NEWSGROUP FILE TYPES

What do they all mean?
All newsgroup postings are pretty much in ASCII format; meaning they are all a series of number and letters and few odds-and-ends characters. Even when someone uploads sound or movie files, those files are converted into a format Usenet servers understand.

So that leaves pretty much 2 types of postings on Usenet; text-only and binary. Text-only refers to those postings that someone has types to start a topic, comment on someone else's post, or just rant. Binary posts will look like jumbled characters if you look at them in their native format; but when they are decoded (either via UUdecode or yEnc), they should go back to their original binary format.

Since text-only postings are straightforward, we'll discuss some of the binary file types you may come across:

NFO, TXT. DOC, WPD, WRI - all text document binary file types; most can be read with any ASCII reader like Notepad, Vi, Microsoft Word, Wordpad, Wordperfect, etc.

GIF, JPG, PSD, TIFF, BMP - image files; usually are single-part binaries (but can be multi-part). Almost every operating system has a default application able to view these file types.

MP3, WMA, WAV - sound files; again can be played with some type of default application already installed your computer.

MPG, MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, VOB - movie files; if these do not open a default application on your computer, try searching on the web by the file extension and the word "viewer" added to it.

ISO, BIN, CUE - these would relate to CD image files. Software burning software like Nero can re-create the CD so you can view the original contents of the CD uploaded to Usenet.

RAR, R01, 001 - were created using separate software applications specifically designed to break up files into user-configurable chunks. You'll need a program like WinRAR or HJSplit to put them back together.

PAR, PAR2 - also known as parity files, they can be used to repair incomplete RAR or HJSPlit files when certain parts of a binary file are missing.

How to get these file types
Most newsreader applications out on the Internet today and successfully combine and decode mult-part posts on Usenet. The resulting file(s) is then available on your computer to view or execute. ** Warning: as with the Internet, viruses exist on Usenet as well -- please scan any files you have downloaded before opening them **

Free newsreader applications like Xnews and MS Outlook Express Newsreader can get you started right away. Check their online help files/documentation on the exact usage for downloading binary posts.

> Click here for a list of Usenet providers that have these file types to download