Usenet Guide:

Note:
  1. This FAQ starts with section 2.0 because I felt section 1.0 was a bunch of useless version information that no one would read anyway so I deleted it.
  2. Editing this FAQ took a very long time. There were a lot of grammar mistakes that I felt needed to be corrected. Considering this, I am taking ownership of this FAQ, making it MINE. Using a spell checker and proof-reading should be a standard when creating such documents.
  3. Not only did this take a long time to edit but it also took a long time to convert it to HTML so it "looked good" and read easily. This is another reason why I am taking ownership of this document. I feel that this document is now different enough from the original that I can do so without repercussions.
  4. Section "[4.2.1] Posting A Game" is missing. I know. It is not in the original document I downloaded so it will remain missing. Also be aware that there are sections in this FAQ that reference this particular section but I think if you got that far you should be able to figure most of it out. If not, then oh well. At some point I will correct this but not now.
 DON'T TYPE IN CAPS - typing in caps is perceived as yelling on Usenet. That and reading it is irritating and makes your eyes hurt after a while.

Please don't verticle spam our group with 10 requests for the same game or repost at once. Best case scenario is everyone PLONKs you (Most programs have a killfilter that will block messages from anyone on it's list) and worse case scenario is you are reported to your ISP for spamming and your account is terminated.

[2.0.0] The Basics
So here you are online, exploring the Internet and you find out about Usenet, so you wonder, "What the heck is this thing?". Well, hopefully you have yourself a decent Internet service provider (ISP). If not, you are starting at a disadvantage. But fear not, this is just the beginning and hopefully it will be a learning experience for you.

AN APPROXIMATE DESCRIPTION
Usenet is a world-wide distributed discussion system. It consists of a set of "newsgroups" with names that are classified hierarchically by subject. "Articles" or "messages" are "posted" to these newsgroups by people on computers with the appropriate software -- these articles are then broadcast to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks. Some newsgroups are "moderated"; in these newsgroups, the articles are first sent to a moderator for approval before appearing in the newsgroup. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks, but the bulk of modern Usenet traffic is transported over either the Internet or UUCP.
---- Taken from http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/what-is/part1/ ----

You might be confused at first if you get your Newsreader all setup and start hitting the groups only to find that you have no clue what's going on. Well, each group is named as closely as possible to the subject which it focuses on. Start out by reading some posts and seeing what several groups' current topics of discussion are. Usually, each group will also have an FAQ (frequently asked questions) document that can help you out in this regard. It is always a good idea to ask for a copy if you don't see one posted.

Finally, let me say that when you join the Usenet community, try to get a feel for the groups you visit and the spirit which they embrace. Learn what's expected and accepted in the group and live by those rules. If you do this, the regulars will come to respect you and you will find some new friends and have an enjoyable experience. If you don't like a particular group or its regular inhabitants, find another group!

[2.1.1] News Servers

There are literally thousands of different USENET servers, and selecting the correct one can be difficult. Usually you will get one from your ISP. ISP's news servers aren't very good. They tend to have a low retention, along with many incomplete and files with bad CRCs. The only way to get around this is to get a premium news server. Since you are paying for it most these servers have great retention and completeness. Some are better than others but that mainly depends on how much you want to pay, how much you plan on downloading (most charge by the Gigabyte), and how long you need your retention to be. Most use the servers from their ISP to get whatever they can (since it is free) and will use a premium server only to get incomplete, bad, or missed files. Premium servers also give you most the groups on Usenet whereas some ISPs will not carry groups with the words warez, highspeed, and CD.

There are many more servers to choose from, but these are some of the more popular NSPs.

[2.1.2] News Readers

First of all, if you are going to plod your way through Usenet, there are some things you should know in order to browse the Usenet groups with some degree of success and ease. What you need here is a decent newsreader program (called a client). This client software will allow you to browse Usenet groups (sort of like using a web browser to visit websites). Now many people will stumble into the Usenet world with Microsoft Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger. While they may be suitable for *other* purposes, if you are on Usenet for games & applications then you really need to use something which will do the job much better.

Some recommended newsgroup clients are:
**Note: Most of the FAQ will give instructions using Agent **Note: NewsBin is a robot and as such is against the TOS (Terms of Service) for some ISPs and you can get in trouble for using them.

A good resource for finding other newsreaders and how to use them is here:

**Note: A new encoding method called yEnc has been taking Usenet by storm recently and looks to quickly become a standard. Most current news clients have already upgraded to support this, but some have not. Read the developer's site to be sure.

[2.2.1] File Compression

Most of the games/apps you will find on Usenet are not just encoded, they are also compressed and split into multipart archives. This is done for several reasons:
[2.2.2] Compression Utilities

In order to use these files in the original manner they were intended, it is necessary to "decompress" them with their respective programs.
The standard compression utilities that most posters use are: Winzip will not decompress Rar and Ace files.
WinRar will decompress Zip files but not Ace files.
WinAce will decompress Zip and Rar files.
**Notice**
Rarsoft has released new beta versions of winrar. These betas are unstable and are not recommended. If you happen to download an archive created with a beta winrar you can use winace with an unrar.dll from their site --
http://www.winace.com/ftp/unrar.dll


[2.2.3] SFV Utilities

Since files are made up of millions of bits information it's not all uncommon for some of it to get checking which allows lost or modified. When that happens, you get a CRC error. SFV is a type of CRC you to pinpoint which RAR file went bad if WinRAR reports a "CRC Error". Newer versions of WinRAR automatically use this file (if present) to tell you which file is bad if you try to decompress it without having to manually check all the files to verify their integrity with WinSFV or QuickSFV:
(This doesn't read well for me. It seems to me that the original author didn't proof read this section. So, me not knowing who he is or what he meant I won't edit this section. Peterbilt:) [2.2.4] Par Files

Most posters will automatically include a set of Parity files with their posts. These .PAR .P01 files can recover missing rar's and repair the bad ones. The number of missing and bad files must equal the number of Par files you have. You will need to get a Par program such as FSraid or SmartPAR. Smartpar is a basic checking/recovery program, while FSraid has the ability to repair mis-named files (some versions of power post have a bug that mis-names the files as they are posted). Check these sites for the programs and info.

[2.2.5] Winrar Recovery

If you get a bad CRC and you don't have enough PAR files to repair it, try this before asking for a repost (it'll save you time and everyone else server space):

  1. Start WinRAR
  2. Find the file that has the bad CRC and highlight it.
  3. Goto "Commands" --> "Repair Selected Archive" in the menu.
  4. Rename the new file (recover.rar) to whichever file it was supposed to replace.
This will only work if the creator of the RARs made a recovery record (which MOST do) but will not work EVERY time (about 75% of it... some just can't be brought back).

[2.3.1] Using Downloaded Files

After decompression, there are generally 4 types of files posted to the group (listed in most common order):

[2.4.1] CD Images

In general, there are 3 standard CD Image types:
[2.4.2] CD Burning Utilities

Depending on the type of CD Image file you are using, the following programs work for most people: (Listed in order of preference)

To Burn BIN/CUE: To Burn ISO: To Burn CCD: To Burn .bwt (rare) Alcohol 120% can do basically all of the above images though but I am not sure if it can burn BlindWrite images (I haven't seen any though).

[2.4.3] Virtual CD Emulation

In general, the best way to accomplish this is to use Daemon Tools' utility "DaeMount". This program allows you to "mount" (load) a BIN/ISO/CCD image onto your hard drive, and have it pretend its a "virtual CD-ROM". Refer to Daemon Tools' web site for instructions on using this utility.

[2.4.4] CD Image Integrity

The best way to ensure that the cd image you're about to burn will not have errors is to check it with CD Mage. The program analyzes the sectors on the disc image and determines where you might run into errors. Medium sector errors aren't a big issue, but start worrying when you see Severe errors, that might mean that users will be unable to properly load/install the game. Its hard to say exactly if this is true or not, but it increases the chance of it. Also, many games purposely put bad sector(s) on a disc as a form of copy-protection (it'll check for the bad sectors when you start it up and if they're not present it won't work) so keep a back-up if you change the original image.

If this happens please do not post a message saying "DON'T DOWNLOAD GAME XXX - MADD JUAREZMASTER MADE A BAD IMAGE " unless you checked with CD Mage to see if there are any severe problems. And if turns out it is the image then notify the poster. Most will test burn their original image and if you're right will probably repost a descent one.

**NOTE** If you are using CDR-WIN to burn a bin/cue file and all you get is one 44kB audio track then set the burn speed to 2x. I know your writer can go faster than that but if you set it higher then the chances for a coaster multiply. Also be warned that Firebuner and Nero have some issues with multi session bin/cue images.

[2.5.1] Troubleshooting

There are three problems that tend to pop up more than the others.

  1. You may get an error message "Error: Unable to Open File C:\Madd_Juarez\GameXXX.bin" when trying to load a cuesheet. If you do, open the .CUE file with notepad. You will see the same path in quotes. Just delete everything before the GameXXX.bin (So the the first line would read File "GameXXX.bin" Binary). Just make sure the .BIN and the .CUE are in the same directory.
  2. When you try to install a game and it says it can't find a certain file of it and can't edit the registry, this is NOT an image problem. A certain file missing means you may have a corrupted Windows install, and may need to replace the missing file. It could also mean that your OS didn't install the needed file automatically and you may need to do it manually. Registry problems could indicate a damaged registry, or if you are running Windows 2000 or XP you might not have administrative authority. You may need to de-fragment your hard drive as well. If you have a BIG hard drive (10 gig+) you should re-partition your hard drive so you have a drive for games and a separate drive for Windows. This will also be a big help in the never ending battle with the dreaded blue screen of death too.
  3. A DOS-based game won't play on your computer running Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. This is due to the fact that when a new operating system comes out, not everything from previous version will be compatible. Microsoft stripped down DOS when they released Win98 as they felt no one used it and if they did an older computer could be used instead and it would run just as good. Why not only make products that take full advantage of your systems abilities? There is no real way around this. You can create a few extra partitions and do a multi-boot but older games also rely on older hardware. If you have an old 486 or Pentium box lying around somewhere use that for old dos games. If you have an extra Pentium II throw on Win98SE and play games from older versions of Windows (pre-XP). Old boxes can be bought dirt cheap off eBay right now. Yes, it is unfortunate that a separate system is needed but this is the price we pay for so many advancements in technology in such a short time.
[3.0.0] Downloading Binary Files

So now that you've got yourself a newsreader, you're set to start down loading. The following will be using Agent, there are other programs out there but this is the one the author is most familiar with. If you need more help getting Agent set up, the alt.binaries.vcd faq has some great tutorials at: http://abvcd.how.to/ under the Tutorials section.

If you're needing help to setup a different newsreader, ask in the group. Our "staff" will be more than willing to help you out.

[3.1.1] Agent Settings

First you need to make sure a few settings are correct before you do anything. First go under "Options" -> "User and System Profile". Under the user tab the only things that are needed (unless you need to login to your newsserver) are the "Full Name" and "e-Mail Address" fields. They are what people see when you write a message so your nym should be your full name or an alias and you can just make up an eMail address to avoid spammers. Then go to the "System" Tab and make sure that your news server name is in the appropriate field. After that go under "Group" -> "Default Properties". Go under the "Recieve files" tab. Check the boxes next to "Save attachments automatically" and "After saving an attachment, remove it from message". Then go to the "Directory" tab. Put a path in the first field box "directory for saving attached files" that you want your saved files to go to. There are plenty of other options with Agent but the rest are strictly personal preferences (or things for uploading but we'll go into that later).

[3.2.1] Downloading Files (using Agent)

Agent basically has 3 windows to give you information. One is to view headers in a group. Another is to see a message you retrieved. The third has 4 functions. It serves as a list of all the groups on your server, a list of all the new groups on your server, a list of the groups you are subscribed to, and a folder. To scroll through these just click on the grey title bar on top of your window. It should tell you in bold letters which one you are viewing in the grey title bar. The first thing you'll need to do is get a list of groups your newsserver allows you. To do this click on the 2nd button from the right (should look like an antennae tower with yellow waves coming off it) to go online. Then go under "Online" -> "Get New Groups".

After you have a list of all the groups you need to subscribe to the ones you will follow on a regular basis. To do that go to the "All Groups" title of the multi-use window. All groups that deal with files going through them are in the alt.binaries.* hierarchy. The rest are for discussion. When you find one you think looks interesting, right click on it and select the "subscribe" option.

Once you have perused and picked out your favorites go to the "Subscribed Groups" title on the multi-use window. To get the headers from a group just highlight it (click on it, or click and drag to highlight more than one) and right click on it. Then go under "Online" -> "Get All Headers in Selected Groups".

So now that you have a list of the headers in a group you can download just about anything you want. To download a game or a message just double click on the header. The message will appear in the message window. If a file has been downloaded with it the message window will tell you where.

If the file you want has an icon of a piece of paper with a chunk missing out of it then it is incomplete and you will not be able to download it. To find out what to do next see section [4.1.2]. If you are missing many files from most posts then it is time for a premium newsserver. See section [2.1.1].

[3.2.2] Nfo's and support zips

For each binary post, there will almost always be an .nfo file that needs to be downloaded. Often times this will be placed in a "support" zip file along with the .sfv and .par files. It is important to remember that every poster has his or her own fills policy (how they plan on posting missing files) and this info is usually to be found in the nfo. These files can be opened with notepad or any other text reader. Also any special settings that are needed to burn an image will be placed in these nfo's.

[3.2.3] File Verification

Now that you have all your parts, you need to make sure that they have all been received in the same state that they were transmitted in. To do so, using QuickSFV, just double click on the .sfv file and the window that pops up will let you know everything you need to. If you are missing a file or get a bad CRC then (if you haven't already) you will need to go download the amount of par files you need to repair the bad/missing parts. Then just double click on one of the .pxx files and choose to open it with your par program of choice. If there were not enough par's posted to fix the parts, look under the section on requesting a fill ([4.1.2]).

[3.3.1] Decompression

Once you've verified that your rar set is intact you need to decompress the files that are inside. To do this simply double click on the .rar, .001, or .part01.rar file to start WinRAR. If it is an .ace file then you should use WinACE. The layout is very similar so if you know how to use one you should understand how to use the other. With WinRAR started click on the "Extract to" icon under the menu. Then type in the path of where you want it to go in the "destination path" field. After that click on "Okay" and the files should come out in the path you provided. If the extraction fails and the error "File.xxx is corrupt" in winrar3.0 then you will need to download the unrar.dll from http://www.winace.com/ftp/unrar.dll and use winace to extract. This is due to a problem with the new beta versions of winrar.

[3.4.1] Using Images

If you have an image, then check to see which program will open it (section [2.4.1] & [2.4.2]). The following section will go through how to burn a CD with the 3 of the most commonly used programs: CloneCD, CDRWin, & Easy CD Creator. If you have a rip after de-compressing instead of an image refer to section [2.3.1] to find out what to do next. If your burning software is not listed below, ask someone in the group for help, we'll do our best to get things working for you.

[3.4.2] Clone CD

To burn a CCD file using CloneCD first start the program. Then click on the second button to the left (Write from ImageFile). Then click on the browse button and point it to where your CCD file is at. After that click on "Next". After that you will have some options. Just click on the ones your burner can support (please note that if your burner doesn't fully support clonecd (especially the subchannel burning) then you will NOT get a true CloneCD image. It will be the same as a BIN and would still require a crack to play. After you're done click on the "Next" button and you should start burning.

[3.4.3] Cdrwin/Fireburner

To burn a BIN file using CDRWIN first start the program. Next, click on the upper left-hand icon (Record Disc). Then click on "Load Cuesheet" and point the program to your .cue file. After that make sure the "Test Mode" box is un-checked, set the burning speed, then just click on the "Start Recording" button and you should be burning. If you're using Fireburner for bin/cue's, it will add itself to windows's shell, just double click the .cue, right click the window and choose "burn". Select the speed and misc options then burn.

[3.4.4] Ez Cd creator

To burn an ISO using Easy CD Creator first start the program. Then go under "File" -> "Record CD From CD Image..." in the menu. Make you sure have it display *.iso instead of *.cif in the "Files of type:" field. Then point it to where your ISO is. AFter that click on "Open". Then choose Finalize CD if you don't want to write to it again and click on "Start Recording!".

*Note: .ISO's are rare and don't always produce a 'working' image.

After you burn a successful image you will have usable files on a CD. Most can be installed by clicking on the Install.exe or Setup.exe.

[4.0.0] Posting

So after building a nice personal collection of games you decide you want to give something back and share some of them with us. Or you see all these great games up but not the one you want. Or you're missing one file and someone wants to trade with you. Either way, you need to know how to post. The following four sections will help guide you so you don't inadvertently piss off the people that can help you.

[4.1.1] Requesting a Game

So after seeing all these games being posted it's hard not to want a piece of the action. Well, first make sure that you read our general rules (see section [1.1.1]). Now with that in mind we'll talk about a subject header. That is the part of your message that everyone sees to let them know what the message is about. The general format is "Req: Game XXX". Pretty simple, eh? Please don't post your request in caps or request over and over again.

[4.1.2] Requesting a Repost/Fill

So you've managed to get all of the parts of a file except one (or 20), or you have an un-recoverable bad CRC. It looks like you might need a repost. Here's some things to consider before asking for a repost:

  1. Start WinRAR
  2. Find the file that has the bad CRC and highlight it.
  3. Goto "Commands" --> "Repair Selected Archive" in the menu.
  4. Rename the new file (recover.rar) to whichever file it was supposed to replace.

This will only work if the creator of the RARs made a recovery record (which MOST do)but will NOT work if you have an incorrect byte count (example - all the rest of the files (except for the last one) are 5,000,000 bytes while yours is 4,999,860 bytes).

If you've done all that and you still haven't gotten that file then it's time to ask for a repost. As always, remember the rules and these guidelines:

[4.2.2] ISO's

ISOs are generally for really old games and they are made through Easy CD Creator. ISOs do not copy any audio files on a CD so if you have a CD with an audio track on it use BIN or CCD so everyone downloading your game can hear the music. They also don't do anything for copy protection so if you make an ISO of a game you bought (with copy protection) you'll need to find a 'crack' for it. To create an ISO simply start Easy CD Creator 5 (earlier versions will do the same thing but I don't know if any commands will be different). First put the CD into your CD drive or burner. Then click the menu item CD, then CD information. This brings up the track listing. There should only be 1 track for a Mode 1 iso. If there are more tracks, or audio tracks, then a bin/cue is more appropriate. Double click on this track. You will be presented with a save-dialog box that prompts you for a file name to store the iso. That's all there is. The volume label will be picked up automatically. Any other way with EZ Creator 4 will not create a "TRUE" iso (although you have proven that you can create an iso that works in some cases).

*Note: The preferred image methods are bin/cue and CCD. Try to avoid posting ISO's.

[4.2.3] Bin/Cue

BIN/CUEs are the most common image found on Usenet. They copy audio files as well as the data from the CD. However, if it is your own store bought game you may need a crack to play it. To make a BIN/CUE you will need to use CDRWIN. After launching CDRWIN click on the 3rd to left button on the top row (the Extract Disc/Tracks/Sectors button). Next to "Extract mode" make sure "Disc Image/Cuesheet" has a bubble next to it. Choose the CD-ROM the CD is in under "CD Reader". Under "Track Selection" make sure you have a green, yellow, blue, or red dot over each number. If there isn't one then something is wrong with your CD and it won't make an image for you. On the left hand side make sure "Ignore" and "RAW" is checked. Under "Error Recovery" choose under "Jitter Correction" choose "Auto". "Subcode Analysis" depends on your burner and its ability to read/write it. If your burner can handle subcode data then use it and if it doesn't then don't use it. Your DATA and AUDIO speeds should be set to max. The Read Retry Count should be set to 10 and the Subcode Threshold should be at 300. Finally, name your file under Image Filename. Most people will name the game they are copying (and make a difference between discs in a multi-disc game; ie. Warez Disc 01.BIN and Warez Disc 02.BIN rather than naming both Warez Disc). If you do not include a directory path the image will be made in "My Documents". If you want to put it somewhere else simply change the path (make sure the directory exist before you try to make an image there). Just remember to go back and edit your cuesheet after you made the image (it's a text file) and delete the path from the first line leaving just get the image filename. If you don't do that then you go to Troubleshooting Situation #1 (see section 2.5.1).

[4.2.4] CCD

CCD stands for CloneCD. CCD lets you make an EXACT bit-by-bit image of the CD. It is the only imaging program out there that you will not need a crack to play the game. The only problem is that some burners are physically incapable of reading/writing the CD that way. Therefore, even though you may be burning/making a CloneCD image it may not burn everything that needs to be burnt. If your burner doesn't fully support CloneCD then you will basically be making a BIN file, only larger, much larger. To make an image with CLonCD first start the program. Click on the leftmost button (Read to Image File). The only things that should be checked are "Read Subchannel Data on Data Tracks", "Read Subchannel Data on Audio Tracks", and "Fast Error Skip". Then hit "Next". If you get an error message saying Your CD Cannot Read Subchannel Data then you will only be making a BIN and not a true CCD. Then just put it where you want it, make a cuesheet if you want (so the image can be burned by Nero/CDRWIN too). Click "Okay". Again, if you make a cuesheet remember to take the path out of the first line of it.

[4.2.5] Archiving

Once you have an image you need to split it up into parts. The best way is using RAR. RAR comes with WinRAR or you can download it seperately. WinRAR will do the same thing as RAR except it has a GUI and it's run under windows, making it a lot slower. The first thing you want to do is to put your image files in a separate folder. Next, start the MS-DOS prompt, make sure you can run RAR from any directory by typing "PATH=%PATH%;C:\WINRAR" where C:\WINRAR is the directory RAR is in. Then go to the directory with your image in it. Basically the command line is as follows "RAR a -m5 -md1024 -v15000 GameName". This will make a set of RAR files using best compression with a dictionary size of 1024kb in 15MB chunks named GameName.rar. There are many other options and ways of doing this. Read the RAR.txt file included with RAR and it'll explain what the various switches and commands do. If you do not know what any of it means then start WinRAR, click on "Add" and then click on the "Help" button on the bottom of the screen. Do this for all 5 tabs and you should have an idea of what you should and should not set.

[4.2.6] Floppy Disks

If you have a game on floppy disk or your CD is only 15MB big then you should just ZIP the install directory and post that. To do so start WinRAR. Go to the directory that the install files are in. Then click on the first file in the directory. After that hold "Shift" and the "Down Arrow" until everything in the directory is highlighted. Then click on the "Add" button. Under "Archive Format" choose ZIP and name it accordingly under "Archive". After that click on "Okay" and it should create a ZIP file for you.

[4.3.1] Image Testing

Before you delete your image files. You will need to test them to make sure you have made a working image. There are several ways of doing this without burning an unneeded copy. If you think the game might have copy protection or a Cd Check, you can go to http://www.gamecopyworld.com to find out. The best way to check your image is with cdmage. See section [2.4.4] You can also "burn test" the image. With Cdrwin and Firebuner, open the image to burn and check the 'Test' box to perform a burn test. If you are still unsure about the image you have created, or if there might be copy protection on the original cd, it would be best to burn it or use daemon tools to mount the image, then install and play the game to make sure it works.

[4.3.2] Support & Recovery files

You can now delete your original image files. So now you just need to create some support files. The first step,is create a set of PARs to limit your repost requests (see section 2.2.4). Start SmartPAR and click on "File" --> "New Parity Set...". Then go to your games RAR directory and highlight all the RARs. Click on "Open". Next choose how many PAR files you will need. A default amount is given but an extra 1 or 2 might be a good idea. After that click on the "Okay" button and your done. Next, create an SFV file so people can see if there are any CRC errors or missing files (yes, SmartPAR will do this too and so will WinRAR but a SFV is faster). QuickSFV just go to Windows Explorer, find your directory, Press "Control" + "A" so it will select all of it. Then right-click on a highlighted file and click on "Create .SFV File". Make sure there's a check in the box (so people using WIN-SFV can read it) and click on "Okay". Finally there's an NFO file. This is a text file that lets people know information about the game. Start NFOGen and fill out the appropriate spaces under each tab that applies. When finished click on the "Preview/Generate .nfo" tab. Then click on the "Preview" button followed by the "Generate .nfo" button. If you need to change something open your .nfo through notepad and do so.

You can find an NFOgen here:

Before you post there is one thing that you must be warned about. Software companies don't like you sharing their games on the Internet. Some use BOTs to sift through newsgroups, checking the headers of all the messages to see if it has a the name of one of their games contained therein. They will also download the .nfo, .sfv, and .par files. To get around that some people have been using extended characters (found in Window's Character map) in the place of regular ones. Another thing is that par files are not being posted (the .pxx files are okay and don't need the actual .par file to work) and the sfv & nfo are being put into a zip file that isn't named after the game (usually support.zip). If you are caught then you are turned in to wherever you posted from. Since posting warez is in violation of everyone's TOS (terms of service) your account can be terminated. That is why it is a good idea to not post from your ISP's account but use a premium server. If you lose your premium server account then you can just go and get another but if you are on limited, cable/DSL your choices are VERY limited so it's something to think about.

So now that you've got everything you need it's time to post. Start up PowerPost 2000. Make sure your options are correct. Type in your newsserver and your account info (if needed), then type in your name and email under the "Headers" tab, check the two 'Add "X-blah blah blah" header' boxes at bottom. Click on the "newsgroups" tab and add the 3 groups, under the "Program" header make the default max lines per post 7500, the rest of the options are personal preferences. To post files just click on the second icon to the left on the tool bar under the menu (it's the add files button). Select the files you want to post and click on the "Okay" button. Now it's time to write the header. You should put the name of the game in it (preferably in the front), the number of days your post is going to take (and which day your on), which disc (if applicable), how many parts you're posting that day (and number the files), and the filename. It should generally look like this: "Name of Game Disc 2 - Day 2/3 - [$1/$2] - $F" (The $F tag should always bbe last). Next go under "newsgroups" and click on the box next to one you want to post to. The "Prefix (0/N) Tab" is if you want to have a 0 file accompany your post (if you want to say something but don't want people to have to download a file to read it or if it's too long to fit in the header). The "File Order" tab is pretty self-explanatory. When you want to start posting click on the play symbol and you're done.

You can get a copy of PowerPost 2000 here:

If you have never posted before, you should do a few small test posts to alt.binaries.test to make sure all of your settings are correct.

[4.4.1] yEnc

When files are posted to Usenet, they must be encoded into text (Usenet is a text only media). The first encoding scheme was MIME which is outdated and rarely, if ever, used anymore. Then UUE came along and became the norm. Now there is yEnc which looks to take over before too long. While most binaries you find will still be in UUE, you will come across yEnc posts. You will need to get the latest newsreader in order to download these posts If you choose to post yEnc, you will need to reduce your line count to around 2000 to 3000. For more information go here:

[4.5.1] Posting a Repost/Fill

Before you go and repost an entire file try to see if you can fill a segment. To fill a segment just start PowerPost 2000. Then click on the 2nd button to the left (Add Files). Add the file for which you need a segment for. Keep the header the same so your newsserver can piece it together by itself. Then right click on it in the main window followed by "Task Properties". You will see a list of the segments that are scheduled to be posted "Parts to Post" window. Uncheck all of them except for the ones you want to in the post. Click on the play button on the tool bar under the main menu and it should post them.

If your original file has been bumped off the system then a full repost will be needed. For most, Agent is good enough to post a fill or two for someone so first off we need to making sure your settings are correct:

  1. Goto "Group" --> "Default Properties" --> "Send Files" TAB
  2. Under Usenet Messages make sure they're UUEncoded and they are being sent as attachments.
  3. Of the 4 boxes, the top and bottom should be checked. The "Include Attachment Filename in Subject" and "Send Large Messages as multiple messages" with your "Maximum Bytes per Section" around 472500 (or about 7500 lines).
  4. Next click on the "Post" TAB and check the 2 boxes that have to do with X-No-Archive so everything you post isn't recorded on DejaNews.

Once thats done you're ready to repost. With Agent, make sure the group you want to post to is highlighted. Then go under "Post"--> "New usenet message". If you are posting fills for someone you should put the persons name in the header and which file(s) you are posting. When done click on the leftmost button under the menu. If you want to see what you have posted go to "Window"--> "Open Outbox".

END OF FAQ

=Shoutouts= Great Big Thank You's go out to the following for all their help and contributions -

Thank's to all named for these faqs and hope you are better prepared to venture in the groups to let the posters do there postings with less stress and unnecessary requests !!!
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