Configuring and Troubleshooting Newsgroup Account Configurations

     

Outlook has its own newsreader that enables you to gain access to various types of newsgroups , download and read news messages, and post replies to them. You can find newsgroups on practically any subject, such as an Internet Usenet group or an internal company newsgroup.

If you have not previously set up a newsreader, Microsoft Outlook automatically sets up the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader. If you have set up a different newsreader, you can start it from within Outlook. To open the Outlook Newsreader, point to the View menu, select Go To, and then click News. If you have configured newsgroups previously, you can view these groups immediately.

Make sure you are familiar with how to configure newsgroups from Outlook.

Setting Up a Newsgroup Account

To set up a new newsgroup account, you need to verify the newsgroup server with your Internet service provider before you begin the following steps:

1. From Outlook, point to the View menu, select Go To, and click News.
   
   
2. After the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader window opens, click the Set Up a Newsgroups Account link, as shown in Figure 5.6.
   
   

   Figure 5.6. The Microsoft Outlook Newsreader window.

   
   
3. In the Your Name dialog box, enter your display name . Click Next.
   
   
4. In the Internet News Email Account dialog box, enter the email address where other members can respond to your messages. Click Next.
   
   
5. In the Internet News Server Name dialog box, enter the news server name that your ISP has supplied you. Click Next.
   
   
6. Click Finish to complete the wizard.
   
   
7. When the wizard is complete, you are prompted to download newsgroups from the news server you selected, as shown in Figure 5.7. Click Yes.
   
   

   Figure 5.7. The request to download newsgroups window.

   

   
   
8. The download process may take several minutes, depending on your connection speed and the number of newsgroups the news server hosts . Figure 5.8 displays the progress of the download.
   
   

   Figure 5.8. The downloading newsgroups from the news server window.

   

   
   
9. When the download is complete, you can search and then subscribe to the desired newsgroups.
   
   

Subscribing to a Newsgroup

After you have configured a newsgroup account, you can search and then subscribe to newsgroups by following these steps:

1. From the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader window, click the Subscribe to Newsgroups link.
   
   
2. Use the Newsgroup Subscriptions window to search for newsgroups based on keywords. Type Microsoft in the Display Newsgroups Which Contain text box.
   
   
3. Select a newsgroup from the list and click the Subscribe button.
   
   
4. Click the Subscribed tab to view all newsgroups you are currently subscribed to.