USENET

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Getting Started

For this tutorial it is recommended that you follow along with either the WinVn or Free Agent newsreader client applications. In each step, there will be examples from both. You may skip the sections that don't pertain to the particular newsreader you are using. These sections will be clearly marked.

News Servers

News Servers are Internet computers from which the newsreader client applications receive USENET news.

The VT news server is
news.vt.edu.
The VT Computer Science departmental news server is
server.cs.vt.edu
From behind the lab firewall the CS news server is
news.cslab.vt.edu

WinVn

Configuring
Choose Communications from the Config menu. For your personal machine change the news server to the VT news server, news.vt.edu. (From the CS lab use the lab news.cslab.vt.edu USENET server.)
Starting
From the Network menu, choose Connect to Server.

When WinVn starts, you will see a dialog box asking "Request the latest group list from server?". Click No, unless this is the first time running your client application, (see box below). Save the configuration after the downloading of the group list. (Be patient, this operation may take some time to complete.)
Interface description
The labelled screen capture below shows the major interface elements that one needs to be familiar with to effectively use WinVn.

Requesting new groups from the server should only be done occasionally to pull in new groups and discard ones that are currently non-existant. This may be a time-consuming operation, so do this only when needed or as necessary.

Free Agent

Configuring
Select Options -> General Preferences from the menu. The dialog window will display for configuring Free Agent. Click on the System tab.

Type news.vt.edu into the News Server text box if you are not in the CS lab, otherwise enter server.cs.vt.edu. Click on OK.
Starting
Click on the button or select from the menu
Online -> Online This will connect you to the news server.

A list of newsgroups will appear in the upper left window. Click on Groups -> Show -> All Groups
Free Agent Interface description
The labelled screen capture below shows the major interface elements that one needs to be familiar with to effectively use Free Agent.

Next: Subscribing