Noob taking first steps

[JadeFox]

Lo all

Im only just starting to use usenet, ive found lots of stuff out and still really confused by lots of things but ill sort them out in due time with any luck

Anyway there are some things i would like to know now:

1) im a customer of virgin media in the UK and when i put news.viringmedia.com into the address bar, i get lots of groups. i am not currently subscribbed to any usenet news server but i still have access to some groups, how do i have access to these groups if im not paying for them?

2) some of the groups i have access to do not update... EVER! why?

3) i have managed to get a few files from the current groups i have, but when trying to use them the .rar's are either passworded or the .rar's werent all there (even after .par). So i have lots of useless files, if i get an account say with giganews how likley is it that the files i get are the real thing?

4) i currently have newsbins pro and newsleecher, although i like the newsleecher GUI its damn hard to make things work i find, opening files, getting rid of groups, all i get is constant error messages. Newsbins pro has a worse GUI but actually does what i tell it to do, what newsreaders would you recommend and why? Any other tips you can give a noob?

Thanks!

[Skiz]

#1 and 2 - I don't live in the UK and thus don't have any first hand knowledge about the workings of Virgin media. I'll let someone else tackle that issue.

#3 - It sounds like you're using your ISP's free news server. That's why you're ending up with an abundance of incomplete or partial downloads. ISP's are renowned for having very low retention rates and users end up with incomplete batches. If you get an account with Giganews, you'll see that percentage drop to zero. I use them and don't recall if I've ever had an issue with incompletes that was their fault. It just doesn't happen.

#4 - I agree with your assessment of Newsleecher, though some will swear by it. My preference is Alt.Binz (http://www.altbinz.net/). The program and UI is completely editable any setting you can imagine is listed within the preferences.

ps - Welcome to FST! :01:

[JadeFox]

#1 and 2 - I don't live in the UK and thus don't have any first hand knowledge about the workings of Virgin media. I'll let someone else tackle that issue.

#3 - It sounds like you're using your ISP's free news server. That's why you're ending up with an abundance of incomplete or partial downloads. ISP's are renowned for having very low retention rates and users end up with incomplete batches. If you get an account with Giganews, you'll see that percentage drop to zero. I use them and don't recall if I've ever had an issue with incompletes that was their fault. It just doesn't happen.

#4 - I agree with your assessment of Newsleecher, though some will swear by it. My preference is Alt.Binz (http://www.altbinz.net/). The program and UI is completely editable any setting you can imagine is listed within the preferences.

ps - Welcome to FST! :01:

Thanks for the reply and welcome!

Alt.binz looks really good, lite like utorrent compared with others

I thought i might be on my ISP's usenet servers but the only reason i ask is because i have found some very... dark named groups, kiddy stuff... and i thought why would an isp be hosting these types of files, still make me wonder why they have these groups here.


Some thing else i forgot to ask is,

1) i am a member of many torrent sites, i go on sites like demonoid and stuff mainly becuase they have a great selection and also becuase of greatly detailed explantion. Are there sites out there that show you what the latest releases are and where to find releases?

2)Currently all i am seeing is jibberish in every title, if i go to say giganews will they be more clearly labelled?

3) im now using Alt.binz, its nice and easy to use, setup was kinda akward, but i just cant figure out how to get the text stuff off group, i think they are called headers?

Thanks for the help and i apologise for asking!

[munkyboy04]

Im on VM and the reason you can get some things working on virgin media news is because you get 7 days retention an Binaries (soon to be 14). So most of the new files you find will work. However anything older than a week you'll need a premium server.

[Skiz]

7 days? That explain it all. :lol:

JadeFox - You should just signup for a Giganews trial account (http://www.giganews.com/?a=fst). I think they're something like 10GB.

As to your question about headers, I wouldn't even bother, what with a thorough selection via NZB sites. Plus, there are also great search engines like Newzleech (http://www.newzleech.com/) and even Binsearch (http://www.binsearch.info/).

As for the explanations which are written at Bittorrent trackers (presumably by the uploader) you can find those on some NZB sites as well. Just as an example (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-movie-nzbs-80/t-jumper-dvdr-mptdvd-297648), here at FST we put an image, and links to relative content, as well as the NFO. We keep NZBs for 70 days and other sites like Merlinsportal, while having a less comprehensive collection, keep NZBs for much longer. I find that a culmination of sites is the way to go, but I find that FST has 99% of anything I'm looking for so long as the release is recent.



Currently all i am seeing is jibberish in every title, if i go to say giganews will they be more clearly labelled?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean there...

[JadeFox]

As to your question about headers, I wouldn't even bother, what with a thorough selection via NZB sites. Plus, there are also great search engines like Newzleech (http://www.newzleech.com/) and even Binsearch (http://www.binsearch.info/).

So you mean i cant read hearders with news bins? why not?


As for the explanations which are written at Bittorrent trackers (presumably by the uploader) you can find those on some NZB sites as well. Just as an example (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-movie-nzbs-80/t-jumper-dvdr-mptdvd-297648), here at FST we put an image, and links to relative content, as well as the NFO. We keep NZBs for 70 days and other sites like Merlinsportal, while having a less comprehensive collection, keep NZBs for much longer. I find that a culmination of sites is the way to go, but I find that FST has 99% of anything I'm looking for so long as the release is recent.

Nice, this was EXACTLY what i was looking for! thanks!! are there anymore sites out there like this?




Currently all i am seeing is jibberish in every title, if i go to say giganews will they be more clearly labelled?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean there...

Uhh lets say im downloading somethings like mass effect update, i search for it and instantly all i see is a load of crap like file name: "idnaiwnda/dawfmif219018041.mass.effect.updatemfhdwahdiub1019781!21"

its really irritating, why not just clean it up to mass effect, also i was wondering if it is all like this, even on giganews

[Skiz]

So you mean i cant read hearders with news bins? why not?

You can, but the point is, you don't need to. Search engines like the one I linked update almost immediately. Plus, you can search them right from Alt.Binz.


As for the explanations which are written at Bittorrent trackers (presumably by the uploader) you can find those on some NZB sites as well. Just as an example (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-movie-nzbs-80/t-jumper-dvdr-mptdvd-297648), here at FST we put an image, and links to relative content, as well as the NFO. We keep NZBs for 70 days and other sites like Merlinsportal, while having a less comprehensive collection, keep NZBs for much longer. I find that a culmination of sites is the way to go, but I find that FST has 99% of anything I'm looking for so long as the release is recent.

Nice, this was EXACTLY what i was looking for! thanks!! are there anymore sites out there like this?

FST is the best in this department, hands down. Newzbin is a good site as well, though I find their UI to be messy and thus don't use it. It also has a small monthly cost as well. Check it out tho', you might like it.




Currently all i am seeing is jibberish in every title, if i go to say giganews will they be more clearly labelled?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean there...

Uhh lets say im downloading somethings like mass effect update, i search for it and instantly all i see is a load of crap like file name: "idnaiwnda/dawfmif219018041.mass.effect.updatemfhdwahdiub1019781!21"

its really irritating, why not just clean it up to mass effect, also i was wondering if it is all like this, even on giganews[/QUOTE]

I'm not certain why that particular file is appearing like that. :idunno:

Newzleech is great for searching files, even if you're a bit miffed at the file names.

You can view Usenet postings by how they appear once they're indexed (http://www.newzleech.com/?mode=usenet&retention=&q=mass%20effect) or you can choose to simply view the same content as a post (http://www.newzleech.com/posts/?retention=&search=mass%20effect) if that helps. Honestly though, it's just a format that you'll need to get accustom to. :)

[JadeFox]

Many thanks to all youve been a great help!

[nelly27]

hi with virgin meida they have not got many groups now as i was useing them as a spare one on my email accout and they have just took load of the best ones off like movies/music/tv like it as been said giganews is the best have never had any proplems with them the one i have had proplems with is newsgroupdirect they are the w---ers about newsleecher is abit hard to sort if you are a noob as you have to sort all your prevs out yourself newsbin is ok but out off the two newsleecher is the best if you are still thinking of getting a free newreader get nbzleecher it as a good search bar added in the program

[JadeFox]

Thanks for the advice.

Im using alt.binz at the moment and im having trouble with my finished downloads.

1) I have alt.binz on my PC and on my laptop, i have one file about 8gb on my pc, i donwloaded it 100% complete and it unpared itself successfully. howeverwhen it got to unraring it ALWAY gets to 56% and freezes everytime at that exact point.

i cant open the files with winrar because everytime i go 'open with > winrar' nothing happens and it wont add to my open with list, what can i do?

2) Also with my laptop i have downloaded a 4gb group of files, but i had not installed quickpar, so when my download finished, i dont think it has unpared itself (still using alt.binz) and the file is sitting there with a red par2 icon, i installed quickpar but nothing has changed. what can i do here?

when trying to open with winrar i get a message 'filename.r66: unexpected end of archive' error message

3) i left my laptop downloading using alt.binz and when i came back it stopped downloading, it was only until i clicked something did it start downloading again, i have noticed this a few time with alt.binz, is this a common bug, is there a fix?

[Skiz]

First off, are you still using your ISPs free news server? :dabs:


1) I have alt.binz on my PC and on my laptop, i have one file about 8gb on my pc, i donwloaded it 100% complete and it unpared itself successfully. howeverwhen it got to unraring it ALWAY gets to 56% and freezes everytime at that exact point.

"unpared" isn't a word. Not sure what you're referring to there.

I believe Alt.Binz default settings tell the program to put the PAR files last. If all files in the batch are successfully downloaded and the auto unrar goes accordingly, it doesn't even download them. If there is an issue, I believe it either downloads them or leaves them queued.

Just b/c you show 100% of the batch as downloaded, doesn't mean you even had all the necessary files queued. (i.e. - of 100 rar files, only 75 were queued. When finished, Alt.Binz shows 100% complete but unable to extract)


2) Also with my laptop i have downloaded a 4gb group of files, but i had not installed quickpar, so when my download finished, i dont think it has unpared itself (still using alt.binz) and the file is sitting there with a red par2 icon, i installed quickpar but nothing has changed. what can i do here?

This explains a few things.

QuickPar isn't going to do anything on it's own. You need to run the program (http://www.quickpar.org.uk/VerifyingAndRepairing.htm). That will give you all the information you need. Quickpar will tell you if you're missing and blocks or files. If you're missing a little, Quickpar will fill in the blanks for you. If you're missing a substantial amount, Quickpar will inform you that you'll need to locate those remaining pieces to complete the unraring process.


3) i left my laptop downloading using alt.binz and when i came back it stopped downloading, it was only until i clicked something did it start downloading again, i have noticed this a few time with alt.binz, is this a common bug, is there a fix?

What sort of files are not downloading? As stated before, I believe Alt.Binz has some files set to auto-pause on startup. Check these settings:

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/2206/settingeu7.png

[limpdickkid]

Thanks for the advice.

Im using alt.binz at the moment and im having trouble with my finished downloads.

1) I have alt.binz on my PC and on my laptop, i have one file about 8gb on my pc, i donwloaded it 100% complete and it unpared itself successfully. howeverwhen it got to unraring it ALWAY gets to 56% and freezes everytime at that exact point.

i cant open the files with winrar because everytime i go 'open with > winrar' nothing happens and it wont add to my open with list, what can i do?

It could be due to either of two problems. One - You dont have enough space to extract all files. Or Two - there are errors in the download or all the files werent completely downloaded or maybe the right files werent downloaded.

So to solve the problem check if you have enough room to extract 8GB worth of files. If thats not the problem then go to the download folder and see if you have all the parts of the archive.

When you are downloading files close to the end of the retention period alot of things get screwed up. A few days ago I was trying to download "Dead Like Me S01" and I had a look at the file list and everything looked fine. But when I started the download I noticed some files being downloaded that werent even on the NZB, so I resigned to chalking it upto retention problems.


2) Also with my laptop i have downloaded a 4gb group of files, but i had not installed quickpar, so when my download finished, i dont think it has unpared itself (still using alt.binz) and the file is sitting there with a red par2 icon, i installed quickpar but nothing has changed. what can i do here?

when trying to open with winrar i get a message 'filename.r66: unexpected end of archive' error message

Files do not UNPAR, they get verified and repaired.

Like skizo mentioned, you need to RUN quickpar. About the error message, I think its pretty obvious that the file didnt download properly so you need to use QuickPAR to fix the download. You could also use "Extract file..." instead of extarct here. This way you get a menu where you need to select "Keep Broken Files", located at the bottom of the menu area.

http://xs128.xs.to/xs128/08252/untitled500.png


3) i left my laptop downloading using alt.binz and when i came back it stopped downloading, it was only until i clicked something did it start downloading again, i have noticed this a few time with alt.binz, is this a common bug, is there a fix?

Well sometimes, only very rarely, the downloads do just stop in Alt.Binz. Maybe I just havent taken note of the circumstances in which this so I dont know the reason, I too only recently started using usenet(its been less than a month).

I actually had a few questions of my own, if anyone would care to answer.

1) Whenever I download something using Alt.binz the download entry just disappears from the list. I have Checked/Unchecked all the relevant option but nothing so far. Its actually quite random, some downloads stay some disappear.

2) At the moment I am using Astraweb as my usenet provider. But Astraweb dont allow you to download simultaneously from different IPs. Is there any provider that does allow this, especially out of Newshosting, Hitnews, and anyother you think is reliable and good value for money.

3) This question I think I know the answer but would still just like to make sure. When I upload something to usenet using Astraweb does it have the same retention that Astraweb users have, i.e. 122 days, on other services or do Giganews users enjoy the same 200day retention. I am thinking the latter as they transfer all the data to their servers and then they dictate the retention.

[Funkin']

It's probably just your retention that is giving you problems. If you're getting uncompleted files, and the par2's aren't repairing those files for you, then it's probably your newsgroups access. I went through all this too when I first started using Usenet. I was getting a bunch of downloads that wouldn't extract properly. I would constantly get the Unexpected End of Archive error in Winrar.

So get yourself a descent newsgroup provider, and you'll be fine. Giganews is the most popular for its 200 day retention. But it's the most expensive. Astraweb is the next best. 122 day retention and is $39 every three months. Astraweb is definitely the next best deal if you don't want to pay the $25 a month(for the best plan) that Giganews costs. So get yourself better newsgroup access and download within it's retention, and you should never have any problems. I hardly never have to download anything older than 100 days anyways, since files are always getting reposted.

Take a look at the Alt.Binz Wiki (http://www.altbinz.net/wiki/Main_Page), and make sure you have it setup properly. Use the Quick Start guide, that will show you how to set it up where the reader automatically pauses the par2's, and unpauses only if they are needed for repair. So you don't waste any space downloading par2's. And since Alt.Binz automatically repairs, you shouldn't need Quickpar. You may not be able to download headers with Alt.Binz, but it's definitely the best reader for downloading NZB's. It's quick and easy with a nice GUI.

[JadeFox]

Thanks a lot for all your help guys, youve been great

i think ill just blame it on my isp's 7day retention, ill definatly go for either giganews or Astraweb and itll (with any luck) sort out my problems.

Many thanks again!

[wevotedno]

You only need alt.binz.

Also check out Astraweb, they are really stable and friendly plus offering 120+days redention

[ADAMENTS]

Hello everyone.. i have virginmedia and i use there free servers with no problem what so ever i have full access and everything is there at full speed.. try setting the server up useing grabbit it works a treat. pm me if you have any probs.