When you first run KRN, it doesn't know what groups are available. Left click on the "Subscribed Newsgroups" folder, and a message box will pop up, with the message "You don't have an active groups list. Get it from the server?". Pressing No will cancel this message, but you still won't be able to read any news. Much more useful is to press Yes. You will then be asked another question, as KRN asks permission to connect to the newsserver. Assuming you are connected to the internet (if necessary) press the Yes button.
KRN will contact your newsserver, and retrieve a list of all the available newsgroups. This is also referred to as the "active file". On large newsservers such as those from nationwide ISP's, this can take quite some time, as there may be anywhere up to 60 000 group names to retrieve. You may like to go make a cup of tea while this happens, especially if you are connecting over a modem.
![]() | Asking if it is ok to make a connection is KRN being polite - if you're not connected to the internet, or have demand dialling on your modem, and live in a country where local telephone calls are not free, you generally don't want your software deciding for itself when and if it can open a connection. If this is irrelevant to you, don't worry, you can change KRN's behavior with regard to connecting to servers, and how to do this is discussed in the Options section |
If you're not connected to the internet, and don't want to be, you can answer No, but you will have to complete this step before you can go any further.