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Quickstart
yDecode can auto-configure itself - simply answer "Yes" to the question that asks you to automatically configure yDecode after you start yDecode the very first time. If you answer "No" you can still start automatic configuration wizard later by clicking on Auto-Config button in yDecode.
Following procedure should be used only if you are having issues with the automatic configuration or if you use some other news reader software unsupported by auto-config (such as Agent or Netscape News).
Here is the basic scheme how yDecode works:
So, you need to setup yDecode and your news reader. The following describes just that with the examples of Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird. If you use some other news reader
please note - all news readers have similar settings but they are only placed on different locations so use this tutorial as a guideline. yDecode setup is identical for any newsreader only newsreader setup varies.
(Configuration part 1 of 2) - Configuring yDecode
STEP 1 - Enter your server (and optionally port and SSL)
Enter your news server name into the NNTP Server Name box. In this example (screenshot below) we have news.yourhost.com - but this is only an example - you should replace this with your actual Usenet server name that you use. Also look at servers tab section of this help for more info. Don't modify other settings if unsure - 119 for both port values (see screenshot) and SSL box unchecked is fine most of the time.
STEP 2 - Test configuration
Make sure that your firewall is not blocking yDecode. Now you can test the connection to the server as well as news account configuration by pressing the Test Config button - you should get a window showing messages similar to these:
Server connection availability is the important part here. Make sure you have no red-colored errors there.
NOTE: Any red message in this window might indicate an error. Please look at servers tab section of this help for more info.
At this point you may have some errors for accounts - but this is because you haven't configured accounts yet - which you will do in the following step. So for now, just ignore error messages for accounts. Note that accounts are only tested for supported news readers (Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird) and you should ignore that test if you use other news reader.
Take a look if the Server connection test passed without problems. If there are errors in server connection, please check your firewall - it must not block yDecode from connecting to the Internet.
(Configuration part 2 of 2) - Configuring Outlook Express / Windows Mail / Windows Live Mail to work with yDecode
STEP 1 - Getting into server properties
Assuming that you already have configured newsgroup account that works with your newsgroup server, you need to make a little adjustment to make it work with yDecode. To do so first click on your account name using the right mouse button to get a menu just like on the screenshot below and then select option properties.
Outlook Express
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Windows Mail
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Windows Live Mail
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STEP 2 - Changing server name to localhost
Now you will get to a window similar to the one below. Replace your server name with localhost just like on the screenshot below. Remember - it's not local host (two words) but one word - localhost. It must be exactly like this. This will redirect Outlook Express from your news server to yDecode (yDecode is in fact a server). The server name that used to be here should be now in yDecode NNTP server name box.
Do not modify other settings except server name, even if they look different than the screenshot below, especially not Account name and Password settings! Press OK to close this window.
Outlook Express
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Windows Mail
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Windows Live Mail
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STEP 3 - Testing if it works
By this point you should have it operational. Do not close yDecode - it must be running every time you read newsgroups from now on.
Now, select some newsgroups that hold yEnc posts and try to display them... yDecode will do the rest!
TIP: For proper Multipart handling, please make sure your news client downloads as much headers as possible. For Outlook Express users: - go to Tools menu and select Options. Make sure option "Get 300 headers at a time" is UNCHECKED under "Read" tab. Take a look at the screenshot below for example.
Outlook Express
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Windows Mail
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| Windows Live Mail By default main menu is not visible - this is how you access options. You can also click Show menu bar to enable main menu.  
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(Configuration part 2 of 2) - Configuring Mozilla Thunderbird to work with yDecode
If you are using Mozilla Thunderbird instead of Outlook Express first configure yDecode just like described above. Note that Test Config button will not be able to detect if you properly configured Mozilla Thunderbird. However, server connection will be tested successfully. Regardless of inability to check account settings for Mozilla Thunderbird, yDecode will still work with it as well as with any other news reader.
To configure Mozilla Thunderbird, simply follow the steps on the screenshots below.
