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OT: WLM Newsreader Rant (deleted *.nws files)

I just found another reason to switch from WLM to a "real" newsreader. = Here=20 is a post I just made to the WindowsLiveHelp.com forum:

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-------------- "When I accessed my WLM newsgroups today, I saw that the list of headers = was=20 missing most of the older messages. This happened for several newsgroups = and=20 for two different servers. I was able to retrieve them by downloadfing=20 additional headers. I found the folder where these headers (*.nws) are=20 stored: C:\Users\Paul2010\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live=20 Mail\news.teranews.com, and I saw that the folders for the newsgroups I = had=20 tried to read had most of the files removed, and only those from =

1/4/2010 or=20 newer were there. Other folders for NGs I had not accessed had files = dating=20 back to 2010.

I also found a folder called=20 "C:\Users\Paul2010\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live = Mail\Backup\new",=20 and there were three files there, "Mail.pat", "Mail.MSMessageStore", and =

"edb0050A.log", dated 1/12/2010 7:03PM, which may correspond to the time =

there was an automatic Windows update.

I can probably restore these headers from a backup, or I can just reload =

them from the server, but I want to know why this has happened and if = there=20 is a setting I can change to restore the previous state of operation. I=20 could not find a setting for deleting messages automatically although I=20 recall seeing something similar, at least for mail messages.

This is very disturbing that an update to an application can cause it to =

delete files without notification or permission from me, the user. I = realize=20 that very few people use Usenet anymore, but there are some that do. = Also I=20 have noted that the new 2011 version of WLM has added some "features" = that=20 cripple its usefulness for newsgroups, and perhaps something else has = been=20 added that further "breaks" it to the point of uselessness. Or maybe = there=20 was just a glitch somewhere. I like to use WLM for both email and news, = but=20 I may need to use a different client. I guess I can't complain too much=20 about a "free" product, but I will."

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I know that some people here use WLM and I wonder if you have also=20 experienced this. I also have XNews and perhaps I'll just get used to = its=20 quirks and abandon this stupid micro$oft product. I can't demand my = money=20 back, since it's "free"!

Paul=20

Reply to
P E Schoen
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Why use _any_ Micro$hit product?

Get Agent v6:

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$29... very much worth the cost. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
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Reply to
Jim Thompson

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

OK, well now I am using XNews, and I found that for sci.electronics.basics, I can retrieve only 240 headers using my Teranews account, while I can get 992 from the AIOE Public Server.

I think what is happening is that there is a server problem with Teranews and they have lost their earlier articles. The newsreader seems to be configured so that it deletes articles once they are no longer on the server. I had thought that the articles in the files on my computer were secure storage, even if the server had deleted them. But apparently I would need to transfer them to a storage folder for archival purposes.

I knew that the AIOE server only retains articles for 30-60 days or so, but Teranews has always retained them back at least a year and probably as far back as 3 years or more. Still, I did not realize that the files on my computer were being deleted depending on the server's storage. In XNews, one of the options was to store headers for a number of days, or until gone from the server.

But it seems odd that these files would be deleted from my computer based on a remote server. IIRC in previous editions of Outlook Express, where they used a single huge file to store email and news, it simply poppeed a message stating "no longer available on server" if I had not already downloaded the message. It would make SOME sense to delete the individual files if they were only headers, but once the message has been downloaded the reasonable thing to do, IMHO, is to keep the file. And in any case I don't like it when some stupid software makes decisions for me and does something as extreme as deleting a file without notifying me. Rather rude of the app, I think.

Paul

Reply to
P E Schoen

Supernews has posts back to 2003.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
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845-480-2058

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

I delete most articles as I go through them, many without downloading the bodies, I can always search the Google archive if I need something, for example I'm about to go looking for a script I put up some time ago that creates an iso image -- saves me doing trial and error from scratch for a new script. (I don't have access to my main computers for now).

Grant.

Reply to
omg

I tend to keep everything possible, so I like having an archive of past=20 emails and news articles. Using WLM, at least I have the sent items for=20 anything I have posted or replied to, and if I have quoted extensively, = I=20 can recreate most of the conversation, especially parts that are = especially=20 interesting. I know I can find almost everything in the Google archives, = but=20 sometimes that can be tedious.

Paul=20

Reply to
P E Schoen

On a sunny day (Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:41:02 -0500) it happened "P E Schoen" wrote in :

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Reply to
Jan Panteltje

May not be related to your problem, but a new release of Avast is causing problems with some newsreaders. See a thread beginning with in S.E.R.

Or for Google Gropers:

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Reply to
JW

I see 16,487 messages on news:sci.electronics.basics on the Giganews servers. The free and cheap servers have a very short retention time, to keep from paying for the extra storage. You need a real news server if you want more than a very short news spool. Giganews text newsgroups are fairly complete from the middle of 2003.

--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

I agree. I see 16644 now 16:22 19 January in OZ. Guess the different number is new msgs.

--
John G
Reply to
John G

I have switched to Eternal-September and I am happy with them so far. = They=20 have something like 6 months retention guaranteed but on some less = popular=20 NGs they have posts back a year or more. The reply I got from Teranews=20 blamed everything but their servers, and the problem is still not fixed. =

They were not totally free, but only a $5 setup charge, so no big deal. = And=20 E-S also has much less spam. If one could eliminate all spam as well as=20 useless posts such as the bickering that happens here, news servers = would=20 not need all that much space for retention.

Paul=20

Reply to
P E Schoen

Teranews is a testbed used by a new server farm to test software, and is 'very' unreliable.

--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

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