Finding files:

Looking for a particular application can be a daunting task, especially for one new to searching. Sometimes it seems so much easier just to make requests for it in the logical newsgroups, that people think that is the best or fastest way! Sometimes that works, but often as not it doesn't, for many possible reasons. Perhaps what you're looking for has either just been posted and expired on your server; or you're asking in the wrong group; or no one has it; or no one feels like posting it. So what are your alternatives?

You can search other UseNet news groups for it, either manually or using various tools. If you have a news server with good retention, that's always a good first step. If, however, you have a news server with average or poor retention, looking for a post after the fact is not as likely to be productive. An easy and quick way is to use one of the Web-based newsgroup-monitoring services, either pay or free. Examples of both of those are www.binnews.com for a pay service, and http://www.newzbin.com/ for a free one. These operate by having a number of members or volunteers scour the UseNet newsgroups, reporting the posts they find there. But these services are not all inclusive; they have agreed to not list certain news groups, and certain release groups. There is no substitute for legwork, but these services can often help you find things you want in a hurry.

USENET SEARCHES:

To find things on UseNet you need either a fast connection and a lot of time, or access to search engines that index UseNet and search from a database. You can find a number of these at one convenient link:

http://www.refdesk.com/usesrch.html

FILE FINDING & FTP SEARCHES:

http://www.ftpfind.com/

http://www.filesearching.com/  English.     Russian:  http://www.filesearch.ru/

http://www.metabear.ru/ A meta search engine. Includes an audio/video field.

http://www.ftpsearchengines.com/  This site gives links to ftp search engines for ftp/mp3/shareware, and even Mac! Also some links to infos on what is ftp, what are good clients, etc.

There are also programs that are designed to help find files. One of these is at: http://www.file-finder.com/ and is called AFFD (Atomic File Finder Deluxe) search-tool software. It is downloadable and says" "the online file searching tool that uses the best search engines."

These things change frequently, so we will endeavor to keep this up-to-date. If you discover any of these links to be broken, or if you have any "public" links that you believe would belong here, notify the FAQ maintainers by posting a message to alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.d to "ATTN: FAQ Maintainers," or by contacting us either at warezfaq@warezfaq.com or mjolner@warezfaq.com, and include any updates and suggestions you might have.