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PC World Registration Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is about PC World site registration and changes. Please check through it for answers to your questions. If you have a question not covered here, please send an e-mail message to PCWorld.com Customer Service at webmaster@pcworld.com
For questions about forums, user reviews, posting and so forth, please consult our Forums FAQ.
If you have questions about your PC World magazine subscription, or if you want to check or change your subscription, please consult the magazine Customer Service page. PC World magazine subscriptions are a separate matter.
How do I complete the PC World registration form?- How do I begin?
- What is a User Name?
- How do I choose my password?
- How do I complete the rest of the form?
- What happens when I click Submit?
- Why did I get an "E-mail already in use" message?
- Why did I get a "User name already in use" message?
- Why was I returned to the form after clicking Submit?
- How do I sign in?
- What if I get an "Invalid E-mail Address or Password" message?
- What if I forget my password?
- How do I change my password?
- How do I change my e-mail address?
- How do I make other changes to My Profile?
- Why did I receive an "E-mail already in use" error?
- How do I use the My Newsletters tab?
- What are Member Benefits?
How do I complete the registration form?
Click the "Join Us" link at the top of PCWorld.com pages. A blank registration form will be displayed to you. Fields marked with asterisks (*) are required information. They must be completed in order to register. (We hope you'll complete the optional fields, too!)
The User Name is the way you'll be identified on any forum posts, user reviews, or article comments you make. Since this will show on all your posts, choose a name that conceals or reveals your identity as much you feel comfortable doing. Each User Name is unique in the PC World community, so if you choose a User Name that another PC World member already has, when you click Submit you'll be returned to the form and see a message in red letters that says "User name already in use." Try entering a different User Name for yourself in that field.
Note: Your User Name cannot be changed. You can change your e-mail address, password and other profile information. For security reasons, though, and to maintain the continuity of your identify for all posts you make, your User Name remains constant.
Your password must be composed of at least six characters which can be only letters and/or numbers. (No symbols or other characters are permitted.) Your password is case sensitive, so if you decide to capitalize any letters, you must always capitalize them when you sign in. Enter exactly the same password again in the Confirm Password field. Country: Select your country of residence from the pulldown menu. ZIP: If you are a U.S. resident, enter your five-digit ZIP Code. If you are not a U.S. resident, simply enter the word none.
(We welcome our international PC World members. Since we're based in San Francisco, the great majority of our audience is in the U.S.; that's the reason the ZIP field is provided in that way.)
How do I complete the rest of the form?
We hope you'll choose to complete the optional fields on the form: The First Name, Last Name, and City fields are self-explanatory. Two fields are provided for Address. Your street address can be entered in the first Address field or, if you are entering a company address, you can enter your company name in the first Address field and the street address in the second.
Address Type refers to your e-mail address. If you are registering under your work address, leave the Work radio button checked. If you are using some other e-mail address, click beside Home to select that radio button.
Company: Please enter the name of your company in this field. If it does not apply to you, leave the field blank.
Job Function: Please select from the pulldown menu the function which best matches yours. If your job function doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Job Function" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Title: Please select from the pulldown menu the title that best matches yours. If your title doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Title" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Industry: Please select from the pulldown menu the industry that best matches yours. If your industry doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Industry" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Company Size: Please select from the pulldown menu the company size that best matches yours. If "Company Size" doesn't apply to you, please select "Less than 50." Please note that we provide links to both our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy pages just above the Submit button.
What happens when I click Submit?
When you have finished the registration form, click the Submit button at the bottom. When the required fields are completed correctly, a confirmation page will be displayed.
Note: Your registration is not yet activated, though. For security reasons, we need confirmation that you really did submit the registration yourself.
If you use filtering measures, or your ISP does, you may need to "whitelist" our verification mail server address to insure that you receive your verification message. The address to whitelist is registration@pcwmail.com.
The confirmation page includes a newsletters subscription form. No subscription is required; we simply offer that to you as an opportunity to select some of PC World's fine newsletters. We hope you'll choose to do so. Very soon after you click the Submit button we'll send a verification message to your e-mail address. When you receive it, just click the link in that message to activate your registration. Clicking the link will take you directly to the PCWorld.com sign-in page.
Note: The verification link can be used only once. To sign in on later visits to PCWorld.com, click the Sign In link at the top of PCWorld.com pages.
What if I have a problem submitting the form?
Why did I get an "E-mail already in use" message?
If you already have a PC World newsletters subscription under the same address you are using to register, after you complete and submit the registration form, you will be returned to the form with a message in red letters: "E-mail already in use." To continue, just click the "Click to update your account" link to tell our system you do want to register also under that address.
If you have already registered on PCWorld.com using the same e-mail address, you will be returned to the form with only the "E-mail already in use" message and no update link. In that case, since you already are registered, just return to the home page and click the Sign In link. If you are trying to change something on your registration, please see How do I change my registration?
Why did I get a "User name already in use" message?
Each User Name is unique in the PC World community, so if you choose a User Name that another PC World member already has, when you click Submit you'll be returned to the form with a message in red letters that says "User name already in use." Try entering a different User Name for yourself in that field and click Submit again.
Why was I returned to the form after clicking Submit?
If you clicked the Submit button and were returned to the form but no error message was displayed, that probably means one of the required fields was left blank. The field you need to complete will be marked with a red asterisk (*). Complete that field and click Submit again.
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What about signing in?
The first time you sign in will be when you click the link in your e-mail verification message. Clicking that link takes you directly to the sign-in form. Remember, that link can be used only that one time. After that, sign in by clicking the "Sign In" link at the top of PCWorld.com pages. When you click that link, the sign-in form will be displayed to you. Enter your e-mail address in the E-mail address field. This must be the exact e-mail address you used when you registered. Enter your password in the Password field. You must enter it exactly as you did when you registered, including capitalizing any letters. Click the Sign In button. When you sign in successfully you will be returned to the PCWorld.com page you were visiting. Your e-mail address will be displayed to you to show you are signed in, and the Sign In link will be changed to My Account.
What if I get an "Invalid E-mail Address or Password" message?
The most likely reason is that either your e-mail address or password was entered incorrectly. Enter them again exactly as they were on your registration form and then click the Sign In button.
If the error message is displayed again, check to be sure you are using exactly the same e-mail address you used when registering. If you are, then it is possible you have forgotten your password. See "What if I forget my password?" below.
If you are signing in for the first time, you may wish to check a couple of other possibilities: JavaScript is used extensively on PCWorld.com, including for the sign-in process. If you have JavaScript disabled in your browser settings, it is necessary to change the setting to enable JavaScript. Also, cookies are essential to the sign-in process. If you have cookies blocked, it is necessary to allow the placement of cookies in order to sign in.
Just click the Sign In link. Then on the sign-in form click the "Forgot your password? link. On the form which is displayed, enter the exact e-mail address you used to register. Then enter a new password, and the same new password in the Confirm field. A verification message will be sent to your e-mail address. When you receive that message, click the link in it to verify your new password.
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How do I change my registration information?
Click the Sign In link. Then on the sign-in form click the "Forgot your password? link. On the form which is displayed, enter the exact e-mail address you used to register. Then enter a new password, and enter the same new password in the Confirm field. A verification message will be sent to your e-mail address. When you receive that message, click the link in it to verify your new password.
How do I change my e-mail address?
Sign in by clicking the Sign In link at the top of PCWorld.com pages. Then click the My Account link at the top of the page. The My Profile page will be displayed to you. Change your e-mail address by clearing the E-mail address field and entering your new one. Then click the Submit button. After you change your e-mail address, that change must be verified. We will send a message to your new e-mail address. When you receive it, click the link in the message to verify your address change. (Other changes on that page need no verification.)
If you use filtering measures, or your ISP does, you may need to "whitelist" our verification mail server address to insure that you receive your verification message at your new address. The address to whitelist is registration@pcwmail.com.
Newsletters subscriptions: If you have a PC World newsletters subscription under the same address, changing the e-mail address on your registration will automatically change the e-mail address on the newsletters subscription when you verify the change.
How do I make other changes to My Profile?
You can change the other items on your profile simply by making the changes and clicking the Submit button. No verification of those other changes is required.
Remember: Your User Name cannot be changed. Your User Name is the name you chose to have displayed on any forum entries, users reviews or other posts you make in the PC World community.
Why did I receive an "E-mail already in use" error?
If, when you clicked the Submit button, you were returned to the My Profile page with an "E-mail already in use" error, that can mean:
- You already have another registration under that e-mail address, or
- You have a PC World newsletters subscription under that e-mail address. If you have another PC World site registration under the other e-mail address, the change cannot be made.
If you want to use the other e-mail address instead, simply sign in under that registration.
If you already have a PC World newsletters subscription under the new e-mail address (whether you have activated that newsletters subscription or not), our system cannot make this address change for you. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we expect to correct that in the near future. For now, though, please write to PCWorld.com Customer Service, webmaster@pcworld.com, and explain the problem. Customer Service will see that the address on your registration is changed for you.
How do I use the My Newsletters tab?
If you have a PC World newsletters subscription under the same e-mail address you used for registration, you can make changes to that subscription by clicking the My Newsletters tab. On that page you can add or remove newsletters from your subscription, and change your subscription format from HTML to text or vice versa. (Again, if you change the address on your registration, the address on this newsletters subscription will also be changed when you verify.)
You can also use the usual means of changing a newsletter subscription. That link, which we include at the bottom of every PC World newsletter, is http://www.pcworld.com/newsletters/services
The center tab on the My Accounts page will take you to your Member Benefits. Check this page from time to time to review special offers and other benefits available to you as a PC World Registered Member.
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