Hooznet Help and Support Archive

The indexes listed below contain archived messages from the free public newsgroups available on Usenet to read and post to. If a subject interests you take the time to browse through the messages. Often you'll find invaluable help and support information, some from the leading experts in that particular field.

Windows XP Sorting out problems with your Windows XP system. XP Help and Support Newsgroup - microsfot.public.windowsxp.help_and_support Win XP - Spanish Newsgroup - microsoft.public.es.windowsxp Windows XP - French Newsgroup - microsoft.public.fr.windowsxp	Communications Internet and telecoms in the UK. UK Telecoms Newsgroup - uk.telecom UK Broadband Newsgroup - uk.telecom.broadband UK Mobiles Newsgroup - uk.telecom.mobile
Apps & Internet Help with making the most of popular programs. Macromedia Dreamweaver Newsgroup - macromedia.dreamweaver Microsoft Access Newsgroup - microsoft.public.access	Leisure Non PC-related discussions for a change. UK DIY Newsgroup - uk.d-i-y

 

New to Usenet?

Despite Usenet (often known as newsgroups or discussion groups) being available since the early days of the internet, a lot of people have still never heard of it. Basically it's a service similar to e-mail, but messages are sent to a particular group rather than to an individual. If you must you can use an email client such as OE to read and post, but dedicated applications work much better.

The quality and quantity of Usenet postings has deteriorated over the years as web-based forums have taken over, but there are still many groups which repay the time spent following them. The advantages of Usenet over web forums are speed of downloading and the ease of reading and composing messages off-line. For example, subscribe to your ISPs support group, once a day allow the messages to download in the background (one minute even on a modem), skim the headers, open a few useful-looking posts, and if a message looks like it might be relevant sometime hit "Keep" to retain it indefinitely. This way you very easily build an archive of valuable help tips for when you need it most - when your internet connection goes down!

To access Usenet all you need is a newsserver and a decent newsreader program. Most ISPs provide a newsserver as part of the basic package, usually called something like news.myisp.com. If not, there are always free servers which are open to anyone to read and (more rarely) post to. Check newzbot.com for the latest lists. Using OE is not a good idea, for the usual security reasons. The standard independent newsreader application is Forte Agent. The package contains a totally free version and a shareware version with some handy (but inessential) extras. It's a very quick download and install - twenty minutes on a modem.

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