Broadband FAQs

1.0 General Broadband Issues
2.0 PC Issues
3.0 Networking
4.0 Internet Explorer
5.0 Email Issues
6.0 News Groups

1.0 General Broadband Issues

1.1 How fast is Broadband?
1.2 Which is better, Cable, ADSL or Satellite?
1.3 My connection seems slow. How do I speed it up?
1.4 How can I monitor my usage?
1.5 My BigPond Cable modem tx & rx lights are flashing madly. Should I be concerned?
1.6 My overseas links are really slow. Is there any settings I can change to make it faster?
1.7 I can't use Frontpage extensions on BigPond. Is there a fix?
1.8 Why does my BigPond Cable connection drop out every 5 minutes?
1.9 I can lease an IP address but nothing else is working.

1.1 How fast is Broadband?

It varies considerably depending on where you're downloading from, but if we talk maximum speeds compared to dial-up -
56kbs Dial-up (up to around 5-7 kBytes/Sec)
256kbs ADSL (up to around 28 Kbytes/Sec)
512kbs ADSL (up to around 50 Kbytes/Sec)
1500kbs ADSL (up to around 150 Kbytes/Sec)
Uncapped Cable (can go up to around 1100 Kbytes/Sec), but it varies a lot. Those sort of speeds you often get from local servers, Windows Update etc while with some servers you still might be lucky breaking 10 Kbytes/Sec. It varies quite a bit also from person to person depending on how many people are connected to the local "node", but generally with Cable if you're not getting at least 150-300 Kbytes/Sec from most sites then you've probably got a problem.

1.2 Which is better, Cable, ADSL or Satellite?

Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but not too many people would have a choice and would have to go with whatever they could get anyway.

Cable
The good:

Faster than ADSL & satellite, very reliable and quite often cheaper (depending on the plan requirements).
The bad:

Installation requires running cables which may (or may not) impact on the aesthetics of the building.

Pretty much a duopoly* between BigPond and Optus who offer similar pricing and performance. Optus have more relaxed usage limits but have a "no servers" policy, so low end ports for running web and mail servers etc are blocked. (BigPond don't block anything.)
* TransACT in Canberra also have a Cable backbone but all connections to it are via PPPoE (ADSL) from various local ISPs.

Very limited coverage. (Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide & Perth Metro only)

Only dynamic IP address plans available

ADSL
The good:

Fairly extensive coverage

Works through an existing phone socket so additional cabling will generally not be required

Lots of market competition so the range of plans and price options is huge.
The bad:

Phone lines through PABX systems and back to base alarms will involve fitting of a central filter which will generally involve some additional cabling.

Limited to within around 4km of an ADSL enabled exchange.

Not compatible with poor quality phone lines ("transmission loss too high" faults)

Satellite
The good:

Coverage in regional areas.
The bad:

Can be fairly "laggy" (response times). eg Web browsing over satellite will take a few seconds to find the web page but then will load it fairly quickly, compared to dial-up where the web page will be found fairly quickly but then takes a while to load. Sharing satellite between multiple PCs is best achieved using a Proxy Server rather than a NAT solution. Online Gamers will often be worse off with ping times on satellite than they were with dial-up.

Routers for Internet Sharing and Security are hideously expensive.

One way satellite uses a dial-up modem to send traffic back so upload speeds are slow.

Two way satellite plans are fairly expensive.

1.3 My connection seems slow. How do I speed it up?

See the downloads page.

1.4 How can I monitor my usage?

Firstly, common sense is the best protection. Don't leave file sharing programs like Kazaa and WinMX running, particularly if the PC is unattended. If you can see their icons in your Systray at the bottom right of your screen, they're running!

Telstra provides a usage meter here.
Alan Byrne also has his DataMonitor written for Optus Users. Alan writes "This sits in your system tray, and lets you easily see how much you have downloaded and how much you have left for that month. It uses the figures from the Optus web site, so it will show exactly the same data as on the Optus "My Usage" site." Download here.

There are also several meters that check all traffic across a Network Card.
See the freeware STAT 'n' PERF, cablemodemstatus and AnalogX's Netstat Live.
DU Meter is available for a 30 day trial.
Linux Users, see ipac-ng and ifMonitor.

Note: Most of these have shortcomings if there is two network cards in the PC as they'll measure internal and external traffic indiscriminately. The Linux ipac-ng seems to be a lot more configurable in this regard.

1.5 My BigPond Cable modem TX & rx lights are flashing madly. Should I be concerned?

These are generally just little "ARP" data packets caused by other PCs on the Internet infected with various viruses like CodeRed. They are not the right type of traffic to be counted as usage and are nothing to worry about if you're not running an unpatched version of IIS. (Internet Information Services)
What happens is PCs infected with the virus send out requests on the Internet for other PCs that it can spread to. These requests hit the ISP's routers, which in turn try to fulfil the requests and send out search parties for the requested information.

1.6 My overseas links are really slow. Is there any settings I can change to make it faster?

Occasionally, bad things may happen, causing slow download speeds and browsing from overseas sites.
One method that usually improves this situation for BigPond users, is to point your browser at one of the BigPond Direct caches. Remember that this information is cached, so is not necessarily up to the minute and you'll need to untick "use the same proxy for all protocols", just specifying the proxy for HTTP and add telstra.com to the exceptions (Internet Options > connections > LAN settings > advanced ) to be able to access secure sites like account management on Telstra.com.
Full instructions here.
Update: The BigPond Direct Proxy no longer appears to be working for non-Direct customers and will throw up "Access denied by Control List" errors. As an alternative there are many free proxies available at places like Atomsoft, but be aware that I strongly suspect that many of these are not intentionally free but are actually just poor saps with unsecure settings.

Be aware when using this method, there are no free sites like Wireplay. Everything becomes billable.

1.7 I can't use Frontpage extensions on BigPond. Is there a fix?

One issue not widely known about BigPond Advance is that we all get web access via a proxy server. It is referred to as a Transparent Proxy because there are no manual browser configurations for it, so it effectively exists in an invisible form. Optus has the same thing, as do most ISPs in one form or another.
This proxy has both good and bad points.
The good is that it should effectively reduce our browsing and download times and also reduce the ISP's bandwidth costs which in turn, get passed on to us.
The bad is that some applications, like Frontpage Extensions, just can't work around it without being configured for it.

And how do you configure for it if you don't know it exists?

I'm glad you asked.
If you go to lagado.com, it can search back and give details of the proxy server we came through to get there. Then just configure Frontpage to use those details in the "proxy server" settings.
Alternatively, you can configure your browser to use the BigPond Direct Proxy as above, to get around the transparent proxy as well.

1.8 Why does my BigPond Cable connection drop out every 5 minutes?

This is generally an issue with an unusual authentication feature used exclusively by BigPond Cable called "The Heartbeat". The 5 minute dropouts are generally conflicts with VPNs, Firewalls, Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing and Hardware Routers.
There are solutions to all these issues. See the Heartbeat FAQ.

1.9 I can lease an IP address but nothing else is working.

This may be dozens of things, but if you've checked hardware and gone through all the settings on the guide pages then you may have a registry problem. See the Downloads page.

2.0 PC Issues

2.1 How do I keep hackers out of my PC?
2.2 How do I protect my data?
2.3 How do I back-up important files?
2.4 What is formatting?
2.5 I just installed Windows 2000 or XP and now it won't shut down.
2.6 I just added new hardware and now it won't start!
2.7 Is a USB Ethernet device better than a PCI Card?
2.8 How do I get rid of the password thingy every time I start windows?
2.9 How can I clean all the garbage out of my registry without formatting?
2.10 How do I get rid of programs I don't want, like MSN Messenger?
2.11 How do I stop programs from automatically loading at start up?
2.12 How do I create screenshots?
2.13 My dual processor PC has become really unstable with Broadband.

2.1 How do I keep hackers out of my PC?

Cut the cable in between it and the cable modem!
Yes, it's a joke, but I'm also quite serious. Nothing is impenetrable. You can only make it harder.
See the security FAQ.

2.2 How do I protect my data?

Back it up somewhere other than the hard drive on the PC connected to the net.
Consider how long it would take to redo your bookkeeping or whatever if your hard drive failed and then calculate how often you need to do back-ups.
A good practice if you're on a Network is to have separate Internet and File Servers. That way if one crashes, you haven't lost the other.

2.3 How do I back-up important files?

Use a permanent medium like CDs. If you don't have a CD burner, you know what to put on your Christmas list.
If you have huge amounts of data or a complex Server that would take an expensive technician weeks to rebuild, consider the benefits of investing in a RAID Drive.

2.4 What is formatting?

Formatting is wiping all the data on your hard-drive and starting again from scratch. Sometimes this is a necessary evil if a PC has become particularly sluggish, refuses to start or is badly infected with viruses.
Many situations are recoverable without going to these lengths but often these methods can cost hours or days to fix and still not be perfect, whereas a format will usually take around 2-3 hours and nearly always solve the problem.

2.5 I just installed Windows 2000 or XP and now it won't shut down.

This is usually a power management issue. Go to Control Panel > Power Options > APM and tick "Enable Advanced power Management Support".
If this doesn't work you may have to track down a BIOS update for your Mother Board.

2.6 I just added new hardware and now it won't start!

Firstly, take it out again and see if it starts without it.
If it does, try another slot or consult the manufacturer of the hardware.
If it doesn't, check all the leads inside are in firmly or remove and replace them, and remove and replace all the cards, especially the video card. Lots of Video Cards hate to be disturbed and may need to be reseated to clear away dust and dodgy contact points.

2.7 Is a USB Ethernet device better than a PCI Card?

USB Ethernet Devices are great and have their place, but if you're on an uncapped download service and chasing every last bit of speed, then they are a little lacking.
USB has a bit of a bottleneck around the 1mByte/sec, so speeds in excess of that start to flatten & peak out, even if it does say 10/100 on the box. (The device may be capable of it but the USB port isn't)
My tests show that for capped plans there is nothing in it and it doesn't matter which you choose. However for uncapped downloads, the PCI will get a start on the USB fairly early in the download and then streak away where the USB starts to fall off.

This graph illustrates the effect but is just an example and is by no means accurate. Suffice to say that if you have a service that exceeds 200 kBytes/sec, then choose an Ethernet connection over USB.
Update: USB 2.0 is much, much faster than USB 1.0 & 1.1. If you have a Motherboard and USB device that supports USB 2.0, you're laughing and will not notice much of a speed difference with Ethernet.

2.8 How do I get rid of the password thingy every time I start windows?

In Windows 95 to ME, if you haven't specified a password but you're still getting the Client for Microsoft Networks login prompt at startup, go to your control panel > Networking and you'll see a little pull down menu that says "Primary Network Login". Change it to Windows login and click OK and reboot.

If you have already specified a password and still want to get rid of it, click the Start button and Search > for files and folders, and type PWL. Delete the files that you find with the PWL extension but not the .DLL. When you reboot, you'll be prompted for a username & password again, but just press enter and it won't bother you again after that.

Note: This will remove any wallpaper and desktop settings that you had, along with any passwords windows had remembered for other stuff, so you'll have to re-enter them as they come up.

2.9 How can I clean all the garbage out of my registry without formatting?

There are various tools around on the Net that will do this, but I'm a little squeamish about them. They can make one hell of a mess in the wrong hands. That being said, they are quite useful in getting rid of all the detritus left in the registry from long forgotten applications that now just serve to slow your PC down.
One fairly nice registry cleaner is regvac, which is available for a 30 day trial.
Just make sure you do a registry back-up before you start experimenting.

2.10 How do I get rid of programs I don't want, like MSN Messenger?

In your control panel, click on "add/remove programs". You'll find 99% of applications can be found and uninstalled safely from there.

2.11 How do I stop programs from automatically loading at start up?

The best way is to locate the preferences of the particular application and disable their load on Windows startup feature or uninstall the software completely.

As a last resort, Win98 - XP has a feature called msconfig which can be activated from Start > run > type msconfig and click OK. Select the startup tab and Un-tick the ones you don't want to load at startup.
Warning: Be careful with this tool. It's not too difficult to bugger things right up if you go too wild.

Note: Windows 2000 doesn't come with msconfig, but XP's version will work and can be downloaded from The Tech Guide.

2.12 How do I create screenshots?

You can use Microsoft paint (or any other graphics application) to create Windows screenshots.
Just press the "print screen" key on your keyboard then open Paint and click edit and paste. If you just want a screenshot of one window, hold the "alt" key while you press the "print screen" key. Save images as gif or jpg for use on websites, news postings and email as they are much, much smaller than bitmaps (bmp) and don't take as long to load.

2.13 My dual processor PC has become really unstable with Broadband.

This is an uncommon problem that I've only struck twice. In both cases it was caused by a compatibility problem with the SMC USB adaptor supplied by Telstra. Ditch it and buy a card.

3.0 Networking

3.1 How do I share a Broadband connection on a Network?
3.2 What's the easiest and cheapest way to share Broadband Internet on my PC Network?
3.3 What hardware do I need to share a Broadband connection?
3.4 Why should I turn off file & printer sharing?
3.5 What are the extra usernames or sub-accounts that Telstra offer good for?
3.6 I can't get two Network Cards working. What do I do?
3.7 I can't see PCs in Network Neighbourhood. What do I do?
3.8 How do I transfer files between Networked Computers?
3.9 How do I access a Windows 2000 PC without getting asked for a password all the time?

3.1 How do I share a Broadband connection on a Network?

There are three basic methods with various advantages and disadvantages.

1. Proxy Server. This involves setting up a PC to act as a Gateway to the rest of the LAN using proxy software like Wingate, proxy plus, AnalogX proxy etc. There are dozens to choose from. See Practically Networked for stacks of Free Proxy software. They range from the small, simple and free AnalogX application to more advanced ones with features like logging what everyone's been up to on the net and various other rules and permissions.

2. Network Address Translation. Physically the same to set up as above but different in how it works. Common NAT applications include Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing (built into all Windows Operating Systems since 98 SE), Sygate and Winroute.

3. Routers. A router is fairly inexpensive and the ultimate pain-free solution for sharing a Broadband Internet connection. The beauty of these things is, you plug the modem into one side of it and your LAN into the other and it takes care of all the logging in to the ISP, sharing the connection to a Local Area Network and securing you from Hackers.

See the hardware page to find out more about Routers.

3.2 What's the easiest and cheapest way to share Broadband Internet on my PC Network?

AnalogX Proxy is nice, small, simple and free and it comes with all the installation instructions you should need, but there is a potential security risk in that it opens some ports by default which may not need to be opened.
To work around this you'll need to take some precautions.

Right click the icon in the system tray and select "configure".

Switch off all ports except http.

Use only Hotmail in Outlook Express on the client PCs.

Install a Firewall that allows you to block ports and not just allow or deny by application.

3.3 What hardware do I need to share a Broadband connection?

See the Hardware guide.

3.4 Why should I turn off file & printer sharing?

If you don't, you could be sharing your files and printers with the whole Internet!
On the adaptor that accesses the Internet, you only need a tcp/ip binding. Everything else is a security risk.

3.5 What are the extra usernames or sub-accounts that Telstra offer good for

My first recommendation is to avoid Networking using this method if possible if you're on BigPond Cable (ADSL is not a problem and doesn't have the same risks because of the PPPoE connection method).
If set up incorrectly (and most people do get it wrong) your internal traffic will be going through the Telstra Network and may possibly be counted as data usage and cost you money (if you're not on an unlimited plan). Now, although Telstra have promised that such traffic is not metered, they will not provide a detailed usage report to verify it, so it is difficult to dispute.
The other problem is that if you are sharing files between your PCs using the TCP/IP protocol, you're also sharing them with the rest of the Internet and absolutely anyone, anywhere in the world will be able to access them and also print mountains of garbage with your printer should they so desire.

The correct method is to not have any bindings at all on TCP/IP (see configuring a Server or stand-alone PC on each of the Cable guides) and use another, non Internet routable protocol like Netbeui for file & printer sharing between the Networked PCs. In addition to configuring your PCs correctly, install a suitable Firewall on every PC.

But it's not all bad, as it allows people to have multiple, independent connections using the one modem between several computers and maintain independent usage statistics for each one. They cost an extra $1.00 each per month but don't come with technical support due to falling into the "Networking" category. For your $1.00 you get an IP address and an email address.
Some may not see the point of multiple users but I consider it a unique and pioneering system of providing multiple dynamic IPs to a single customer. Something fairly rare amongst ISPs and a way around some particular issues that happen with Internet sharing solutions.
Go to account management on Telstra.com and select "manage users" to activate these sub-accounts.

3.6 I can't get two Network Cards working. What do I do?

If you’re having trouble trying to get two NICs working, try swapping the leads on them and reconfiguring them accordingly. Windows often gets confused with two NICs and will only work properly one way.
Alternatively, you could remove one of the cards and buy a 10 or 10/100 hub and plug the modem into an uplink port. Sygate is capable of being set up with a one-card server but I don't recommend this, as it is difficult to make secure.

If you reach this point where you cannot get 2 Network Cards working in your computer, I would recommend that you purchase a Hardware Router as the best option, because they're much cheaper than buying a new computer and far more secure than a one-card server.

ADSL uses Point to Point over Ethernet, not Ethernet, so it is possible to get away a single NIC in the Server by plugging the modem straight into a hub. You'll need a 10 or 10/100 hub (It won't work in a 100 base hub) and plug it into the uplink port. If you don't have an uplink port, or it's already used, you'll need a crossover cable.

3.7 I can't see PCs in Network Neighbourhood. What do I do?

Make sure File & Printer and printer sharing is enabled on all PCs and appropriate rules are configured in any firewalls. (It is best to disable firewalls until after your Network is established. Until then, it's just one more problem in the way.)
Possibly the most useful Networking tool is the ping command. Open a command prompt and type ping 192.168.0.2 (or whatever the other PC is). If you get no reply, you're not off to a good start.
The problems could be many, but start off with checking cables, leads and network cards. Most Network Cards have a link light on them. If the light's not on, it's not working. Check in the device manager in control panel that the card's drivers are working and there's no conflicts associated with it.

3.8 How do I transfer files between Networked Computers?

Once the Computers can see each other in Network Neighbourhood (Or My Network Places) you still need to enable sharing on whatever folders you want to share.

Simply go to the folder you want to share (most people just share the whole C drive)

Right-click it and select "sharing".

Select "Shared as" and access "Full". (you can specify passwords if you like, but for most networks, this is just an added pain.)

3.9 How do I access a Windows 2000 PC without getting asked for a password all the time?

Heh heh. This gets asked a lot.

Go to the Control Panel on the Windows 2000 box and select Users and Password.

Select the Advanced tab

Click the Advanced button

Double Click "Users"

Right-click a blank part of the right hand screen and select "New User"

Create the username/s (& password/s if one is specified) exactly the same as the one/s that is/are used on the other PC/s

Un-tick the "User must change password" box and tick the "password never expires" box unless you want them to change periodically.

And Bob's your Uncle!

Note: Make sure the Guest account is disabled. It's a hacker's paradise...

4.0 Internet Explorer

4.1 How do I stop my PC trying to dial when I open Internet Explorer or Outlook Express?
4.2 How do I stop it searching for proxy settings in Internet Explorer?
4.3 Where can I get a full version of IE6 without going through Windows update?
4.4 The Font size has gone gone mad. How do I fix it?

4.1 How do I stop my PC trying to dial when I open Internet Explorer or Outlook Express?

Go to control Panel > Internet Options > Connections and set to “ never dial”

4.2 How do I stop it searching for proxy settings in Internet Explorer?

Go to control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings and untick all the boxes.

4.3 Where can I get a full version of IE6 without going through Windows update?

If you're like me, you probably want a CD copy of the full version so you don't spend hours unnecessarily downloading it at every job you go to.
There's a version of IE6 here.

4.4 The Font size has gone gone mad. How do I fix it?

In Internet Explorer, click the view menu and Font Size.
This can also be achieved by holding the Control key and scrolling the mouse wheel (if you have one).

5.0 Email Issues

5.1 How do I set up email in Outlook Express?
5.2 I can't send email, but I can receive OK. What's wrong?
5.3 Can I still use an email address that's with another ISP or my own domain?
5.4 I'm on ADSL and I can't access the Telstra Account Management page or send or receive email?
5.5 I can't send email from the client PCs on my Network. What do I need to change?
5.6 I use a proxy server or run my own mail server, but I can't get it to send. Is there a solution?
5.7 A lot of my emails bounce back to me. What gives?

5.1 How do I set up email in Outlook Express?

You will generally find specifics for you ISP in their FAQs but to summarise using Outlook Express,

Open Outlook Express.

Click on “tools”

Select “Accounts”

Then, select “add” and “mail”

Type the name you want people to see when they receive your emails. E.g. Joe Bloggs

“Next”

Enter your email address – username@bigpond.net.au

“Next”

Enter the mail servers – Incoming is “pop-server” and outgoing (SMTP) is “mail-hub”

“next”

Enter your username and the password you were issued with.

“Next”

And “Finish”

5.2 I can't send email, but I can receive OK What's wrong?

If you want to use an email address from a different ISP just use your current ISP's mail server (BigPond's is mail-hub) in the SMTP field of the other ISP’s email properties.
Failing that, you may have some DNS settings wrong. If it's not mentioned in my other guides, consult your ISP's FAQs to find out what they are and where they go.

5.3 Can I still use an email address that's with another ISP or my own domain?

Yes.
As above, if you want to use an email address from a different ISP just use your current ISP's mail server (BigPond's is mail-hub) in the SMTP field of the other ISP’s email properties.

5.4 I'm on ADSL and I can't access the Telstra Account Management page or send or receive email?

You need to add the DNS suffix vic.bigpond.net.au to your Networking properties.

5.5 I can't send email from the client PCs on my Network. What do I need to change?

See "configuring the client PCs" in the relevant guide to your connection type.

5.6 I use a proxy server or run my own mail server, but I can't get it to send. Is there a solution?

Just use your ISP's mail server (BigPond's is mail-hub) in the SMTP field of the email server's properties.
Wingate on BigPond looks like this

5.7 A lot of my emails bounce back to me. What gives?

See the Security FAQ for a probable explanation.

6.0 News Groups

6.1 What are News Groups?
6.2 What rules do these groups have?
6.3 How do I set up Outlook Express to browse News Groups?
6.4 How do I combine multi-part messages?
6.5 How do I stop the "searching for hyperlinks" in Outlook Express when downloading from binaries News Groups?

6.1 What are News Groups?

News groups are an excellent way of sharing information and communicating with others with a common interest. Similar in concept to bulletin boards, they allow you to "post" a message and others will reply.
The BigPond Newsgroups are a thriving community and are now available on-line through Google.
I can normally be found amongst the bigpond.broadband.security, tech.lans & tech.win Newsgroups.
The bigpond.broadband.users newsgroup is for general discussion and not entirely suitable if you need a straight answer to a question. Still, it is a lot of fun and worth the effort unless you're easily offended or prone to take unfavourable comments from unknown people personally.

Some terms you should get used to -

Flame - a heated retaliation.
Troll - A deliberate attempt to incite flames. Usually by posting something controversial or personally insulting.
Binaries - file attachments to a post. These are generally unacceptable unless the news group has the word "binaries" in its title. An exception would be if it's less than 50kB and relevant to the topic. But add a warning in the subject like "Warning - 50kB attachment." People who pay per mB for usage will appreciate the forewarning.
733t - This is an exclusive "club" for the original members (the "elite") on the BigPond Broadband Network. Unless you are an experienced "flame warrior" it's best not to get their attention.
This website has a description of the standard personalities to be found in newsgroups. See if you can pick who's who.
Emoticons - the little smileys and so on that add emotion to a statement. See The Canonical Smiley List.
Netiquette - Internet etiquette. This includes the use of obscene language (especially in the subject line), large unexpected attachments, attaching Bitmaps instead of JPGs or GIFs (which are much, much smaller), asking for or posting warez (copywritten material) in what is essentially a public forum, and posting pornography.

For more about Newsgroups, and the BigPond ones in particular, see John Speranza's FAQs

6.2 What rules do these groups have?

Rules vary depending on the group.

Generally, read what is being posted, before mouthing off and offending everyone or repeating a question that was asked 10 minutes earlier.

If the news group has a topic, stick to it. e.g. Don't advertise your piano for sale in aus.net.access.

Large attachments are generally unacceptable unless the news group has the word "binaries" in its title.

Some groups are public, general topic forums and swearing, posting porn or warez will generate hundreds of complaints to your ISP. However there are many newsgroups where this behaviour is both expected and accepted.

Don't post large attachments if a link to a URL where it can be downloaded exists.

Don't post bitmap images. JPGs or GIFs are 1/10th the size and it just makes you look like a newbie.

Tip – insert a “NOSPAM” in your email address when posting to news groups. i.e. joebloggs@nospamhotmail.com This throws off the spam-bots (automated programs that scan news groups and websites for email addresses). Then anyone who legitimately wants to email you just has to remove the “nospam” to reach you.

6.3 How do I set up Outlook Express to browse News Groups?

To set up outlook express to read and post to news groups, go to tools > accounts > add > news.
Follow your nose with the wizard and BigPond users insert “news-server” as the news server.
Other ISP users will need to consult their ISP's FAQs.

6.4 How do I combine multi-part messages?

Binaries news groups handle large posts that are often posted in multiple parts. To combine them, simply hold down the control key and click on all of the message parts so that they are all highlighted. Then right click and select “combine and decode”.
Experienced binaries downloaders use a different newsreader called Forte Agent, which allows multiple parts to be automatically found and decoded by simply pressing Control-D.

6.5 How do I stop the "searching for hyperlinks" in Outlook Express when downloading from binaries News Groups?

To stop the “searching for hyperlinks” nonsense that hogs the processor, turn off the preview panel.
Click on view > layout and untick “show preview panel.”