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How to open and play PAR, RAR, 001, and other files from Usenet Newsgroups 
Compress and codec tools
Usenet Binary file tools
Open, Decode, Combine, and Play downloaded files 
 		Giganews Newsgroups USENET News Server
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  • Many files you find in the Usenet newsgroups can be played directly after you have downloaded them - like MP3 music files and JPG picture files.  But larger files, like movies, programs, and full CD's, must be decoded and require extra drivers to run.  We won't go into the hairy details of how to use each program - we figure you're smart enough to figure out most of this stuff, and nearly all the programs have tutorials on their web sites. 

    Here is the 411 on what the extensions mean and where to find programs to use with them.  
     

    • File types that need re-assembly to use:
       
    • RAR - Rar files are the most common multi-part file type.  Look for filenames ending in .r01 to rxx.  When selecting parts to download, look out for straggler .r00 or .rar parts - you need them all.  Once you have downloaded all the RAR parts, use Winrar to combine them usable.

    • .001 - Some people use an different program to break large files into parts - you will see these as sequential extensions .001, .002 etc.  Use HJSplit to recombine the parts.

    • PAR / PAR2 files are "parity" files.  These files are used to rebuild incomplete RAR or HJSplit file sequences when some of the needed files are missing.  The program Quickpar can use the data in the PAR files to fill in the holes in the other files.  WIth PAR files you usually need ALL the PAR parts to rebuild one missing RAR or 00X file, but with PAR2 files you can try downloading just a few of the PAR2 files and see if Quickpar can rebuild it, and if not, leep downloading a few more PAR2 files until there is enough to rebuild everything.

       
    • Playable / Usable File Types:
       
    • NFO and TXT files are usually small text files with descriptions of the following files (or parts of files).  Download the file and open it with a text editor like Notepad to read it.  
       
    • NZB files are lists of files to be automatically downloaded together as a set.  These are used by newer newsreader programs like Newsbin Pro.  SFV files are similar, in that they describe a complete set of files with file sizes and checksums so you can be sure you have all the correct, original files.  Use hkSFV to read and create SFV files.

    • JPG, GIF, BMP, TIF are all picture files.  There are tons of image viewer programs.  One of our favorite free image viewing programs for Windows is Irfanview.

    • MP3, WAV, WMA are all sound files.  Most computers come with a music player pre-installed, but Windows users may also want to try out the free version of Winamp.  We especially like the fadein / fadeout feature between songs (but then again, we're easily amused.)

    • MPG, AVI, WMV, MOV, VOB, MP4 are all video files.  If you don't like the movie player program that came with your computer, give these Windows based movie players a try.  
     
    • ISO, BIN, CUE are all CD image files.  You can use just about any CD burner software to make CD's from them.  If your CD or DVD burning program does not seem to recognize the file, try changing the extension to ".ISO"

    • More Video file type info: Most video files require a "codec" in addition to the player program.  Because it is an evolving standard, there are many codecs competing for dominance.  Here is a rundown of the standards and some places to turn for help:


    • Viruses: 
    • One final word about downloading files from Usenet Newsgroups.  Always use a good virus checking program to scan anything that does not end in MPG, AVI, JPG, or MP3.  Viruses and Trojan Horses can hide in all types of "interactive" files, including EXE, WMA, WMV, VBS, and even DOC files.  Never launch any suspect file types without running a virus check on them first!

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