Newsgroups downloader

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Weresmilodon
Fel is my Dark Lord ;)
Posts: 464
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:19 pm

Newsgroups downloader

Post by Weresmilodon »

Does anyone on the board use any type of Newsgroups downloaders? I've tried about 8 or so, but have yet to fin one that really works well for my purpose.

What I’m looking for is the following functions;
*Ability to download from multiple groups without needing to manually select them.
*Automatic start of downloading periodically, say every 1-3 hours or so.
*Ability to save into folder identical to the group’s name. (alt.amature.artist instead of just artist, for example)
*Wont hurt if it's advanced enough that you can specify where you want the folders... :roll:
*Capable of saving multiple files simultaneously.
*Checks if it already downloaded the file before. NOT if you already have the file, but if it's been downloaded (and probably deleted)

It will be used mostly for pictures, but might also be used for small files.
So far the one closest to this is probably tifny. But, it crashed after downloading for a few hours, doesn’t let you pick a save-location, and also don't allow saving to full group names. It does however run regular checks for new files periodically.
Currently I use SBNews, but it can only be run once, and then has to be restarted before you can use it again. Also don't have any of the listed functions except the saving to folders one.
"I'm a male. Males are supposed to act tough."
Tarrin, Chapter 29, The Questing Game.
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Downdude
Katzh-dashi
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:15 pm

Re: Newsgroups downloader

Post by Downdude »

It would have been useful to list the 8 you tried but I fully recommend Newsleecher. It is a pay program but for your 30$ you get a years worth of updates to the program and a year of the Super Search indexing service which will allow you to search all of usenet.
It will address the group name requirement and you can specify the main download folder and then each group name will be a subfolder if you set that option. Also when files are queued you can manually select another folder for them to be downloaded to. Also handy is using the 'smart leech' which will download the currently selected files into a subfolder using the subject line as a subfolder within the group folder. This is REALLY handy for downloading pic collections where each set uses the same filenames. It can be set to use as many download threads as your server supports. It also supports checking to see if you already downloaded the files and has an option set to ignore previously downloaded files. The time this data is kept is under the 'days to keep...' 'download IDs' under the 'Group Caching' section. Onces your files are queued you can pause the queue, move files up/down in the queue while downloading and pause the queue, and quit the app and be able to restart where you left off even if the current file didn't finish downloading. Searching within a group it provides top notch options such as Subject include/exclude, poster include/exclude, max/min size and/or date. There is also filter toggles for binaries, text, incomplete, leeched (previously downloaded), old headers. There is even searching within the queue list! This can be real useful if you have a large queue and you want to move something specfic to the top or you want to remove something from the queue.

I also use Forte Agent if it's for a group where I want to read from. I'd suggest using the free version of Agent for this purpose since I don't think its really that good for downloading files.
Weresmilodon
Fel is my Dark Lord ;)
Posts: 464
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:19 pm

Re: Newsgroups downloader

Post by Weresmilodon »

Thanks for reminding me about Newsleecher. I've had it installed as a potential replacement, but I’ve probably only run it two times or so before. I've checked it out more now, and I like it even more. It'll probably be it, unless someone can dig up some obscure downloader with same functions + auto-download. That's pretty much the only thing I’ll miss.
"I'm a male. Males are supposed to act tough."
Tarrin, Chapter 29, The Questing Game.
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