What is a newsgroup?
A newsgroup is a category or topic contained on a usenet server.


What is Usenet?
Usenet is similar to the bulletin board system (BBS) and is the precursor to the web forums we use today. Usenet consists of newsgroups which contain threaded discussions. Newsgroup discussions contain messages and attachments

What is a newsgroup provider?
A usenet provider is like a ISP, however they specialize in providing access to usenet (newsgroup) servers. They typically charge a monthly fee to access these usenet servers.

How do I read newsgroups?
Newsgroups are read using a newsgroup reader. There are many kinds of newsgroup readers to download, simply search the internet for one.

How do I see the attachments in a newsgroup message?
Attachments need to be decoded prior to viewing or saving them. These can be done automatically using your newsgroup reader software.
If you are looking at an image, the newsgroup reader will automatically decide the attachment and display it below the message. You may then save it to your computer.

How do I download programs and games from the newsgroups?
This is done in a few steps; Using your newsgroup reader, open the newsgroup that interests you and mark the messages that you want to download.

Once you have downloaded the messages to your computer, open the attachments to combine them into the original file format that was uploaded to the newsgroup by the original poster. This is usually a ISO file, or a RAR file. A free program called Winrar will open these file types.

What is an ISO and a RAR file?
An ISO and a RAR file are common methods of copying a cd or dvd to be able to share it with other people. The cd or dvd itself is copied from the original source and saved as oner large file called an ISO image. The image signifies a complete copy of the entire cd or dvd. A RAR file is a compression program that takes a single large ISO file and compresses it, and then further splits the compressed image into smaller sequential

pieces. These smaller pieces can then be uploaded to the related usenet newsgroup as attachments messages.

Do I have to pay extra for Usenet?
In most cases, yes you do. Most cable companies and DSL internet ISP's provide about 20 thousand newwgroups with little article retention. Private Usenet service providers carry over 120 thousand newsgroups with hundreds of days of retention. A typical usenet subscription can cost from $4.95 US per month.

What is article retention?
Retention is the amount of time a message is stored in a newsgroup. Because usenet is public, no one controls it, each usenet provider has their own arcitle retention policies. The better the retention, the better chances that you download will be complete without any parts missing. A lower article retention time means thhat messages are deleted and purged quicker than larger usenet providers. This is particularly useful when doanloading large files over many days. In the event you have daily download limits.

How fast are downloads from Usenet?
Usenet downloads are as fast as your cable or dsl provider allows with one main difference. Usenet sucscriptions can allow simultaneous connections.

This means that you can download 5 or 10 messages at a time, thus maxing out your ISP connection speeds very quickly.

How much can I download from Usenet?
This depends on two things; your montrhly bandwidth limits with your ISP, and your usenet sibscription limits. The best usenet subscriptions allow unlimited downloads and unlimited connections, however your ISP likely does not. One can easily download thousands of Gb's of data per month.

What kind of things are on usenet?
Usenet newsgroups have everything from advertising and spam, to adult art, xbox video games. erotica art, wallpapers, and pictures, games, software, applications, movies, tutorials, books, plans and guides, classified ads and more! There are no rules to usenet because it is public.

Why would I pay for usenet?
Usenet goes far and above what you can download from a regular website, or from a torrent site. Most ofd the time, everything on a torrent site originated from usenet. Usenet is also anonymous!

What is an NZB Movie?

An NZB movie is an NZB file, which is an index file that contains pointers or links to download the contents of the NZB movie, a game or an ebook etc. Anything can be downloaded, but only movies and music can be streamed.

NZB files are used to download from usenet servers and are quickly becoming very popular. Primarily because they allow much fgaster downloads than than regular websites. Usenet is huge, and has anything and everything under the sun, from movies, to games and ebooks to do-it-yourself plans, and tutorials.

Usenet is a giant public messageboard organized by category - commonly called newsgroups, that anyone can post to or download from. The messages can also contain file attachments which is why they are so popular. Typically someone can post a movie to a usenet newsgroup that can be downloaded by anyone. File attachments are movies, games and so on split into small pieces and then attached to messages. These pieces are downloaded and then reassembled on your computer for use. Typically, winrar is the program used to split and join all these pieces.

The methods used to download usenet newsgroup movies are a bit more detailed, however not at all difficult. To download a movie from a newsgroup, you simply need a usenet newsgroup reader. You then download the message headers. The message headers are like a preview of the messages without having to download thousands of messages, which is the main problem with usenet - it is so massive that to download messages can take days. Thus, people have developed faster and more efficient ways to download from the newsgroups.

NZB files were created by newsbin.com to ease in downloading newsgroup posts specifically by their unique message ID's, rather than searching thousands upon thousands of messages. Once you have found what you want, you mark the messages, and then create a single NZB file. That NZB file can contain anything you want to download from the newsgroups. It saves you time and bandwidth because it only downloads the exact messages you want.

The drawback to downloading movies with NZB files is that you have to wait until the parts have all been downloaded, then reassemble them, and finally, open the movie file itself to watch it. This is still much faster than regular P2P, and torrent downloads, however you will still have to wait to watch your movies.

NZB movies have now come of age, and gone one step further. Many software developers are creating NZB movie streaming applications and nzb movie downloaders. These programs allow you to start watching mosives right after the first part of the movie has downloaded to your computer. Once you have the fitsr part, the remaining parts of the movie can be downloaded inthe background and the movie can be streamed to you. This essentially means that you can watch the movie while it is still downloading. NZB movie streaming is the term used to describe this process.