One of the things that never seems to get much coverage is newsgroups. These can be an absolute goldmine of information and deliver vast amounts of data surfers would otherwise have to search long and hard for.

Newsgroups are really no more than a vast collection of enthusiasts who have a lot of fun talking to people with the same interests as them, and who are usually ready and willing to help people answer questions they may have on almost any topic.

Just reading the other postings can be extremely interesting as you can glean many ideas from what you see other people asking and being told.

One note of caution though - do not post files to a newsgroup as it is considered bad 'netiquette' and nobody will open them anyway for fear of a virus. Put your question into words, post it and then simply wait for someone to help you.

One of the reasons that newsgroups get bad coverage is because of some of the more distasteful groups that are out there. Avoid any group with alt.binaries in it and you won't go far wrong. It would be a real shame if a few bad apples spoiled an otherwise excellent resource.

The easiest way to access newsgroups is through your email client, such as Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger, but if you want to search the stings for something specific to your question then Google has a site that archives all the questions and answers that get posted at www.groups.google.com. just like a search engine, you put in words to narrow down your search.