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The browser I have chosen to discuss today is Mimo. Mimo is free for Giganews diamond catalogue users, it can also be purchased separately. However, at this time it only works with a Giganews catalogue and server. My intentions are that my instructions are generic sufficient to be used with any browser or service provider.

Getting Started

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There are basically 2 or 3 things required for you to be able to begin downloading articles from a news server:

• A good newsgroup server - this is a computer placed somewhere on the internet which has a large repository of articles, and is willing to give or sell you passage to their content.
• A newsgroup browser - a agenda that runs on your operating system and is able to passage the articles on the newsgroup server.
• Depending on your chosen browser, you may also need to use an indexing site to search for articles that you want to see.

Usenet service Providers

The most prominent thing to do is pick a good Usenet service provider. Commercial passage to servers typically runs from about - per month, depending on features and if you want to pay monthly or yearly, etc. I have reviews for several of the Commercial providers on my site, but for the purposes of this report I have decided to use Giganews. I have had many years of perceive with Giganews and have never been disappointed, they have exquisite execution and report retention, plus, if you need it, their hold is great as well. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I get free accounts from several distinct providers, including Giganews.

Newsgroup Browser

There used to be a lot of free news readers, however, most of them have been abandoned by their authors and don't have the most recent features, such as built-in Rar, Par, Nzb and Svf file support. Most Commercial browsers have all those features and more, at a decent price. Since I am using Giganews for this guide, I will also use their browser, Mimo. It is in case,granted for free with a diamond catalogue and has all the built-in features I listed above, plus it has been optimized to use search features that tie directly in to the Giganews servers, eliminating the need for an indexing site.

Installing and Configuring your browser

Step 1 - Sign up with a service provider

For the purposes of this guide I chose Giganews, primarily because they furnish me with an catalogue and a free browser. I know others don't have that luxury, so I would propose that you look at my web site, listed in the reserved supply box below, to help you pick a service provider that you like and can afford. You can also pick one of the free servers that I list on my site, if you find one that carries a group that you want; you should be aware that free servers, typically, do not carry binaries groups. Using a free server can be an reasonable way to configure your browser and learn how to use it.

Step 2 - Download and setup a browser

Once again, since I am using Giganews, I am also using their browser. It is called Mimo and may be downloaded directly from Giganews. The browser is currently in active improvement and is determined Beta, but my perceive has been that it is very stable. If you wish to use a distinct browser I would propose finding on Wikipedia. Someone has spent a lot of time manufacture a quite exhaustive list of newsgroup readers, their features, and where you can download them.

Step 2a - download

Whatever browser you have chosen, you need to go to the website for that browser and click on the download button or link. Your browser should ask you to confirm if you want to save or run the file. I all the time propose that you save any file you download first, then manually virus scan it before you achieve the installation.

Step 2b - install

There are two types of installations; manual installations wish that you decompress the facility file into a directory where you will be able to find and run your news browser. Automatic installations run on your operating system and automatically setup the software in a directory and usually do nice things like generate links on your desktop and add themselves to your start menu. If the browser you have chosen requires you to manually setup it, I would highly propose that you virus scan all the files again after the decompression is complete.

Step 3 - Configure

After you have accomplished installing your browser you will need to configure it. In the case of Mimo, basic configuration consists of typing in your username and password. Then you must click the Test relationship button, after it connects successfully you may click the Done button. Because Mimo only works with Giganews, there is nothing else required to set up your browser.

Free browsers typically wish a exiguous more configuration to work, and you will need to find the "options" or "preferences" in the menus. usually they are found in whether the "File" or "Tools" menu. When you find them, you need to find the page where you enter the Server settings. This should have, at a bare minimum, entries for a server name, port, username and password. All of this facts should have been in a confirmation email from your chosen service provider. If you are trying free servers from my list you can usually leave the username and password blank. Also, the port is almost all the time 119.

Step 4 - Start browsing

If you have properly configured the settings above, you should now be able to start browsing on your server. With Mimo, I was presented with a short list of default newsgroups in the "giganews.*" hierarchy. If there is not a default list, most browsers have a "Group List" in the menus which you can pick from. You can also visit an indexing site like I mentioned above, to search for articles you are curious in, which will tell you what groups you need to find your articles. Finally, if you visit my web site there is a search tool which will allow you to type in keywords for a newsgroup name, and it will tell you what groups are available and which servers furnish that group.

Easy Usenet Newsgroup Browsing