Troubleshooting

Newsgroup Isn't Available on News Server

A newsgroup I want to access isn't available on my server.

Click Reset List in the Newsgroup Subscriptions window. The newsgroup may be new and simply not shown in your current list. If the group still isn't there, try contacting the ISP or other service that hosts the list and ask that service to add it. Often new groups simply go unnoticed because so many of them are out there. Many news servers are willing to respond to such a request, unless they have a rule restricting or censoring the particular group.

Try paying for an alternative dedicated news server that does carry the newsgroup you're interested in.

Some Messages Are Unavailable After Synchronizing

I tried to synchronize the group, but some messages I click aren't available.

Obviously, you should first check that the settings for the group are correct. If the group isn't set to All Messages, and the Synchronize check box isn't checked, this could easily explain the missing message bodies. Another possibility is that the message was removed from the host server sometime after the header list was distributed. It can take up to 72 hours after a message is physically removed before it disappears from the header list.

News servers only have so much disk space. To allow them to continually add incoming files to their lists, they must continually discard old files. If your server is missing a few articles you may "ask" for a repost of the incomplete files, but while the poster is expected to service reasonable repost requests there is no requirement to do so. Sometimes a regular poster might not service repost requests at all, but will instead indicate an FTP, ICQ, or IRQ service where you can pick up missing files. And in many cases a repost request will be answered by a person who just happens to have downloaded the same file set and is willing to help support the group.

Finally, if you are doing everything right and your server is not gathering all the articles that were posted, consider informing your ISP's support desk of the problem. It does not do any good to complain to everyone else in the newsgroup if you are not telling the few people who are actually paid to help you. Servers and the connecting routers are sensitive electronic equipment and their only guarantee is that they will fail at some point. Help your ISP monitor the network.

If your server is very poorly connected and misses a lot of articles, as I stated above, you should consider hiring a dedicated news service as a secondary server.

Message No Longer Available

A message I read earlier is no longer available.

The default settings in Outlook Express delete read messages five days after you have downloaded them. You can change this option on the Maintenance tab of the OE Options dialog.

Which Ones Are New?

I can't tell which messages are new.

Open the Options dialog by choosing Tools, Options. On the Read tab, place a check mark next to Mark All Messages as Read When Exiting a Newsgroup.

No News Server Connection

Outlook Express cannot locate my news server.

Do you need to use a separate Internet connection to access the news server? If so, choose Tools, Accounts, and then click the News tab in the Internet Accounts dialog. Look at what is listed under Connection next to your news account listing. If it says Any Available, click Properties and select the Connection tab. Place a check mark next to Always Connect to This Account Using, and select the appropriate connection from the drop-down list.