Praha06 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I posted a thread about torrent sites last week asking people which sites were their favourites etc. 2 posters replied saying forget about torrents and that newsgroups were the way forward. At first I was a bit unsure, as having used newsgroups once before, I wasn't totally inamoured(sp). However I decided to give them another bash, I have to say people it IS the way forward. Unbelievable content available on these servers. I thoroughly recommend forgetting about torrents. Thats all I have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I agree, they are very good. I used them exclusively a year ago. Currently mainly on torrent sites cos of the way my network is set up, but I'd still recommend newsgroups. For those wanting to try... Read a quick intro e.g. bbc website get a 'news client': e.g. Grabit get downloading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Dave Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'd recommend signing up to giganews and using newsleecher as your client. You need to pay a small fee to use them but its well worth it. Someone gave me a guide on how to use them on another forum which I'll dig out just now. Its quite wordy but very useful for anyone who wants to get started. It seems complicated at first but once you are up and running, its easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Dave Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'd recommend signing up to giganews and using newsleecher as your client. You need to pay a small fee to use them but its well worth it. Someone gave me a guide on how to use them on another forum which I'll dig out just now. Its quite wordy but very useful for anyone who wants to get started. It seems complicated at first but once you are up and running, its easy. This is a step by step guide. These are instructions for newsleecher. I presume you have entered the key to register. First thing is to enter the server so click on the manager tab then add Fill in the details for giganews which are server address - news.giganews.com server nickname - giganews (or whatever) Change the connection to 10 (it's 10 connections with platinum it might be different for your subscription) Priority leave at 1 If you signed up for the SSL encryption put a tick in that box. Put a tick in server Requires Login and enter your username and password then OK Giganews should now appear in the left hand window and I am fairly certain it asks if you want to download the full list of newsgroups so answer yes. (It only does this on set up so I can't remember.) Once the full list of all 107,000 or so newsgroups has downloaded they will appear in the right hand side window. Scroll down and look at the names - it's the alt.binaries ones that will be of interest. Don't assume that the name of the newsgroup has anything to do with the contents. 106,900 of them will be of no interest. Before you start with downloading anything it's best to change a few defaults now. Click on options and then advanced the folders. The default folders here are for the data files newsleecher uses (not what you download). The location points to c:\Program Files\Newsleecher - you can check this out using windows explorer. Newsleecher can generate masses of data and seems to have the habit of storing it badly as well so you have to defrag quite often. I have changed the default location to another HD (I have 4). If you are downloading a lot (and you will) think about fitting another HD. At even average speeds you can download 25 gb a day. If you only have a c:drive - don't change this yet. (You can do it later) Still under Set Up dialog click on download - this shows the default folder you need to chnage this to something more convenient. If you know your way around a HD using windows explorer I would create a directory called newsleecher on your c: drive i.e. c:\newsleecher (or even better on anotherHD) but you can just do this under My Documents Also put a tick in Put Downloads into group folders - I think the rest of the defaults are OK. Next click on the plus sign next to download and click on group caching - change the days to keep to 210 in both boxes. You can change this to a lower number later. The rest of the defaults are OK. If you want to post in future never ever put in your real e-mail address or name. Usenet is totally anonymous. Click on OK and the options box will close. Since you want to download american TV shows then the newsgroup that will be of the most interest is alt.binaries.multimedia. Best group and one of the biggest (which is bad for you as you have to dowload 200 days of headers) In the quick search box enter alt.binaries.multimedia - you will see the name (ignore groups with anything after alt.binaries.multimedia for now). Click on alt.binaries.multimedia and then subscribe just above and then back. If you want to see the full list again click on Subscribe to groups. Subscribing to a newsgroup is not like subscribing to a newsletter. No one knows you have subscribed it purely is the phrase that's used to tell newsleecher that alt.binaries.multimedia is a newsgroup you want to download the headers. You can't download headers if you haven't subscribed to that newsgroup) You should now see a folder saying uncategorized subscriptions and in that alt.binaries.multimedia. Click on Connect (top left hand corner) and Pause - in the bottom right hand panel you should now see 10 connections ready. Click on alt.binaries.multimedia - right click - and click on update selected all new headers. Now you can go away for a few hours while 210 days of header are down loaded. To seee them downloading double click on alt.binaries.multimedia and then articles tab on the top. While waiting for that to dowmload you can use the search facility. Click on supersearch service change the max days to 200 and enter in search for heroes - a box will pop up saying there are more than 15,000 hits so enter heroes.s02 now you have a list of every episode posted of heroes season 2. On the bar that says size status subject age poster part group click on group - this sorts them into group order. Scroll down to alt.binaries.multimedia. First entry is #a.b.mm@efnet ......heroes.s02e01.hdtv.xvid-xor.... The biggest difference between torrents and usenet is that usenet you have to download parts not the complete avi. So there are a few bits of software you need (all free) Quickpar Winrar Google for these download and install if you don't already have them. To download heroes s02e01 you need to select all the parts inculding r01 .. r22 par2 etc. and then press the space bar. This adds this to the queue and it will start downloading to the folder you selected. To see the files downloading click on the queue tab. Click on supersearchservice again In the box saying results search enter s02e02 This now shows only episode 2 but you will notice it has been posted more than once and in sevral groups. alt.binaries.boneless is a dutch group so avaoid downloading from there or you will find it has dutch subtitles. Move down to alt.binaries.multimedia and you will see there are several version of episode 2 and the same hdtv version posted by more than one person. I presume you know the difference between hdtv hr.hdtv 720p etc - if you don't just PM me or email me. Select one of the versions you want to download and press the space bar. This is now added to the queue. Now click on the queue tab. I presume episode 1 is still downloading but select all the files for episode 2 then click on the 2 up arrows (looks like a corporal) this moves episode 2 to the front of the queue. Now click on Articles - quite a few headers will have downloaded. Click on age to sort them by date order. In the box quick search enter west.wing - if you have a slow PC things can slow down a bit at this point just be patient. You should see west.wing s03e11 DVDRip posted 192 days ago (if you are doing this today 01/02/08) If you wanted to download that episode you would select all the files and then prewss the space bar. They will be added to the queue. Obviously you can search for anything you like. As you download more and more headers then you will get to the recent postings. To subscribe to more newsgroups click on manager tab - subscribe to groups and select the groups you want and then click on back. You can sort all the groups into different folders - TV - Movies - MP3s or whatever. To unsubscribe just click on the group and right click and unsubscribe. Sometimes you might want to subscribe to a group - download a few headers to see what's posted - realise it's all in german - you have to then press connect on the top line to stop downloading - click on the group to deactivate it and then unsubsribe. (I never said the program was perfect) Last thing - joining the downloaded files. Use windows explorer to go to the download folder. Click on the par2 file and quickpar loads and checks all the parts have downloaded correectly. Assuming it's complete clcik on the file ending in rar - right click and extract here you will have an avi file. delete all the rar and par files. A few groups you might be interested in TV alt.binaries.multimedia.comedy alt.binaries.multimedia.comedy.british alt.binaries.multimedia.scifi alt.binaries.multimedia.sci-and-fantasy alt.binaries.tv - this has a lot of the same as alt.binaries.multimedia so be careful of duplicate files. alt.binaries.british.drama Music alt.binaries.mp3 + anything after alt.binaries.sounds + anything after alt.binaries.warez.uk - great group for anything in the UK charts Movies alt.binaries.dvd + anything after alt.binaries.movies + anything after when you are looking at the full list of groups click on popularity to sort them by how many postings are in each group. alt.binaries.boneless is on top. When you use the supersearch you can also see names of the groups that have what you want. OK that's enough for now. Since downloading headers takes a fair bit of your download limit I would leave this till later. It will take a few days to get the hang of it but it's worth perservering - millions of mp3s, tens of thousands of movies, just about every TV episode you ever wanted to watch is available ------------------------------ This guide was not written by me but I found it very useful - What I have since found is that you can ignore the bit about downloading all the news headers if you want as that takes a few hours. So long as you sign up to newsleecher with supersearch function, it'll search through all the different newsgroups for you. Its much quicker in my opinion. I'd also recommend having a minimum of 1Gb of RAM on your PC. I used to have 0.5Gb and found newsleecher hogged the resource on my pc and went a bit slow. Since upgraded to 2Gb and have no probs at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'd recommend signing up to giganews and using newsleecher as your client. You need to pay a small fee to use them but its well worth it. Someone gave me a guide on how to use them on another forum which I'll dig out just now. Its quite wordy but very useful for anyone who wants to get started. It seems complicated at first but once you are up and running, its easy. Bingo, you have just described my set up. A site which you should register for too is http://www.united-forums.co.uk, it is a forum like JKB, free to register but saves you searching for nzbs(downloads). It has individual categories to suit exactly what you are looking for. Again, it is completely free to register, view and select your downloads. Seriously, do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerd Muller Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'd recommend signing up to giganews and using newsleecher as your client. You need to pay a small fee to use them but its well worth it.Someone gave me a guide on how to use them on another forum which I'll dig out just now. Its quite wordy but very useful for anyone who wants to get started. It seems complicated at first but once you are up and running, its easy. How much do you have to pay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 How much do you have to pay? http://www.giganews.com There are 4 tariffs to choose from, depending on you download usage. For example if you're a heavy downloader and need unlimited gb allowance per month then go for the top package, it is $10 per month for the first couple of months(promotion) and then reverts to $15 per month. Check out the link for more details. http://www.newsleecher.com You pay a one of fee to get updates on the program for any given period of time. I paid for a year, again click the link above for details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Jambo Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 http://www.giganews.com There are 4 tariffs to choose from, depending on you download usage. For example if you're a heavy downloader and need unlimited gb allowance per month then go for the top package, it is $10 per month for the first couple of months(promotion) and then reverts to $15 per month. Check out the link for more details. http://www.newsleecher.com You pay a one of fee to get updates on the program for any given period of time. I paid for a year, again click the link above for details. Also would recommend a site called Graboid its very easy to find T.V shows, Movies etc it uses newsgroup servers as well, worth giving it a bash as it?s a lot easier than having to search through newsgroups for a specific file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 I have just noticed the tariffs I have quoted for giganews are wrong. It should read $19.99 for the first month and then $29.99 thereafter. But again I stress that that is for the Diamond package and is unlimited usage allowance with SSL encryption security. The first set of tariffs were in ? not $, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Also would recommend a site called Graboid its very easy to find T.V shows, Movies etc it uses newsgroup servers as well, worth giving it a bash as it?s a lot easier than having to search through newsgroups for a specific file. I'll take a look. Would be some effort to beat united forums but I'll take a wee peek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Jambo Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'll take a look. Would be some effort to beat united forums but I'll take a wee peek. Trust me you wont be disappointed, its an application you download from there website http://www.graboid.com its about $39 a month for unlimited downloads similar to the post above, there are other options as well e.g. if you don?t fancy paying money you get 5GB a month for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Trust me you wont be disappointed, its an application you download from there website http://www.graboid.com its about $39 a month for unlimited downloads similar to the post above, there are other options as well e.g. if you don?t fancy paying money you get 5GB a month for free. Yeah I took a look, I think I am going to leave it. I already pay giganews a monthly sub of ?15 per month and I use united-forums.co.uk to source my files, everything I need is there and its totally free to access the forum and grab the dvds etc I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_Mywords Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Bingo, you have just described my set up. A site which you should register for too is http://www.united-forums.co.uk, it is a forum like JKB, free to register but saves you searching for nzbs(downloads). It has individual categories to suit exactly what you are looking for. Again, it is completely free to register, view and select your downloads. Seriously, do it! What a fantastic site. United-forums will save me loads of hours. Thanks for the link Praha06. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazo Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 What a fantastic site. United-forums will save me loads of hours. Thanks for the link Praha06. Just be aware these types of sites are prone to investigation from piracy agencies(RIAA/MPAA). Not sure if i would want my details anywhere near them. You can easily find everything you need without the need of such places IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praha06 Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Just be aware these types of sites are prone to investigation from piracy agencies(RIAA/MPAA). Not sure if i would want my details anywhere near them. You can easily find everything you need without the need of such places IMO. Yeh, its funny cos that site almost seems too good if you know what I mean. Its a gold mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab87 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 In my opinion www.warez-bb.org is the best website out there for downloading files. All you need to do is sign up for rapidshare which is ?4 a month and you search the forum for what you need. I have hardly ever not been able to find what I'm looking for and most files come in .RAR format and I can download a feature length movie in under 20 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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