A: Lurk, watch, read the FAQ and learn before jumping in. If you are new here, this will require a certain amount of restraint. Just relax, sit back, and pay attention. The guidelines are for the benefit of all. Most of all, you MUST learn to be patient. Warez are NOT available on demand.

A: Get a well-connected server. Not only will this benefit you (because you will be able to get complete posts), but it will also benefit the group as a whole (since you will have fewer repost requests). How good is your present server? If you are missing more than 10% or so of the parts of multi-part messages, not good. Local ISPs have notoriously bad servers. You have two upgrade paths: (1) Get a new ISP with a well-connected news server. (2) Get an additional stand-alone subscription to another news server. Whatever you have to do or spend will be well worth it in the end. But still, be patient. 

(1) Mindspring (in the opinion of some, this one has been falling in quality)  GigaNews (2) Altopia/Altnet Newscene  Newsguy (was Super Zippo)  Remarq (was Supernews)

A: BE PATIENT! The point is that, if you don't follow the FAQ, no one has to be patient with you.

A: See Appendix A for posting techniques. Do not experiment in the binary groups. Test post in alt.test or alt.binaries.test. Violators of posting techniques, or those who disregard the preferred conventions, generally get flamed.

A: Learn from your mistake. And don't take it personally. Shooting off your mouth only compounds your error and illustrates in clear detail how lame you really are instead of merely inexperienced. This is a rough and busy neighborhood, don't expect to have your hand held.

A: Reasonably current releases of IBM-PC compatible commercial software applications- NO games! NO CD images! NO freeware!  NO shareware!  NO Cracks!  This generally means the current version of the software. Older commercial software applications (and even games too) can safely be posted elsewhere. One possibility is alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.old.  (Read their FAQ first.) Games and CD images have their own newsgroups. (see Appendix B for more warez news groups).  Freeware and shareware can be found on the Web.  Direct people there by giving the URL if you think the software is useful.  Direct them to the cracks groups or other source you know of for the crack.  Shareware  that has been "re-engineered" so that it installs completely and does not require a crack qualifies as warez and is acceptable in this group as is an application which has shareware origins but has been released by a release group with a crack, patch, or keygen. If you don't know what a "release group" is, then the shareware you are dying to post does not come from one.

A: Well you CAN, but too many people do this already. Most people, when they begin, do not have a great deal of stuff to post. Perhaps the best thing to do is respond to requests (REQ) from others if you have managed to get pieces they have missed. If you have not been here very long, even if you have something fairly new, you wouldn't know that it was just posted two weeks ago. The release versions of many new applications are posted here before they are in the stores. The idea is not to show everyone how much you can post, but to post useful things. With technology being what it is, many newcomers have ISDN or cable modems (some even have access to T1s or better) and can literally flood the groups with posts. All this does is decrease the amount of time the posts stay on the servers, so fewer people get them and more repost requests are generated. If you have a high-speed connection be conscious of the fact that most people here do not, and shorter expire times get everyone agitated. Start SLOWLY. If you are not sure it will be welcomed, wait awhile. We know that many are anxious to contribute, to pay back the group for what they have been able to get. But another post of the current Office 2000 or Windows98SE will not really help. They already get posted a couple of times a week. If you are patient, you will eventually see everything you wanted and more. And you will learn what is needed and what is not. And NEVER post for the first time without first posting to a test group to insure that your settings are adjusted correctly. If you screw up, you will be flamed, and rightfully so for wasting so much bandwidth with a useless binary. Even most long-time regular contributors post to a test group first whenever they upgrade their newsreader.

A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Shareware posting is inappropriate, unless the version you have is cracked or otherwise unavailable to the general public (instead just post a link to the shareware site).

A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Games should be posted in alt.binaries.games (or a similar group - see Appendix B ). Requests for games should also be made there. If the game is unique or of special interest, just post a simple message with a subject line such as: "Attn all - New Game X posted in a.b.games."

A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. These should be posted in alt.binaries.cracks (or a similar group - see Appendix B ). Requests for cracks should also be made there. Check out the Crack FAQ(alt.cracks).

A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. These should be posted in one of the image groups. (see Appendix B ) This group generally deals in what are called "rips" of the large applications. Not everyone has a CD Recorder, nor the space needed to store a 600MB CD. A "rip" is the basic application with most of the movies, clipart, extra sounds, demos, and things like Acrobat Reader and MSIE removed to save space. Of course the smaller applications are often posted complete.

A: DAYS, not hours. Anything LESS than a MINIMUM of 5 days will be ignored or flamed by most experienced posters. No one owes you anything! The random nature of NNTP propagation means that parts of messages may come in days later. Posting requested files before they have a chance to expire from servers only places redundant files on the servers and drives up expiry rates. Be patient (also see Rules#1, 2 & 3). Further, if you have a weak news server, don't ask! Go get a new server instead (see Rule#2). 

A: NO! Do this and and you will have your head handed to you on a platter! This is known as a HWIH post (Here's What I Have - fill in the rest). Do not post partials except to fill a specific request for those pieces. To do otherwise will simply result in more people missing the same pieces you are, and that generates more requests. But even more than that it is an egregious waste of valuable bandwidth which clogs up the group with worthless binaries that contribute to pushing complete programs off the servers and shortening expire times for everyone including you. If you are missing pieces of a program, simply request the parts you are missing. HWIH posts are THE supreme irritant for almost everyone in the groups and is an excellent way to be completely ignored by everyone (after they're done roasting you) who can help you.

A: First read any information files contained in the program zips. These are generally .nfo (info) files, but may be .txt or .doc. There may also be useful information in the 0/ file. If it won't run, read the information files again (RTFM ). If it still won't run, ask your question in the discussion group.

Be aware that some groups on usenet have companion groups for discussion. These normally have the same name as the main group with an additional ".d" at the end, or the word "discussion" in the group name. If such a group exists it is appropriate to ask your questions in that group, rather than the main one.  Most of the readers are willing to offer help and advice on installation or any other relevant topic.

A: .nfo files contain related info about the program, such as install instructions or serial numbers, as well as information on the release groups and couriers who so graciously distribute the warez; people with access to 0-day (newly-released) warez ftp sites then post it to Usenet. These files can be viewed with notepad, quickview or any text editor. Inside a zip, they can also be viewed with WinZip's Internal ASCII Text Viewer. Always check file_id.diz for info as well. For easy viewing, create an association with notepad for .diz and .nfo files. It is considered a courtesy to leave these files intact if you plan on posting the archives.

A: No. So long as you have read this FAQ and done your  best to RTFM, most folks are willing to answer questions not covered here or in your PC and newsreader help files. Everyone here was a newbie once. But remember to ask in the discussion group (alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.d), not in the main group.  If you receive a facetious answer, ignore it. Most regulars in these groups are genuinely interested in helping others. Not every answer can be put into a FAQ, only the most frequently asked questions are intended to be here. However, if you fail to read your newsreader documentation or this FAQ carefully, and you ask a question answered in those places, you will get heated responses. RTFM!!!

A: No. Most are trolls designed to entice you in. By responding with your "me too," you expose yourself to the warez world as a total moron. At best you will begin receiving commercial e-mail (junk mail), at worst you may be subjected to harassment, mail bombing, or worse. You should never post your personal e-mail address anyway. You may be wondering, "But can ALL of these people replying be wrong?" A: YES! Just check this out!

A: No. See the above question. Don't be foolish. Follow the link for hoax information. 

A: NO. Think about this one for a minute. Is your e-mailbox even large enough to hold the program? If not, it will be returned to the sender, taking him just as long to get it back from you as he did to send it. Why should anyone do this anyway? It would be much better for them to post it in the group, where everyone can enjoy it. It is considered foolish and marks you as a lamer even to ASK for files by e-mail.

A: Get WinZip. The file you will get is a self-extracting archive. Setup is a snap. After downloading a .zip file, just double-click on it. Easy. Get Pkzip for DOS Some people prefer to work with the DOS version. If you take the time to learn it, it can be more flexible.

A: Get Arj.exe. ARJ is not as easy to use as WinZip, but is much more powerful. ARJ is typically used to split a large file into smaller, more postable pieces. Don't use WinARJ, use plain old DOS ARJ (widely available; follow the link at the beginning of this answer). Open a DOS box in the directory where the .arj files are located (MS Powertoys Command Prompt Here is great for this under Win95).

A: That depends. They could be either ARJ files (see above), RAR files (see below) or even JAR or ACE files (see below). Try RAR first. If they don't decode, then try one of the others. Some posters will tell you which format in the .nfo files or the 0/ file of the post.

A: Get RAR (or more specifically, its companion program, unrar) or WinRAR. The procedure and commands are much the same as for ARJs. An example might be: [unrar x -v -y msoffice.rar d:\temp]. if there is no .rar file, use the lowest numbered extension. Also, remember that unrar.exe must be in your PATH or present in the directory.

A: Get JAR32 or JAR16. This is a relatively new archiving tool by the same author as ARJ. It is NOT in general use in the groups as of this writing, but it appears to have good compression and will preserve long file names.

A: Three reasons are usually given: (1) it allows the poster to enclose information files in the zip, (2) it is rumored that zips transmit more reliably than .arjs, and (3) damaged zips can sometimes be repaired (see Appendix C). Of these, #1 is probably the most accurate.

A: Get Pkzip for DOS. An example might be: [pkunzip -o -d *.zip d:\temp]. The [-o] switch ("oh" not "zero") overwrites previously existing files such as duplicate file_id.diz and .nfos. The [-d] switch restores/creates directory structure stored in the .ZIP file. Remember that pkunzip.exe must be in your PATH or present in the directory.

A: There are several ways to solve this problem if you are using Agent. First, make sure that Agent is displaying the headers as a full screen, not the multi-pane default view (just click on the maximize window icon). Second, reduce the size of the browser font [options | display preferences]. Third, make sure that the browser font is not bold. Finally, if you still can't read the entire subject line, just click the send-follow-up-message icon. You can read the entire line and scroll if necessary. Then, just click the close window box. If you are using another newsreader, refer to its documentation. And don't be part of the problem when you post. Try to keep your headers under 55 characters.

A: Usually. If using Agent, try this: Create a new folder under "Groups." Call the new folder "temp," "scratch," or anything you'd like. Use the "Manage Folder Menus" option to bring this new folder into the list that appears when you right click on a header. Then, simply retrieve the headers (simple retrieve, not launch or save attachments) from the different groups, right click on them after you have retrieved them, and send them to your "WORK" folder. You then can select them, right click, and select "manually decode attachments" to put them in the proper order. Note- this only works if they are in the same message or, frequently, a repost of the message BY THE SAME POSTER. If he/she has not changed the line length of the attachment section, it will generally work.

A: They are a form of Internet Shorthand. Some common ones are: TIA - thanks in advance. Plz - please, Thx - thanks, <g> - grin, <BG> - big grin, <BFG> - big fucking grin, RTFM - Read The Fucking Manual, FOAD - Fuck Off And Die, ESAD - Eat Shit And Die, WTMKF - Welcome To My Kill File, PLONK! - Person Leaving Our Newsgroup: Killfiled (you have been kill filed), PITA - Pain In The Ass, KUTGW - Keep Up The Good Work, BTW - By The Way, IMHO - In My Humble Opinion, LMAO - Laughing My Ass Off, ROTFLMAO - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off, [snip] - portions of the original message to which I'm replying, and which are unrelated to my reply, have been deleted. 

For some of the more common acronyms you might see, check this out.

A: NO MORE THAN ONCE per day, per newsgroup. Multiple requests (i.e. one right after the other- sometimes called a "billboard" or "vertical spam") are rude and will be ignored or flamed by the most experienced readers. This is very important! In extreme cases you may be added to their kill filter which screens out all future messages from you. As far as they are concerned you will simply disappear. This is unfortunate as they are the ones most likely to be able to provide the stuff you need. The generally accepted format is "REQ: Program X version #.# disk #, [archive name] filename.xxx"

A: Many people today have connections faster than a 56K modem. But there are also many who do not. If you have a fast connection, avoid the impulse to post as fast as you can. This is especially true if you are posting a single application which is, for example, 100MBs in size. So that everyone has an opportunity to download your post, try to spread it over several days and try not to exceed 50MBs per day. 

A: No. "Norton Utilities needed urgently" will totally discredit you. No one dies from software deficiency. If you need it that badly, then go out and buy it. Similarly, requests that beg and plead or say "I will eat/stuff/screw (fill in the blank) for XX prog", are the mark of a lamer and are generally ignored or flamed.

A: Not even close to cool. It is difficult to read and widely regarded as immature. For an example of a particularly poor header, someone once blessed us with: [Ð|Ð ÅÑ ;¥Øñë GÈT Â]_]_ 3Ð]\/[äx ßÿ Zög¿]. You are much more likely to get a response using standard type.

A: NO. It is the Internet equivalent of SHOUTING. Use it sparingly.

A: It could be any one of several things. Perhaps no one has what you asked for. Perhaps, before you got smart enough to read and follow these guidelines, you pissed everybody off and they kill filtered you. Perhaps nobody feels like uploading anything right now. This is Usenet, not real life. There is no "refund desk" or complaint department. Nobody owes you anything, and you don't owe them. If this fact is too hard for you, find another hobby. We really don't want to hear it.

A: NO. This group is devoted to software. Not race, politics, religion, sexual preferences, etc. Just software. Period. End of discussion. Subject closed. Take it somewhere else.

A: We don't care here. Take it somewhere else. And please don't cross post this kind of stuff to warez groups.

A: NO. Experienced usenet readers do not like excessive cross-posts (ECP) and such posts can be detected by some of thecancelbots, so they will be eliminated and not reach any audience at all. There are always exceptions, but generally, if you MUST cross-post, try not to post to more than three groups at a time. ECP will subject you to flaming and land you in kill files.

A: NO. No one owns the Internet and no rules are mandatory. However, newsgroups are based on voluntary association. If you don't like the folks here, simply leave. If they don't like you, you will be ignored. If, however, you are an intelligent and reasonable person who wants to make the most out of the time spent here, you would be well advised to stay within the yellow lines. And by all means, BE PATIENT! (see Rule#1)