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What are Newsgroups ?

Newsgroups are just places where people discuss various topics.

Newsgroups are extremely useful and can be used to answer your questions.

There are a large number of different newsgroups available including some dedicated ones created by Microsoft.

Before you submit any postings to a newsgroup you should do a search to make sure that your question has not already been answered.

It is possible to search newsgroups using Google. Make sure you select "Groups" at the top before entering your keywords.

There are several ways you can access newsgroups.

Using the Microsoft Website

Logon to the following website: http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx

Using Outlook Express

Using Microsoft Outlook Express is one option and this should come as standard with Internet Explorer.

Select (Tools > Accounts) to display the "Internet Accounts" dialog box.

Select the All tab and select (Add > News).

Enter your Name, E-mail address and then enter the NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) server msnews.microsoft.com.

This should add the entry to your Local Folders.

Select the entry and you will be prompted to retrieve a list of the available newsgroups.

Select the newsgroup you want to see and select Subscribe.

Excel specific Newsgroups

The following are dedicated newsgroups that have been created by Microsoft and they are pretty self explanatory.

microsoft.public.excel - suitable for anything that does not fit into any of the other groups.

microsoft.public.excel.charting - suitable if you are having any charting problems.

microsoft.public.excel.crashesgpfs - anything related to crashes or general protection faults.

microsoft.public.excel.datamap - suitable for anything relating to the data map feature.

microsoft.public.excel.interopoledde - suitable for any cross-application issues, such as OLE and DDE.

microsoft.public.excel.links - anything to do with links, either to cells or other workbooks.

microsoft.public.excel.misc - for any general topics if none of the others seem to be appropriate.

microsoft.public.excel.newusers - suitable if you are fairly new to Excel.

microsoft.public.excel.printing - anything related to problems you might have with printing your work.

microsoft.public.excel.programming - suitable for any VBA specific questions.

microsoft.public.excel.querydao - suitable for any questions regarding Data Access Objects or Microsoft Query.

microsoft.public.excel.sdk - anything relating to the Excel software development kit.

microsoft.public.excel.setup - suitable for anything related to installing and setting up Excel.

microsoft.public.excel.templates - suitable for any template related problems or questions.

microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions - anything related to understanding and using the worksheet functions.

microsoft.public.mac.office.excel - suitable if you are running Excel on a Macintosh.

Excel specific Newsgroups (no longer used)

microsoft.public.excel.123quattro - suitable if you are converting any 1-2-3 or Quattro Pro workbooks to Excel.

microsoft.public.excel.macintosh - this is obsolete and should not be used.

Things to Remember

Always make the subject in your message meaningful and to the point.

Avoid posting a message in multiple newsgroups unless it specifically applies to more than one.

Restrict each message to one specific question, for multiple questions submit separate messages.

Never include file attachments and always specify the version of Excel you are using.