The first thing you need to know about downloading RAR files from Usenet 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 Usenet 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 may want to continue reading on the RAR Downloader help page. ezRAR’s buttons, menu commands, and list columns work the same way as the corresponding ezGroups controls. So the notes on this page for an explanation.
