Downloading from Newsgroups

 For a long time now I've been using Usenet to download everything I ever need from the internet so I'm going to let you know what I use and how you can get setup using it quite quickly. I do pay money for a few of the services I'm going to describe, but it isn't much and it's totally worth it.

Newgroups Server

You will need access to server that holds the data for all the Newgroups and I use Newshosting which is very reasonably priced and will give you unlimited access, SSL encryption and a long retention period.

.NZB Files

Like Torrents newsgroups have a single file that will enable you to download all the files in the archive, these are .nzb files. I use a website called Newzbin that indexes these files, groups them into categories (Movies,TV,Music) and then allows you to download the file. This is a paid website but it's dirt cheap and a years worth of access will be around $10-20. It's well worth it but if you're tight or don't have the money there are free alternatives such as NZB Matrix.

Software You'll Need

First thing you will have to download is a program that will open .nzb files and download their contents from the Usenet server, I've personally been using NewsBin and it's a very good solution. It will automatically download every file in the .nzb, check for errors using .par files and repair the archive if needed.
If you want to manually check if an archive is fully complete I use QuickPar which will open .par/.par2 files, check the archive and repair if necessary. Although you may not need this all the time it's a good program to have just in case.

Positives

• A lot safer than torrents, absolutely no uploading
• Things are usually release on newsgroups before torrents
• Max out your connection when downloading

Negatives

• Paid service
• A bit of a fiddle to get up and running

Other stuff

For a great guide on everything Usenet visit Slyck's article which goes through server options, .nzb programs and a great rundown on parity files and how they work.