Slyck.com - Guide To The Usenet Newsgroups

Our quickstart guide is designed to get you up and running with the newsgroups as fast as possible in the least complicated way. We recommend you use this guide if you are interested in using the newsgroups right away without learning a lot of technical mumbo jumbo. Using the newsgroups for file sharing has become easier than ever thanks to new newsreaders that do almost all the confusing stuff for you.

To enjoy everything the newsgroups have to offer, you need three essential things:
1. A good newsgroup server - this is where your newsreader will download the files from. A server like Red Orb News provides Usenet Newsgroup access.
2. A newsgroup reader - this is the program you will use to download from the newsgroups.
3. Access to an indexing site - this is where you will browse or search for things to download from the newsgroups.

Many newsreaders are free, however, access to newsgroup servers cost about $10-$30 a month (depending on factors discussed later in the guide). A good indexing site will cost a dollar or so a month and many are free. Most agree, however, the rather minimal investment yields tremendous rewards. Expect to wind up paying around $15-20 for a good setup that will give you amazing access to the newsgroups.

Step 1 - Subscribe to a premium news server

The first part of your journey starts with signing up for a premium news server. The news server is where all the information you want is located, and it is very important that you subsribe to one . For this purpose, Slyck recommends:

1. Red Orb News

2. NewsDemon Newsgroups

3. Thundernews

4. Binverse

Step 2 - Get a good newsreader

Download a free news reader. Setting up news readers back in the day was prohibitive, however, modern readers are tailor made for grabbing files from the newsgroups. All of Slyck's recommended news readers will not only grab the files from the news server, but also automatically repair and combine them for you, taking virtually all the hassle out of downloading from the newsgroups:

1. Alt.Binz

2. GrabIt

3. SABnzbd+

Step 3 - Access an indexing site

Ok, so you've purchased your Red Orb News account, downloaded Altbinz, and now you're ready to start downloading. But newsgroup readers aren't P2P clients, and you'll need an independent indexing source to find the files you want. Basically, an indexing site is like Google. You conduct your search, and the site provides you with the location of the file. The indexing site communicates with the newsreader, and before long you'll be downloading. There's only a marginal cost involved for this service.

Slyck Recommends:

NZBMatrix - Free and very complete. Requires registration for full features.

Free Indexing Sites

2. Newzbin - Many newsgroup citizens consider Newzbin the best NZB search engine. Although this site was temporarily shut down earlier this year, it's now under new managment and restoring its former glory. This is a pay site, but many find the small cost (less then $5.00 a year) well worth the investment.

3. Binsearch - Unlike conventional indexing sites, Binsearch is just a search engine that looks for articles. Once you find the articles you want, use the "create NZB" option to get the process started. Binsearch doesn't have any of the organization of a typical indexing site and doesn't hold your hand through the process. But if you know what you're doing, it's a valuable way to find information. This site is free to use.

4. NZB Index - This site is much like Binsearch, but organizes and consolidates the results of your search queries. This makes the site easier to use, but still lacks much of the organization of Newzbin. You're pretty much on your own like Binsearch, but ultimately, this might be for the better. This site is also free to use.

5. Nzbsrus.com - This indexing site is a good search tool for NZB files. Registration is required to access NZB files. $9.99 get's you a VIP account to all of the site's features.

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