From Newsbin

Installing NewsBin

Newsbin needs a connection to a news service to get you going. If you do not yet have a service, grab a trial account somewhere and be ready to enter your user name and password. Picking the right service is based on how much and what type of data you will be downloading. If you are new to this, you probably can't assess what your usage will be. Once you’ve gone through some tutorials, poked around a bit and see what's available, you will be better able to decide which service works best for you. Just grab a free trial with one of the major news service providers and get ready to install Newsbin.

If you don't know your news server address, first check our ISP News Server Addresses page to see if your Internet Provider is listed and offers news server access. If your Internet Provider is not listed, you can either visit your Internet Provider's support website and look for the news server address (they may use the term "newsgroups"), call your Internet Provider's technical support line, or, sign up for one of our recommended Premium News Service Providers for a monthly fee.

If you are sitting there wondering what Usenet or a news server is, please read our New_to_Usenet section.

About the Installer

The NewsBin installer is an executable file with a name like nb555-install.exe. It checks for an existing installation of NewsBin and will give you the option to upgrade if you already have NewsBin installed. Do not uninstall the previous version if you plan to upgrade. Choosing to upgrade will keep all your current settings and data unless otherwise stated in the release notes.

If you haven't downloaded the installer already, get the latest version from our Download Page then come back here and follow this installation guide.

The installation is much like any other windows program so you should be able to figure it out. The main configuration settings you need to give Newsbin are the account settings for your News Service. Otherwise the folder for the Newsbin Data needs special consideration. This may end up requiring a lot of disk space depending on your settings. The install screen reminds you to choose a drive with ample free space.

Run the Installer

After you download the installer and run it, the first screen you see is the Language selector. If you do not see this, You have an old version of the installer and should go grab the latest version.

NewBin screens have been translated into several languages. If you do not see your language in the list, you can check the NewsBin Translation site for a status on that language.

Next the installer checks your operating system. On 64 bit machines you will see this prompt that allows you to choose to install the 32 bit version.

Next the installer stops at this greeting screen.

You can quit if you want but hopefully you'll click "Next" and proceed to the License screen:

Feel free to read the license. The key points are that this is a trial version that you are welcome to use for 10 days. After 10 days, we ask that you register if you are happy with the program. Upon registration, you will receive a key that will turn your trial version into the registered version. They key is good for up to 3 different machines. If you use it on more than 3 different machines (not 3 times, 3 different machines) then your key will be locked and you will either have to buy another one or beg us to unlock it. OS re-installs look like a new machine to our key server and we try to allow a few re-installs per year.

Click the "I Agree" button to indicate you understand the conditions of the license.

Installer Options

The installer gives you the option to

Include Start Menu Links - under All Programs/NewsBin5 including links to help files and the uninstaller.
Create Shortcut on the Desktop - to launch NewsBin from your Desktop
Associate NZB Files - so you can process NZB files with NewsBin by double-clicking on them

Installation Folder Selection

The next screen gives you the option to select an installation folder. If an older version of NewsBin (Version 5 series only) is installed, then you will receive a notice that an Upgrade will be performed at this point and the settings from that previous install will be preserved and the installation process will flow to the last screens below.

For a new installation, a default folder will be listed, which you can change if you like.

The Installer will then ask you to chose a folder for NewsBin's data files.

This should be a local drive with lots of disk space for best performance. All downloaded post headers are stored in this folder and if you subscribe to alot of groups, or download headers from high traffic groups, this folder can get very large. Moderate use may require around 5GB of space for the data folder. We have users report 50GB worth of space used although that is not typical. Once you choose the data folder path, it cannot be changed within the program. There is a way to change it later. It is explained in the Advanced Controls section.

News Server Setup

Once the installation folders are selected, the Installer will then display a screen asking you for your News Server information.

First you will be asked to create a name for your news server configuration. By default it is "My_Server" but you can enter any name you like that describes this server to you. This name will be displayed within NewsBin whenever it is referring to your news server for informational messages and in the server configuration menus.

Next, a screen is displayed for you to enter your news server address, and specify if the news server has SSL capabilities and if it requires a username and password for access.

Enter the News Server Address exactly as provided by your news service when you signed up. A valid news server address is critical to NewsBin operating properly. The news server address usually starts with the word "news". Sometimes it starts with "ssl".

Check the Use SSL: checkbox if you have a plan with SSL. Most News Service providers offer SSL encryption, but not all plans include it (sometimes they charge extra). Leave it unchecked if you don't or are not sure. It can easily be changed later. Trying SSL when it doesn't match you plan won't work, but going without SSL when your plan allows it will work.

Most news server accounts require a username and password for access. Some Internet Providers including access to a news server do not require a username and password. Check that box if you know a password is not required. When you have entered the information, click the "Next" button.

If your news server requires a password and you did not check Use SSL, the next screen is for entering your news server login information and then attempt to connect to the server to test the information you gave.

On this screen, enter the username and password provided to you by your news service, then hit "Test". If the login information is correct, the button will switch to say "Done" as shown in the image above.

We do not run a news service and we do not know your username and password. If you have lost this information, or don't know what it is, either contact your news service provider if you are paying for service or, contact your Internet Provider if you are using your Internet Provider's news server. Some Internet Providers do not require a username and password as long as you are on their network. Others will use your email address as your username, and use the same password you use to check your email to access their news server.

If you have an error, the messages in the Status window should give you an idea of the problem. If the test times out, then either the news server address was entered incorrectly or, a firewall may be blocking the test program's access to the news server. Help with troubleshooting connection problems is in our Troubleshooting FAQ.

Click "Done".

If you Checked Use SSL: then a different screen will be displayed to get your login information

Enter the user name and password and click "Next".

Default Settings

The installer gives you the opportunity to change two important default settings. The defaults are recommended but, depending on how you use Newsbin, you may want to change them here.

We never recommend setting the number of connections to match what your news service allows. The news servers have gotten into a connections battle promoting the idea that more is better. This is not the case. In fact, running too many connections can actually decrease your download performance. As long as Newsbin is consistently downloading at the maximum datarate provided by your Internet connection, there is no need to run more connections. Ninety percent of the time, this will be less than 10 connections. A small percentage of people with high latency Internet connections or, people who are geographically very far away from their servers may benefit from more connections.

Check for Latest Version

Since Newsbin is available on a slew of download sites, you may have downloaded an older version than the current production release. The installer gives you the opportunity to verify you are running the latest version and, if you aren't, it will download the latest executable and complete the installation process using the latest version.

The latest installer displays this screen prior to downloding the latest executables for you.

Completing the Installation

You will then see the final screen for the installer:

By default, the installer will run NewsBin and display the release notes in your default text editor when you click the "Exit" button.

The Release Notes contain details about new features, bug fixes, and known issues. Please read at least the first section pertaining to the current release in case there are known issues you should be aware of.

Upgrading

If the installer detects that NewsBin (Version 5 only) is already installed, you will be given the option to upgrade. Choosing this option updates the program and will not change any of your existing settings.

When the upgrade completes, you can either run NewsBin immediately, or choose not to launch NewsBin and use the desktop shortcut later. If you choose to run NewsBin, the release notes will be displayed using your default text viewer so you can see a list of the most recent changes and known issues.

Clicking "No" will exit the installer and leave your current installation untouched.

Running NewsBin for the First Time

You can see what NewsBin will look like and get some basic instructions here: First Time Run

Why Buy Newsbin

We hope you will think that the one time license fee is a HUGE bargain. You get all future updates, so it is just this one time fee. You also will have a voice in making the product better. You will get good advice and technical support from the Newsbin developers and the user community. And it is the fastest and most mature product available. You’ll forget about the license fee you spent in about an hour! Here's how to buy it.

Configuring NewsBin

Follow this link for information about Configuring NewsBin

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