How to Download Movies From Newsgroups

The network news transfer protocol (NNTP) has been around longer than the World Wide Web. It was set up to be like a bulletin board system where people could exchange text-based messages called "news." It had the drawback of being unable to handle binary attachments like images and videos. Text encoding protocols like uuencode and yEnc have made the transfer of digital media possible over Usenet, the name given to the network news universe. Binary files are encoded into text format, posted on the appropriate newsgroup and then decoded when they are downloaded.

Things You'll Need

• Access to an NNTP server
• Newsreader
• Appropriate decoders
• File splitter

Instructions

Configuration

1. Check with your internet service provider (ISP) to see whether it offers Usenet access and what the address for its news server is. If it does not offer this service, there are companies on the Internet that offer Usenet access for a fee.

2. Download and install a newsreader. MS Outlook Express has the ability to read newsgroups, but there are others available on the Internet that are more versatile, some for free. Follow your newsreader's instructions to connect to your chosen news server.

3. Download your news server's list of newsgroups. Each group typically covers a different topic, so you can use the newsgroup names to help you find the movies you want to download.

Downloading

1. In your newsreader, select the messages containing the movie your want to download. Movies are too large to fit into a single message, so they are usually broken into several parts.

2. Combine the parts. Sometimes files are broken up as they are posted to the newsgroup. In this case, they will need to be combined in the newsreader before they are decoded. Most newsreaders have a function to do this. Other times the movies are split before they are posted. In that case, each part must be decoded and then the parts are combined using a file splitter.

3. Decode the files. Most newsreaders automatically decode files when they are combined, but some of the older newsreaders require a separate decoder. yEnc is a newer method of text encoding, so you may have a newsreader that can decode uuencoded files, but will require a separate decoder for yEnc files.

4. Combine the split parts, if necessary. The most commonly used file splitter is HJsplit, which is freely available.

Tips & Warnings

• Many times files will be posted to Usenet newsgroups as an archive file. Winrar is the most commonly used archiver and is a good tool to have installed.

• Downloading copyrighted material is illegal. Avoid downloading anything you might think is copyrighted.