Simon Hartcher

I recently started using Usenet through Astraweb which has been great. Its a great way to get files…FAST! The problem was I couldn’t find a decent client that was free, supported binary downloads and had auto repair (PAR support).

I had been using a trial of Newsbin Pro which was great but I thought there surely must be a free alternative out there. After a bit of searching I found GrabIt – A free binary newsreader with all the features I mentioned above. Simply download and install! No bloatware to be found. The only advertising is a menu item (shown below) which opens browser links to Shemes.com Usenet Services.

They provide Usenet Search subscriptions which I guess seem like pretty good value but I find Newzleech to be more than sufficient. There are also Sheme Usenet Server subscriptions but Astraweb is much better value.

The only tinkering I needed to do after installation was increase the number of server connections.

1. Right-Click Default Server under Subscribed groups
2. Click server properties
3. Move the slider bar under Maximum allowed connections to the right to increase the value (up to a maximum of 32 connections)
4. Click Ok

Any downloaded files will automatically extract (and repair if needed) to a directory which you can specify in Preferences under Edit. GrabIt comes with nzb support and association, so the steps to downloading a file is simple:

1. Start a Usenet search at Newzleech
2. Download and open the nzb file for the desired file(s)

Have fun!