TABLE OF CONTENTS
Click on a topic below to JUMP to that section

1. Introduction
2. What is ON TOPIC in Alt.Binaries.Screen-Savers
3. ON TOPIC Utilities / Post Descriptions
4. What's this weird file I downloaded
5. Recommended Newsreaders
6. How do I Post / Download Binaries on AOL
7. Questions on Posting the files I have
8. Recommended Pay Newservers
9. How do I use a file with a .ZIP Extension
10. Recommended ZIP Utilities
11. Other Compression Utilities
12. What exactly is Shareware
13. Where can I find Shareware for Downloading
14. What about Serial #'s /Cracks/Key Generators
15. Why do so many people use Fake Email addresses
16. What is Spam
17. Why Isn't Anyone Answering My Requests
18. What about Viruses
19. Recommended Antiviral Scanners
20. How to Report a Suspected Virus
21. Some simple steps to Security
22. How do I make a Screensaver
23. Screensaver Programs
24. Where can I download Screensavers
25. Screensaver Search
26. Helpful Links

So what is a screen saver? Originally a utility to help extend the life of a monitor by preventing "image burning" on the display resulting from periods of inactivity with a static, non moving, display. By displaying a moving image, or blanking out the screen, after a period of idleness or no activity, the monitor would not be damaged.  Modern monitors don't suffer from the short comings of their early brothers and can handle long periods of a static display or have self fixing for burin built into them.

So...why do we still use them?  Why? Well for a lot of us it started out as "what was a cool thing to have" which then turned into a collection of dozen and hundreds of them. Some people in the group have an extensive libraries and are more than eager to share, help, talk, about how to create, make and get them.

• Screensavers
• Screensaver utilities
• Adult Themed Screensavers/Wallpaper/etc. *
• Wallpaper
• Desktop/Plus themes
• Desktop Toys
• Joke utilities
• Useful programs **
• Programming utilities for above
• Serial/patch files for above ***
• Support files for above
• Locations for above
• Help and support for all above
       *    These are fine to post with a warning disclaimer
       **    Useful programs may be posted by regulars when the need for them is evident.
       ***   Special note Due to the generosity of Active Media and Peter Greenway, all requests or posts for Cracks or Warez of any Active Media Software will be considered OFF TOPIC.

Commercial for profit ON-TOPIC postings - When a Website, Individual or Commercial for profit  posts promoting there screensaver/site/utilities they should use the subject [Commercial Post: and the name of it here]
There is a limit to post such items as to be no more than TWICE A MONTH. And as long as you follow these set guidelines those postings will be considered ON-TOPIC.   *NOTE: This also can be said for individuals trying to promote there site(s). Even though they maybe NOT receiving any monetary compensation they should follow the same guidelines as set above.

NOTE: Microsoft Outlook Express users only ** How to combine multipart news messages **
When a large message (one that contains pictures, or other large objects) is posted to a newsgroup, it is broken into smaller files and displayed as several multipart messages. You can recombine the messages to recreate the original message and display it in Outlook Express. Select ALL of the messages that are part of the original message (example: 1/3, 2/3, 3/3). On the Tools menu, (or right click on ALL the selected messages) click Combine and Decode. The message will continue to be displayed in the newsgroup as several messages. To save the recombined message, click the File menu | Save As.

How often can I repost a file I have just posted? - You should not post a file for a period of 7days after the last post. If you have just posted a file and it does not show up right away,  it may take as long as 24 hours for it to propagate on the server that you have just posted too. So the keyword here is... "patience". But what if someone posts a request for you to post it again? Post a follow-up explaining that they will have to wait for the 7 day period.

Can I post Screensavers, Themes, etc. I find on other websites? - Yes you can, but It would be a good Idea to give credit to the creator and or website you got it from. Try putting a link to it in you 0 file when posting. Also a good description of the file would be useful for others to see as they might not want to download the file before knowing exactly what it is.

What about the zero-file (0/x) - The zero-file should contain ANY and ALL pertinent information about the post.  You should include information about how the files were created.  You might also want to mention other files you could post, and any requests that you might have.  In the zero-file, the more information you give, the better.

Some of my files aren't appearing on some other news servers.  Why is that? - There are a number of things that could cause this. You best bet is to wait 24 hours before posting the file again to be sure that it did not post properly. Short of getting a new ISP, or complaining to your present ISP about poor propagation, you can't do anything about most of the problems from non-propagating posts other than subscribe to one of the Pay Newservers that are available.

How many lines per segment should I use when I post? - In Agent set your segment size to about 7900 lines, or around 1/2 Meg.  This is done by going to Group|Default Properties|Send Files and putting 500000 lines in the "Maximum bytes per section" box.

Should I zip (arj, rar, jar, gzip etc) my files before uploading? - In general, Yes.  Compression is pretty useful for a .SCR because they're not compressed.  Remember that on occasions some people will break their files into distinct sections using one of the Other formats. 

What are the "test" groups and who should use them? - You should use them if you're new to binary posting or are using a newsreader that you are unfamiliar with.  The test groups (alt.test and alt.binaries.test) are intended for posting tests without disrupting the normal activity in other newsgroups. They are there so you can work out the problems of posting *before* you do it in   A.B.S-S. Everybody makes mistakes, wouldn't you rather do it in a test group?

1.) Compacts file data and thereby reduces the total disk space (total bytes) required to store the files.
2.) Unites many files (up to thousands) into one single easily handled file.

The tradeoff for this disk space reduction is that the files are NOT useable in a compressed state. Before you can use the file(s) that are packaged within an archive, you will need to DECOMPRESS them. Decompression is a process that restores the compressed file(s) to their original size and state, and renders them useable again. There are many different types of compressed archives, each based on a different computer algorithm.

If you don't already have a program that handles (compresses and decompresses) ZIP archives, there are many excellent Windows based programs to choose from. Regardless of which shareware site you routinely visit, it should have a category that deals with "compression" or "archiving". This is where you will find programs that handle ZIP files as well as many other archive formats. Probably the most popular Windows based archiving tool is WinZip, which is a thoroughly tested and "user-friendly" program that offers different wizards for walking you step by step through various archiving chores. WinPack Deluxe is another solid choice that handles even more archive types, allows conversion between types, and adds batch processing. If you'd rather work from the command line, use either PKZip or InfoZip.

Cracks - If at all possible don't post (a lot) of cracks here. The quickest way to kill this group for everyone will be to fill it up with cracks and bring it to the attention to system admin's all over the world. If anyone wants a crack all one has to do is go to alt.binaries.cracks and look for it. It was generally agreed that we would keep posts here on topic to the subject of savers and themes. The increased traffic (if we were to post to many cracks) would come to the attention of providers looking to save money and see what they can cut back on. If a lot show up here some providers will stop carrying the group.

Key Generators - Since these fall into the "serial number" section  they ARE OK to post as long as you follow the guidelines set there.

Spamming is the indiscriminate posting of messages to many newsgroups and/or e-mail addresses, regardless of the appropriateness or relevance of the message to those groups or persons. This tactic is used often by individuals pushing "get-rich" schemes or fly-by-night memberships to some Internet related "club". Then there's the pathetic lot who have nothing better to do than try to get a rise out of as many people as possible. This usually takes the form of some inflammatory statement concerning race, sex, religion, or anything else that might cause a lot of people to respond (referred to as trolling). These individuals are always aware of their crime and take precautions against being easily traced.

First of all, you need to install some antivirus programs on your system. Most experts in the field of computer virology recommend using at least two different programs concomitantly, with one of them being capable of heuristic scanning. Heuristics is a method of scanning that does not depend on matching the code of a known virus. This method searches for nonspecific but suspicious looking code. It is therefore more sensitive and leads to many more "false" positive alarms (meaning that the program detects and reports a virus when in reality there is none). Popular programs capable of such heuristic scanning include Thunderbyte Antivirus, Dr. Solomon's Antiviral Toolkit, and Norton Antivirus (among others). Other excellent overall scanners include McAfee's VirusScan, and the always-up-to-date AntiViral Toolkit (AVP). These programs may be obtained from most large shareware distribution sites or their respective websites.

False positive reports of viral infections are common and can give rise to a great deal of needless and wasted time when details are not considered and clearly stated. Always include the following items in a posted report concerning any suspicious files. You will probably not be able to trace all of this info, but do your best.

• Verify any alerts with at least one other good antiviral scanner.
• Specify whether your scanner was utilizing heuristics and what level.
• Specify which scanners you used.
• Specify the exact file size (in bytes) of the possibly infected file.
• Specify where and when you downloaded the possibly infected file and who posted it.
• Specify whether you executed the file, and if so, what affects it had on your system.
• And of course, specify the exact identity of the virus and the EXACT message.

Then post your finding to the group similar to this example: [WARNING: ot ATTN: Virus or Trojan]
then included the file name that is infected, the author of the post, and a report from your scanner and any of the above information. As it will be helpful in determining what if any virus are present. Also do not flame the poster of the infected file, the regulars will do what is needed from there.

** Simple Security Steps **

An excellent place to start learning how to create screensavers is here. You can also search the web for some help with creating them. Hope to see your creations in the group! GOOD LUCK!

Now while we cannot recommend any ONE program, but we can name a few of the best that are available for at a nominal fee.