Usenet - Downloading
Without the aid of tools such as search engines, it use to be quite hard to find what you wanted on Usenet. You had to watch and wait for posts to come by, so you’d subscribe to a group and monitor that group. Nowadays, you can simply go to a search engine and search for what you’d like to find. Simple!
Search Engines
Binsearch
Binsearch is actually where I started. It’s the first I ever came across and it gets a lot of use from me. I’ve always had the pleasure of being able to rely on Binsearch. While other search engines have gone down (RIP Newzleech), Binsearch is always there. The interface could be improved vastly, but I won’t be picky about something free that does it’s job well.
FindNZB
FindNZB is another good alternative, even though I don’t use it myself. I’m too used to the Binsearch look and feel now that I tend to just stick with that. But options are always a good thing. So definitely check out both!
Software
Before we get started, here is a small list of the types of tools you’ll need, which we’ll go over:
- Newsreader
- Extraction Tools
- PAR File Utility
Newsreader
A Newsreader is the application you will be using to view these Usenet servers with. A Newsreader is usually a GUI application which allows you to connect up to a Usenet server and then browse the posts, post something to the server, or download from the “alt.binaries” categories.
GrabIt(Windows)
GrabIt is meant to be a binary grabber. Basically, you simply set it up and associate it with the NZB files you download from one of the search engines we provided and voila, you’re done. When GrabIt opens the NZB, it’ll begin downloading whatever files were assciated, or in, that NZB. There isn’t much to the GrabIt layout, which tends to be a good thing, because it keeps everything very simple and easy to use.
NewsBin Pro(Windows)
NewsBin Pro is my personal Newsreader of choice. It just seems to feel and work the way I want it to. With that said, there are plenty of people I know who use GrabIt instead, and not just because it’s free and NewsBin Pro costs. The money is well worth it in my personal opinion. If you ever get a chance, download a trial of NewsBin Pro and see if it’s for you, I know it’s the only one I’ll be using for quite some time. I’ll keep an eye out as to whether anything more aesthetically pleasing comes out.
Pan(Windows/Linux)
Pan has quite a lot of features, allowing you to subscribe to certain groups. The biggest difference between most Newsreaders and Pan is the amount of features. While a lot of the other readers work okay, they usually only do certain features really well, and don’t have any others or they aren’t implemented correctly. If you plan on actually reading content on Usenet and not just download things off of “alt.binaries” groups, then I’d definitely go with Pan. It provides a very intuitive interface that allows you to manage everything neatly so reading or posting is done very easily.
KLibido(Linux)
KLibido is a great alternative to Pan if you use KDE because of the fact that it happens to already be included in the repository. KLibido does have the ability to be able to subscribe to groups just like Pan, although KLibido’s interface appears to be built more for downloading binaries rather than browsing groups and then reading and posting on them. I personally love KLibido’s Queue manager and the ability to manage binaries very easy and fast without all the “rest” of the features that aren’t needed when just downloading binaries.
Extraction Tools
Usenet Servers
There are plenty of good Usenet servers out there, but I’m going to list what I consider to be three of the best out there.
Reminder: Your ISP may provide you with a Usenet server that has 20-30 day retention, so be sure to check that out as a possibility also.
How to Download
- First, open up your web browser and go to one of the previous search engines we went over(BinSearch or FindNZB).
- Enter your term into the search bar and see if you find anything.
- Click the download button(each website has it’s own button, that may look different, for downloading).
- When the pop up box comes up asking you what you would like to do with that .nzb file, instead of saving, click “Open With” and set it whichever Uset client you installed(GrabIt, NewsBin Pro, Pan, KLibido, etc).
- Enjoy the fact that it is simply THAT easy.