1/23/2020 5:00 PM rorschak
d----- 1/23/2020 5:00 PM saber
d----- 1/23/2020 5:00 PM sam's stuff
d----- 1/23/2020 5:00 PM saracen
d----- 1/23/2020 5:00 PM scd
d----- 11/6/2019 1:33 PM scepter
d----- 11/15/2019 2:47 PM schizo
d----- 11/15/2019 9:16 PM seraph
d----- 11/15/2019 9:28 PM sfo
d----- 11/15/2019 9:23 PM sgt friday
d----- 11/15/2019 9:38 PM shadoesword
d----- 11/15/2019 9:38 PM shadowlord
d----- 11/16/2019 4:15 PM shaw
d----- 10/30/2019 9:54 PM shawndaman-vglass
d----- 11/15/2019 9:36 PM shungokusatsu
d----- 11/15/2019 9:47 PM sinn
d----- 11/15/2019 9:35 PM Skerdilajd
d----- 11/9/2019 3:00 PM skinning challenge
d----- 11/15/2019 9:41 PM skipdutch
d----- 1/23/2020 4:54 PM solaryze
d----- 1/23/2020 4:54 PM spyderbyte
d----- 1/23/2020 4:54 PM star trek ff
d----- 1/23/2020 4:54 PM starbrand
d----- 1/23/2020 4:54 PM styles
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM swap shop
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM syn
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tap43
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM texas_jack
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tkgroup
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tomato
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tommyboy
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tonma
d----- 1/23/2020 4:55 PM tortuga
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM toxic-j
d----- 1/23/2020 4:53 PM tragiklogik
d----- 1/23/2020 4:53 PM trevynn
d----- 1/23/2020 4:53 PM trickster74
d----- 1/23/2020 4:53 PM twisted earth
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM tyranny6
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM unkoman
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM unsung wheezer
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM usagent
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM valandar
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM venom
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM vertex
d----- 1/23/2020 4:52 PM vitriolic blade
d----- 1/23/2020 4:42 PM volsung
d----- 1/23/2020 4:42 PM volt
d----- 1/23/2020 4:42 PM voltimax
d----- 1/23/2020 4:42 PM voodoochemist
d----- 1/23/2020 4:42 PM walkermeshes
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM webrider
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM wendra
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM white castle
d----- 1/23/2020 4:45 PM wingzero
d----- 1/23/2020 4:51 PM wkj
d----- 1/23/2020 4:43 PM wolf-x
d----- 1/23/2020 4:43 PM wyldefyre
d----- 1/23/2020 4:43 PM xenolith
d----- 1/23/2020 4:43 PM yellow lantern
d----- 1/23/2020 4:43 PM yog427
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM zeromaster
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM zivon
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM zivon23
d----- 1/23/2020 4:44 PM zuludelta

If a creator had more than one group, I put all his stuff in one folder (Tommy has 268 items, for instance).

I notice that Death's Jester folder is empty; it is in "DJ"'s folder.

Looking at a couple of them, this includes some stuff I got off The Wayback Machine.

cmdrkoenig67 · February 01, 2020, 01:32:25 AM

Daglob, Yellow Lantern had 2 more voice pack Yahoo groups

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Crazy_Lantern/
and
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crazy_lantern_2nd_floor/

Crimson Quill also had a voice pack Yahoo group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crimsonquill_voices/

daglob · February 01, 2020, 01:39:28 AM

Quote from: cmdrkoenig67 on February 01, 2020, 01:32:25 AM
Daglob, Yellow Lantern had 2 more voice pack Yahoo groups

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Crazy_Lantern/
and
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crazy_lantern_2nd_floor/

Crimson Quill also had a voice pack Yahoo group:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crimsonquill_voices/

I have the two Yellow Lantern groups, and I think Ii have Crimson Quill's stuff from a previous downloading. It is not in the bulk downloads, though. But, a lot of stuff is missing.

cmdrkoenig67 · February 01, 2020, 01:42:34 AM

I just saw in another thread, that Epimethee has the groups I mentioned covered too...👍

Dana

cmdrkoenig67 · February 01, 2020, 01:45:37 AM

I believe I have everybody's (as many that I know of, anyway) and my voice packs downloaded and backed up too.

Dana

daglob · February 07, 2020, 09:55:33 PM

I forgot to post when this expired. I've been distracted.

BentonGrey · February 08, 2020, 02:24:27 AM

Howdy Dana, I didn't manage to save all of my VPs. I'd like to get them from your backup collection one of these days, if that's possible.

Panther_Gunn · February 08, 2020, 07:25:56 AM

So, on Jan 31st, just before 4:30 p.m., I got an email from Yahoo Groups, with a notification someone wanted to join a group I'm a moderator of, wanting to create a private archive of Groups before they got deleted. I didn't see it until after the 1st .... so much for initiating things in a timely manner. Also, oddly, the same address (slash-fan@protonmail.com) didn't join my FF group. Does it look familiar to anyone, or did they attempt to contact anyone else?

daglob · February 08, 2020, 09:44:02 PM

Not me. I still have my Yahoo e-mail address and check it every day. Their mail runs days late sometime, and always has.

X-Man · February 11, 2020, 04:05:49 AM

If you guys ever get these up somewhere please let me know. managed to get a lot awhile back but not beofore the closure, now that i've solved my memory crashes want to start messing with it again

daglob · February 11, 2020, 04:47:52 AM

We will probably do something, just what is not certain.

News:

R.I.P. YAHOO FILES-EXTENDED TIME FOR DOWNLOADS-Now expired...