Sorry, this was too long for a message, so in the forums it must go...
Problems regarding profile and forum images seem to arise with some regularity. I suspect due to two things:
1) The Profile image and the Forum image are not the same and need to be seperately defined
2) It needs to be very obvious that the image(s) must be on an accessible web server (i.e. without password access)
Having a look at the settings pages, a change tothe instrunctions text allong the lines of the following might do:
On My Profile settings
Profile Photo
Choose a picture to represent you on your profile. This picture should be no bigger than 100 pixels wide and 150 pixels high. If smaller than this, it will be stretched to fit. The picture you want must be present on a web site that requires no password to access. Once you have found or uploaded such a picture on the web, enter its' URL here.
The use of inappropriate pictures could result in your account being removed from this site permanently.
NOTE: Your profile picture and forum avatar are NOT the same and must be seperately defined.
On My Forum settings
Forum avatar
Choose a picture to represent you in the forums. This picture should be EXACTLY 50 pixels wide and 50 pixels high. The picture you want must be present on a web site that requires no password to access. Once you have found or uploaded such a picture on the web, enter its' URL here.
The use of inappropriate pictures could result in your account being removed from this site permanently.
NOTE: Your forum avatar and your profile picture are NOT the same and must be seperately defined.
Or something like that. And perhaps a note in the FAQs too.