How to download old NG articles?

How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?

Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.

I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)

For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as only 1
May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size when I
press Headers subsequently.

Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as long
ago as 9 June 2004.
I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain its
own archive.

(Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)

Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.

According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB with
954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0 MB and
21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72 GB of
free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file system
limits.

Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on the
msnews server.

When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211 response
come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
861046.

When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response specifies
a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then OE does
send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed in OE.

FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!). That
might be evidence of trimming on the server .

Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I estimate
that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
"estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially 760
times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to be
1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.

I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder pane
seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number of
articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one NG.
That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the GROUP 211
response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean Up
menu. Oh well....

So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May 2009.
In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that date back
at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)

So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?

My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't know
of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE. Does
anyone?

I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search nor
Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.

(FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I know
exists. I wrote it!)

They normally are purged after 90 days from the NNTP news servers.

"JoeU2004" wrote in message
...
: How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?
:
: Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.
:
: I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
: repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)
:
: For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as only 1
: May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size when
I
: press Headers subsequently.
:
: Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
long
: ago as 9 June 2004.
: I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain its
: own archive.
:
: (Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)
:
: Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
: limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.
:
: According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB with
: 954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0 MB
and
: 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
: folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
: folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72 GB of
: free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file
system
: limits.
:
: Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on the
: msnews server.
:
: When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211 response
: come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
: 861046.
:
: When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
specifies
: a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then OE
does
: send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
: responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed in
OE.
:
: FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!).
That
: might be evidence of trimming on the server .
:
: Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I estimate
: that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
: "estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially 760
: times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to be
: 1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.
:
: I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder pane
: seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number of
: articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one NG.
: That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the GROUP
211
: response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean Up
: menu. Oh well....
:
: So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
: articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May 2009.
: In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that date
back
: at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)
:
: So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?
:
: My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
know
: of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE. Does
: anyone?
:
: I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search nor
: Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.
:
: (FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I know
: exists. I wrote it!)
:

"Tom Willett" wrote:
They normally are purged after 90 days from the
NNTP news servers.

That is certainly not true of all NNTP news servers in general, having
personal knowledge of some. But that is certainly consistent with my
observations of the msnews server in particular. Sigh.


----- original message -----

"Tom Willett" wrote in message
...
They normally are purged after 90 days from the NNTP news servers.

"JoeU2004" wrote in message
...
: How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?
:
: Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.
:
: I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
: repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)
:
: For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as only
1
: May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size
when
I
: press Headers subsequently.
:
: Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
long
: ago as 9 June 2004.
: I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain
its
: own archive.
:
: (Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)
:
: Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
: limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.
:
: According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB
with
: 954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0 MB
and
: 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
: folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
: folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72 GB
of
: free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file
system
: limits.
:
: Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on the
: msnews server.
:
: When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211
response
: come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
: 861046.
:
: When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
specifies
: a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then OE
does
: send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
: responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed in
OE.
:
: FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!).
That
: might be evidence of trimming on the server .
:
: Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I
estimate
: that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
: "estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially
760
: times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to
be
: 1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.
:
: I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder
pane
: seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number
of
: articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one
NG.
: That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the GROUP
211
: response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean Up
: menu. Oh well....
:
: So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
: articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May
2009.
: In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that date
back
: at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)
:
: So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?
:
: My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
know
: of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE.
Does
: anyone?
:
: I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search nor
: Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.
:
: (FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I
know
: exists. I wrote it!)
:

I was specifically referring to MS servers, since you were asking about MS
news servers.

"JoeU2004" wrote in message
...
: "Tom Willett" wrote:
: They normally are purged after 90 days from the
: NNTP news servers.
:
: That is certainly not true of all NNTP news servers in general, having
: personal knowledge of some. But that is certainly consistent with my
: observations of the msnews server in particular. Sigh.
:
:
: ----- original message -----
:
: "Tom Willett" wrote in message
: ...
: They normally are purged after 90 days from the NNTP news servers.
:
: "JoeU2004" wrote in message
: ...
: : How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?
: :
: : Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.
: :
: : I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
: : repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)
: :
: : For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as
only
: 1
: : May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size
: when
: I
: : press Headers subsequently.
: :
: : Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
: long
: : ago as 9 June 2004.
: : I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain
: its
: : own archive.
: :
: : (Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)
: :
: : Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
: : limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.
: :
: : According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB
: with
: : 954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0
MB
: and
: : 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
: : folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
: : folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72
GB
: of
: : free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file
: system
: : limits.
: :
: : Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on
the
: : msnews server.
: :
: : When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211
: response
: : come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
: : 861046.
: :
: : When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
: specifies
: : a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then OE
: does
: : send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
: : responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed
in
: OE.
: :
: : FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!).
: That
: : might be evidence of trimming on the server .
: :
: : Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I
: estimate
: : that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
: : "estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially
: 760
: : times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to
: be
: : 1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.
: :
: : I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder
: pane
: : seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number
: of
: : articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one
: NG.
: : That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the
GROUP
: 211
: : response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean
Up
: : menu. Oh well....
: :
: : So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
: : articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May
: 2009.
: : In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that
date
: back
: : at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)
: :
: : So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?
: :
: : My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
: know
: : of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE.
: Does
: : anyone?
: :
: : I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search
nor
: : Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.
: :
: : (FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I
: know
: : exists. I wrote it!)
: :
:
:
:

You search for specific topic using Google. People don't store messages
of Newsgroups because all you get is replies from that dick head called
Tom Willett. Do you really want his messages?


JoeU2004 wrote:

How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?

Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.

I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)

For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as
only 1 May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change
size when I press Headers subsequently.

Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
long ago as 9 June 2004.
I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain
its own archive.

(Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)

Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.

According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB
with 954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to
12.0 MB and 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The
maintenance folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders.
Another unrelated folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19
folders. I have 72 GB of free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not
running up against any file system limits.

Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on
the msnews server.

When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211
response come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered
841950 through 861046.

When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
specifies a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049.
And then OE does send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through
861049, the server responds, and I do see those new articles added to
my list displayed in OE.

FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server
increased(!). That might be evidence of trimming on the server .

Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I
estimate that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is
only an "estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down
potentially 760 times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and
that appears to be 1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider
position.

I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder
pane seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the
number of articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at
least for one NG. That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the
number in the GROUP 211 response. That was observed pressing Reset in
the Maintenance Clean Up menu. Oh well....

So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May
2009. In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc
that date back at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back
further.)

So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?

My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
know of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using
OE. Does anyone?

I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search
nor Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.

(FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I
know exists. I wrote it!)

"Tom Willett" wrote:
I was specifically referring to MS servers, since
you were asking about MS news servers.

Thanks for the confirmation.


----- original message -----

"Tom Willett" wrote in message
...
I was specifically referring to MS servers, since you were asking about MS
news servers.

"JoeU2004" wrote in message
...
: "Tom Willett" wrote:
: They normally are purged after 90 days from the
: NNTP news servers.
:
: That is certainly not true of all NNTP news servers in general, having
: personal knowledge of some. But that is certainly consistent with my
: observations of the msnews server in particular. Sigh.
:
:
: ----- original message -----
:
: "Tom Willett" wrote in message
: ...
: They normally are purged after 90 days from the NNTP news servers.
:
: "JoeU2004" wrote in message
: ...
: : How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?
: :
: : Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.
: :
: : I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
: : repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)
: :
: : For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as
only
: 1
: : May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size
: when
: I
: : press Headers subsequently.
: :
: : Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles
as
: long
: : ago as 9 June 2004.
: : I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than
maintain
: its
: : own archive.
: :
: : (Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)
: :
: : Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
: : limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.
: :
: : According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8
MB
: with
: : 954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to
12.0
MB
: and
: : 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The
maintenance
: : folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another
unrelated
: : folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72
GB
: of
: : free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any
file
: system
: : limits.
: :
: : Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on
the
: : msnews server.
: :
: : When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211
: response
: : come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950
through
: : 861046.
: :
: : When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
: specifies
: : a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then
OE
: does
: : send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
: : responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed
in
: OE.
: :
: : FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server
increased(!).
: That
: : might be evidence of trimming on the server .
: :
: : Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I
: estimate
: : that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
: : "estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down
potentially
: 760
: : times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears
to
: be
: : 1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.
: :
: : I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in
Folder
: pane
: : seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the
number
: of
: : articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for
one
: NG.
: : That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the
GROUP
: 211
: : response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean
Up
: : menu. Oh well....
: :
: : So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last
19,000
: : articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May
: 2009.
: : In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that
date
: back
: : at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)
: :
: : So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?
: :
: : My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I
don't
: know
: : of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE.
: Does
: : anyone?
: :
: : I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search
nor
: : Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.
: :
: : (FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that
I
: know
: : exists. I wrote it!)
: :
:
:
:

Posts on the MS Public NNTP newsserver are archived for a minimum of 90
days. When a post is removed from the server, it will be removed in OE the
next time OE synchronizes with the server.

If the "Get XXX headers at a time" option is unchecked (see below), WYSIWYG.

Tools | Options | Read | Get XXX headers at a time

The default is 300. You may set this option as high as 1,000. Right-click
on the newsgroup in Folders pane | Synchronization Settings | select New
Messages Only. Now every time you open the newsgroup (or hit F5), you will
download the next-newest set of headers/messages..

When you feel you've downloaded enough headers/messages, again right-click
on the newsgroup in Folders pane and select Catch Up Now. This will Mark as
Read all messages on the server, including ones you've not yet downloaded.
Now return to "Get XXX headers at a time" and uncheck the option completely;
then compact the folder.

From now on, OE will only download headers/messages posted to the server
since you last checked (polled) for messages.

You should probably visit this page, too:
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm#cleannews (lotsa good stuff
there).
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002


JoeU2004 wrote:
How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?

Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.

I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)

For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as only 1
May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size when
I
press Headers subsequently.

Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
long
ago as 9 June 2004.
I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain its
own archive.

(Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)

Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.

According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB with
954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0 MB
and
21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72 GB of
free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file
system
limits.

Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on the
msnews server.

When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211 response
come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
861046.

When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
specifies
a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And then OE
does
send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the server
responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list displayed in
OE.

FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!).
That
might be evidence of trimming on the server .

Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I estimate
that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
"estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially 760
times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to be
1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.

I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder pane
seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number of
articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one NG.
That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the GROUP
211
response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean Up
menu. Oh well....

So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May 2009.
In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that date
back
at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)

So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?

My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
know
of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE. Does
anyone?

I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search nor
Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.

(FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I know
exists. I wrote it!)

"JoeU2004" wrote in message
...
How can I download old newgroups articles using OE6?

Currently, my server is msnews.microsoft.com.

I set "Get headers at a time" to 1000 (the max, apparently), then I
repeatably press the Headers icon. (Is there a more direct way?)

For the microsoft.public.excel.misc NG, that gets me back as far as only 1
May 2009. The DBX file size is 9291 KB, and it does not change size when
I press Headers subsequently.

Yet with the MS Discussion Groups web interface, I can see articles as
long ago as 9 June 2004.
I ass-u-me that MSDG relies on the msnews server rather than maintain its
own archive.

(Hmm, perhaps that assumption is wrong. See below.)

Initially, I thought perhaps there are some OE or file system size
limitations. But I cannot find any that explain this behavior.

According to the Maintenance Clean Up menu, the cache size is 12.8 MB with
954 KB wasted. After compaction, those numbered were reduced to 12.0 MB
and 21.1 KB. (The DBX file size was reduced to 9194 KB.) The maintenance
folder size is 19.4 MB with 23 files and 0 folders. Another unrelated
folder of mine has 1.40 GB with 794 files and 19 folders. I have 72 GB of
free space on my disk. Clearly, I am not running up against any file
system limits.

Well, looking at network traces, perhaps the limitation is indeed on the
msnews server.

When I press Headers, I see the GROUP request go out and the 211 response
come back specifying a total of 18981 articles numbered 841950 through
861046.

When I press Headers again after several minutes, the 211 response
specifies a total of 19003 articles numbered 841955 through 861049. And
then OE does send an XOVER request for messages 861047 through 861049, the
server responds, and I do see those new articles added to my list
displayed in OE.

FYI, notice that the lowest message number at the server increased(!).
That might be evidence of trimming on the server .

Moreover, paging through the list of m.p.e.misc articles in OE, I estimate
that I do indeed have about 19,000 articles locally. It is only an
"estimate" because I do not have the patience to page down potentially 760
times. I did manage to page down about 160 pages, and that appears to be
1/5 to 1/4 down the list, based on the slider position.

I page down to count because the number next to the NG name in Folder pane
seems to be the total number of articles on the server, not the number of
articles in my cache. Odd! It seems to be off by 4, at least for one NG.
That is, the number in the Folder pane is 4 less the number in the GROUP
211 response. That was observed pressing Reset in the Maintenance Clean
Up menu. Oh well....

So it seems that the msnews server retains only about the last 19,000
articles in m.p.e.misc, which apparently date back through only May 2009.
In contrast, Google Groups has 242,366 articles in m.p.e.misc that date
back at least through Jan 2004. (I did not search back further.)

So, as far as seeing older NG articles using OE, am I SOL?

My ISP stopped maintaining its own news server some time ago. I don't
know of any other (free) public news servers that I can access using OE.
Does anyone?

I don't seem to have any alternatives, either. Neither MSDG search nor
Google Groups Advanced Search seem to work completely right.

(FYI, I am searching for an article circa 2008 or earlier 2009 that I know
exists. I wrote it!)