Questions and Answers About Newsgroups on MSN

The information in this article applies to:

• The Microsoft Network versions 1.0, 1.05, 1.2, 1.3

SUMMARY

This article contains questions and answers about newsgroups on The Microsoft Network.

MORE INFORMATION

1. Q. Can I use a third-party news reader to read Internet newsgroups on
      The Microsoft Network?

   A. No. Currently, The Microsoft Network does not support retrieving or
      sending NetNews messages using the NetNews Transfer Protocol (NNTP)
      required by third-party news readers.

2. Q. Do I automatically have access to all the newsgroups when I join
      The Microsoft Network?

   A. No. If you want to have access to all the newsgroups on The
      Microsoft Network, you need to request full access. To do so, go to
      Categories\Internet Center\Internet Newsgroups\How to Access All
      Newsgroups.

3. Q. Can I download newsgroup messages to read offline?

   A. There is no offline reader at this time. To save a message to your
      hard disk, click Save As on the File menu while you have that
      message open.

4. Q. Is there a limit on the size of newsgroup messages?

   A. Messages are limited to 64K to adhere to Internet guidelines.

5. Q. Can I set a custom font for viewing newsgroup messages?

   A. No, custom fonts for newsgroup messages are not available.

6. Q. What is ROT13?

   A. ROT13 is a text scrambling method commonly used on the Internet when
      posting information that people might find offensive. In the Read
      Message and Compose Message windows of a newsgroup folder, the ROT13
      Encode/Decode command is on the Tools menu.

7. Q. Can I cross-post to newsgroups?

   A. No, The Microsoft Network does not support cross-posting. When you
      cross-post a message, one copy is posted, but multiple included
      newsgroups can see it.

      The alternative is multiple posting, which should generally be
      avoided. Most news readers can detect cross-posted messages, so
      people see only one copy of a message. News readers cannot detect
      multiple postings, and people see the message in every newsgroup you
      post to.

      Currently on The Microsoft Network, if you need to post something to
      multiple newsgroups, the only way is to do multiple postings. We
      recommend that you be careful about posting the same message to
      multiple newsgroups.

8. Q. How can I read newsgroups from Internet Explorer?

   A. Type the following line in Internet Explorer

         news:<name of newsgroup>

      where <name of newsgroup> is the name of the newsgroup you want to
      read.

   ARTICLE-ID: Q174138
   TITLE     : Frequently Asked Questions About Newsgroups on MSN