The Easiest Way to Download
RAR Archives from Newsgroups!
ezRAR's Main Window
The first thing you need to know about downloading RARs
from newsgroups is that they usually come in sets. There will be several RAR files and almost
always several associated PAR files. So you need to learn how to identify which files to
download.
Keep in mind that you have to let ezRAR search long enough to find all the files. In
addition to that, when new files are being posted, the entire set will arrive on your news
server over a period of time, so you may need to wait for such files. The oldest files in
the group may expire off of your news server at any time, and in no particular older. So,
very old sets may be missing files.
You can stop ezRAR from searching whenever you want. You don't have to wait for it to
search the whole group before you download something. You can watch it as it searches, spot
something you like, stop the search, begin a download, and then resume the search.
All of the files you see are posted by regular people. And since not everybody uses the
same posting software, there will be differences between what the files look like in ezRAR.
However, it is not very difficult to identify RAR sets:
Sort the subject column into alphabetical order by clicking the column header where it
says "Subject" at the top and middle of ezRAR's list. (Clicking again will sort in the
opposite direction.)
The files of a RAR set will almost always have subjects that begin with
the same thing, and the same "From". So look for a set of files all from the same person
with identical subject beginnings such as:
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.par2" yEnc (1/1)
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.part1.rar" yEnc (50/50)
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.part2.rar" yEnc (50/50)
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.part3.rar" yEnc (50/50)
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.vol000+01par2" yEnc (1/1)
I hope you like my video. "Some Video.vol001+02par2" yEnc (3/3)
The example above would be for a pretty small file. A file of DVD-size
would have many more files, but they would all look similar. First you would see
a par2 file, then a series of rar files, and then some more par2's at the end.
To download the set, click on the par2 file at the top, then hold down the shift
key and click the par2 at the bottom to select all the files. Then click the Download
button.
At this point, you can continue reading on the RAR Downloader help page,
or you can stay here and learn about the remaining features of this window.
The Group Menu - There are many thousands more groups available. To add more groups
to this menu, go onto the Setup menu and then to Groups.
The From Column - This column shows the person who posted the file. People will usually
use fake email addresses here to prevent spammers from getting them.
The MB Column - This column shows the size of the file in megabytes.
The % Column - This column shows the percentage of parts that ezRAR has found for the file.
The Status Column - When ezRAR searches, it will put the word "New" in this column as
it adds newly-found files. If you stop the search, and then re-start it, ezRAR will first change
all the files to "Ready". When the search is done, you can click the column header to sort the
list by status and easily see which new files ezRAR found in the last search. At first, files
will be marked as incomplete until ezRAR finds all of their parts. Sometimes you will see files
that remain incomplete, which means that your ISP has poor "completion." If that is the case, then
you should consider a premium service such as ours.
The Clear Files Button - As you look through files you can use this button to remove
the ones that you don't want. The files will, of course, remain on your news server. If you
later change your mind, you can bring the files back by using the Reset This Group command,
(see below) and then having ezRAR re-search the group. You can also clear files by pressing the Delete
key if you are using Windows.
The Find Button - If you search some groups all the way to the end, you will have thousands of files
in your list. Use this button to quickly search for files based on the text in the Subject column. (This
feature was added in version 2.0.)
The ezRAR Menu
The commands on this menu are only available when ezRAR is the top window. If the commands
are greyed-out, click on the main ezRAR window to bring it to the top, and then go back onto
the menu.
ezRAR - This command opens the main ezRAR window.
Settings - This command opens the ezRAR settings window.
Change File Status to Ready - This command simply changes the status of the selected files.
Change File Status to Downloaded - You may want to use this command to mark a file as downloaded,
perhaps instead of clearing it from the list if you are un-decided about downloading it.
Clear All Files in This Group - This button will remove all files from the list. The next time
you click the Start Search button, ezRAR will resume the search by looking for files newer than the ones
previously listed, and if the prior search did not finish, it will find files older than the oldest of
the previous files. In other words, when you clear files, ezRAR remembers where the last search left off
and will continue from there.
Reset This Group - Use this command if you want ezRAR to re-search the group as if it were searching
it for the first time. All files will be removed, and when you click Start Search, ezRAR will start over
from the beginning.
Accept Updates From ezGroups - When ezRAR searches, it saves all the files it finds - not
just the RAR and PAR files. ezGroups does the same thing. In other words, both ezRAR and ezGroups will find
the same files and store them in the database. If you set ezRAR and ezGroups to the same server and group,
this option will become available. If you turn it on, and then start ezGroups searching,
ezRAR will display the RAR and PAR files that ezGroups finds. You will need to select this menu command
again to turn off the feature. While it is on, ezRAR will act like it is searching and not allow you to
do most things. The files listed will be the exact same files that ezRAR would find if it were doing the
search. This feature just allows you to see all files as soon as possible.
|