Usenet
WARNING:
Usenet is rife with viruses, worms, trojans, 'bots, keyloggers, and every other nasty thing out there. DO NOT skim down enough of this page to figure out the general scoop and then start downloading files like mad. Either understand the entire thing or leave it be.
Usenet is a real old (pre-Web) part of the Internet where the "message groups" reside. There are tens of thousands of them, each one dealing with a specific area of life. If your pet hamster has mange on his left ear, you'd go find the pet hamster group and ask. Some fellow hamster aficionado will have the answer.
There's also a binaries section.
In this area resides pretty much every type of computer file in the galaxy, from last night's TV show in hi-res to the latest Photoshop.
For a while.
One of the reasons Usenet is such a great playground for pirates is that it's a temporary storage area. All files posted to Usenet eventually fall off the back end, and it's a little difficult to prosecute someone for piracy if the pirated item isn't even available by the time the investigation begins.
How long the files stay on the server depends upon the company you use to access Usenet. Most ISPs have a 3-day window. It's free (because it's your ISP), but they use small servers to hold the files and they roll off the back end in no time.
A dedicated Usenet service will store the binary files upward of 3 months, the text messages maybe up to a year. The price for an average Usenet account is about $9.95/mo. There are discount plans around, and most services offer a "more gigs for less money" plan for the heavy-duty downloaders.
Traditionally, a special Usenet program called a 'reader' is used to update the groups, find the files and download them. The problem is that Usenet has grown to such monstrous proportions in recent years that it takes forever to update a single popular group. Usenet doesn't scan the files and present you with a quick list; you actually have to download the 'headers' of every new file in the group, and if there are a million new files since your last visit, it might take ten minutes or more — and that's just one group.
The additional problem is that the Search feature of the readers will only scan the updated groups, not everything on Usenet, so they're essentially useless. There are a few companies around that offer a global search feature when used in conjunction with a specific program, but the programs are crappy and the search features hard to use.
Enter EasyNews and its Web interface.
Recognizing the inherent problems, a few years ago EasyNews (one of the first and best Usenet services) opened up a Web interface of the Usenet files, and that was the last time I ever used a clunky Usenet 'reader' program.
The first main benefit is that there's no time wasted updating the groups. You just type in the search parameters and hit the Enter key. If it pops up with 12,000 hits, you further refine the search via keywords and other options, like date and size and filtering out certain keywords. You can also tell it to just list pics, videos, programs, etc, and you can have the pics listed in thumbnail format for a quick display.
Another big benefit is that download managers like GetRight work. There aren't any links in a Usenet reader for the download manager to intercept, and if your gigantic 34-gig download barfs at the 98% mark, it's toast. Using the browser, the download manager would be doing the work and would just pick up where it left off.
The Good Stuff
If you're using EasyNews and the Web interface, then you do all of your searching by keywords, but you'll still need to know where the good stuff resides so you can refine your search to just these groups. If you're accessing Usenet via a newsgroup reader (I recommend Forte Agent), then you'll need to know where the good stuff resides so you can update just those groups.
The binaries are in the huge area that starts with "alt.binaries", or just "a.b." from now on. Files will be posted not only by genre, like "a.b.movies", but by movie format and even compression codec, such as "a.b.movies.dvd" or "a.b.movies.divx".
Pics have their own monstrous area, as do MP3s.
Although there tends to be a lot of overlap, videos will usually be in a newsgroup with "multimedia" in the name.
Porn is usually contained in a group with either "sex" or "erotica" in the name. If it has "multimedia" in the name, it'll contain mostly short videos and occasionally a full-length (so to speak) film. If it doesn't say "multimedia", it'll most likely be pics with a few vids thrown in.
There are also some odd groups that contain simply trillions of files whose name you'd never glance at twice, such as "alt.binaries.x". You'll often find that elusive file in a group whose name has no bearing on the type of file it is, and one you never would have thought of refreshing and searching through, hence the value of the EasyNews Web interface.
TV shows have their own set of groups. Like movies being categorized by genre, format and even codec, the same is true for TV shows. For the high-quality stuff, look for TV groups that include "hd", "hdtv", or "264" in the name.
Serialized TV shows are usually designated by their season & episode number, like "S03E12" for season 3, episode 12. You also might see it as "S3x12" and other minor variations, but the first one is the 'official' format. If the first few attempts come up empty, try the name of the show with the name of the episode.
On the subject (searching on EasyNews), one big problem is that some shows, like "House", don't contain a very specific keyword and you'll get zillions of hits. So you'll have to become adept at using the exclamation mark to filter out unwanted results. Everything after the mark gets filtered out.
Here's my search for 'House', season 6, episode 12:
house s06e12 ! old prair desp dog doll black kontor fly runs max medi full xfile mons last ware german nl french
That gets rid of "This Old House", "Little House on the Prairie", "Desperate Housewives", "dog house", "doll house", etc, etc, etc.
Also, because of the infusion of German, NL (for 'Netherlands') and French files, it'll be very common for you to add:
! german nl french
to the end of many types of searches so you'll hopefully end up looking at just English versions.
File Formats
There are predominantly two types of binary files, RAR and PAR files. Rar is like Zip, a compression format, and while you'll see the occasional Zip file, most everything's in the Rar format.
You will need a special program call WinRar to decompress them, and I STRONGLY urge you to buy it directly from the manufacturer. If you want to bum a copy from a friend, fine, as long as his is legitimate.
What you DON'T want to do is download a copy from Usenet. The people that upload malware to Usenet do it in the two ways any clever hacker would:
- Incorporated into WinRar, since that's the first thing a gullible newbie will download
- Incorporated into an anti-virus program
Like I said at the beginning, it's nasty out there.
When you double-click on a Rar file, WinRar will pop open. Click 'Extract', find the path to the extraction folder and let 'er go. If there are multiple files and you're missing one, WinRar will let you know. That's when you'll hope the poster also included PAR files.
PAR Files
Par is a 'file replacement' system in case a few of the (sometimes numerous) Rar files are missing. You download the equal amount, sizewise, of the lost file(s) and the QuickPar program magically turns them into the missing files. It's a free download so grab it.
You'll actually be dealing with "PAR2" files, an upgrade to the original PAR system. If you're missing a 50-meg Rar file, you'd download the equivalent of 50 megs of PAR files, including the actual ".par" file. Double-click on the ".par" file and QuickPar will scan the Rar files and let you know if you have enough Par files to replace the missing files. Assuming you do, hit 'Repair' and that's it. It'll make the missing file(s), at which point you can swing back around to the WinRar program and tell it to continue.
Note that it's up to the poster if the Par files are included. Most large sets of files include a set of Pars, but it's not an 'unwritten rule' or anything. So if it's a big file, do a quick scan to make sure every file is listed and, if not, that the poster has included enough Par replacement files.
The reason the files are broken into all the little pieces has to do with the nature of Usenet and file propagation. The system's a little bit shaky and files have a better chance of arriving at the next server intact if they're small.
If the poster didn't include Par files, you still have two recourses:
- Don't forget your ISP. If the file's relatively new (3 days?), there's a decent chance the file's on the ISP's server (unless it never got posted in the first place). The bitch will be trying to divine from the ISP's web site where the Usenet info is, like the Usenet server address you need to put in the program. If you can't find it after a reasonable search, call 'em.
- Although I suppose it's kind of a 'dirty trick', many Usenet companies have a 'free trial period', so you could always join up, grab the file, then quit the free trial. On the other hand, if you're using a large company like EasyNews or Giganews and a file's missing, chances are it's missing everywhere. But you never can tell.
Point of Confusion
In the next section we're going to discuss sampling large files before downloading the whole thing. I'll instruct you to "download the first Rar file", but there are actually two types of 'first' files, old and new:
oldandbusted.rar00
oldandbusted.rar01
oldandbusted.rar02
oldandbusted.rar03
oldandbusted.rar04
oldandbusted.rar (this is the one to start with)
newhotness.part01 (this one)
newhotness.part02
newhotness.part03
newhotness.part04
newhotness.part05
newhotness.part06
With the old type, the actual ".rar" file is usually posted last (because it's listed last alphabetically), although it's actually the first file of the set. With the newer type, just look for 'part01'. Note that in both cases you have to start at the beginning with the first file. If you don't, WinRar will let you know.
Sampling Big Files
There are a few reasons why you might want to sample a large file, like a movie or TV show, before downloading the whole package. Size, certainly, if you're on wireless (as I am) and we're talking hours of download time, plus you should make sure the quality's okay. There are some pretty bad movie renders out there, so you can't assume anything unless the poster has a good reputation.
The WinRar trick is to download the first Rar file, then click on the 'Keep broken files' box after hitting 'Extract'. You'll get the 'file missing' box, so cancel out, close the program. The partially-downloaded file should be in its folder and there's a good chance it'll play.
Here's what you might see in the folder:
- If it's an ISO or BIN file, use this to decompress it. That'll turn it into one of the following. If it's the full ISO, it can be directly burned to disc with any decent disc-burning program.
- If it's another Rar file, skip the whole thing. It's going to ask for a password. It could be some 'club' passing around their secret files, or, more likely, you'll be directed to a web site to get the password, at which point it'll ask you to click on a link to obtain the password and voila, you just infected your computer with a nasty worm, keylogger or 'bot.
- If it's a DVD title set composed of VOB files, the first one will probably be the 'VIDEO_TS' file (composed of movie credits and menus and such) and it might be somewhat large, so you might have to download a handful of Rars before you get to the actual movie VOB. It'll be the first "_1" file. If your player can't handle VOB files, try Media Player Classic.
- If it's an AVI and your player says something like 'unknown format', try fixing it with little DivFix.
Another nice feature of the EasyNews site is the 'View' button, which lets you see what's inside the Rar file. As noted above, if it's another Rar file, forget it.
Malware
Like every area of the Internet, there's malware on Usenet, often cleverly embedded in a popular anti-virus program like Norton. If you're going to be downloading actual programs (not just pics, vids and songs), make sure you're running a quality anti-virus/spyware program with up-to-date definitions and running in real-time scan mode.
On the subject (of destroyed systems), if you're not doing the image file backup routine, please do. Download enough programs and at some point you might get bit, and at that point you'll be real glad you clicked on that link.
As a small side note, True Image is another program to steer clear of downloading. In general, it seems the cleverest virus hackers like the more technical programs. That is, I don't think I've come across one in something like Photoshop, but there's a 90% chance that any techie-type program on Usenet, like an anti-virus or system backup program, will having something nasty secreted away. And, if it's new enough, your anti-virus program might not catch it.
The Workaround
There actually is a way around an embedded virus, but you'll need a system backup program. This works about half the time.
What (usually) happens when you first double-click on the Setup icon is the program decompresses itself to the Temp folder, and about half the time the virus splits itself off from the main executable. In theory, a quality malware program like ZoneAlarm should catch it at that point. Delete the virus, then grab the good EXE and copy it to a different location.
You should still have the initial page of the Setup program open. Cancel the setup, then try it with the rescued EXE.
So, you first make a backup image file, then do the dirty deed, then do a test install, then immediately restore the image file just in case something slipped by the anti-virus program. Regardless of what happens after you double-click on the Setup icon, plan on restoring the system.
Then you'd reinstall the 'rescued' Setup program on your main system and you're good to go.
Misc Notes
If you run into some weird video formats, like MKV, VOB or TS, try this page and it should help you get it into a standard computer format.
A ".d" on the end of a binary group indicates it's for discussion only, no binaries. If you have questions, head for a .d group.
And don't forget the non-binary areas of Usenet when it comes to obtaining info. A quick refresh of the group should show you if it's active or not. If it's not, keep looking. There's always at least one active group for any particular topic, but they tend to migrate around over the years.