Use a News Reader such as Outlook Express
Here is how to connect to a newsgroup server using Outlook Express
Open Outlook Express and follow these steps:
1.. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2.. In the Internet Account dialog box, click Add, and then click News.
The Internet Connection Wizard starts. Follow these steps in the wizard:
1.. On the first screen, in the Display name box, type the name that
other users will see when you post a message to the newsgroup, and then
click Next.
2.. On the second screen, type your full e-mail address in the E-mail
address box, and then click Next.
3.. On the third screen, in the News (NNTP) Server box, type the name of
your news server. To subscribe to the newsgroups hosted on Microsoft's
servers, type msnews.microsoft.com. If you don't know the name of your news
server, contact your Internet provider.
4.. If necessary, select the My news server requires me to log on check
box, and then click Next. If you don't know whether your server requires you
to log on, contact your Internet provider. The Microsoft server does not
require a user name and password.
5.. On the last screen, click Finish.
3.. Click Close, and then click Yes when asked if you want to download
newsgroups from the account you just created. The Newsgroup Subscriptions
dialog box appears.
4.. Select the newsgroups you want to use, click Subscribe, and then click
OK.
Note Most of Microsoft newsgroups use this naming convention:
microsoft.public.application_name.specific_area. For example: you could
subscribe to microsoft.public.office.dataanalyzer, or
microsoft.public.excel.programming. However, that isn't always the case.
Don't be afraid to browse the list of groups in order to find something that
you think will be useful.
5.. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Read tab, and then clear
the Get 300 headers at a time check box.
6.. Click the Maintenance tab, clear the Delete new messages n days after
being downloaded check box, and then click OK.
Step 5 allows you to download and read all the newsgroup's postings when you
first subscribe. Step 6 allows you to read older messages.
1.2. Subscribe or unsubscribe to newsgroups
After you establish a connection to your newsgroup server, you add
newsgroups to your list by subscribing. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to
newsgroups at any time. Typically, you use the group name as a guide when
subscribing. For example, a name such as
microsoft.public.office.developer.outlook.forms would be a good place to
start if you need help writing a custom form for Outlook.
To subscribe
1.. Start Outlook Express.
2.. In the folder pane, click the name of your news server. For example,
if you established a connection to Microsoft's server, click
msnews.microsoft.com.
3.. In the main viewing pane, click Newsgroups.
4.. In the Newsgroup Subscriptions dialog box, select a newsgroup from the
list, and then click Subscribe.
5.. Repeat the previous step to subscribe to additional newsgroups, and
then click OK when you finish.
6.. In the main viewing pane, double-click the name of the new newsgroup.
If you only want to receive new messages since the last time you visited,
select the New messages only check box, and then double-click the newsgroup
name.
Note When you subscribe to a newsgroup for the first time, you receive
all the messages whether or not you select the New messages only check box.
To unsubscribe
a.. In the Outlook Express folder pane, right-click the newsgroup that you
want to stop using, and then click Unsubscribe on the shortcut menu.
Tips
a.. To reduce the number of items in the list of available newsgroups,
enter a phrase in the Display newsgroups which contain box. For instance,
you can enter an application name such as "publisher" or the name of a
discipline such as "programming." The list changes automatically when you
finish typing.
b.. Newsgroups in languages other than English are identified by their
names; for example, microsoft.public.fr.excel is a newsgroup for Microsoft
Excel users who speak French.
--
Hope this helps.
Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.
Doug Robbins - Word MVP
