The following is a guide on the basics of MIRC written by kimyoutora, our previous webmaster, based mostly on Sysreset V 2.53. Special thanks to Kabuto- and Nightrider! You may not display this tutorial anywhere else by print or on the web without prior explicit consent.
*Version History: V1.0 on 8/14/04
~ What will be covered? ~
- Where can mIRC be download from?
- Configuring MIRC.
- Connecting to a channel.
- Introduction to channels.
- Let’s start downloading!
- Fserver
- TDCC
- XDCC
Where can mIRC be downloaded from?
There are dozens of mIRC versions available for download on the internet. From the original mIRC to the widely used SysReset to the advanced UPP and more. In this tutorial though, I will focus mainly on Sysreset since it is the most widely used. So, go to http://sysreset.com and scroll down to their download section and click on the “Sysreset Full Installation pack link”.
Afterward, a popup appears:
Chose “Save” and select a directory on your computer to save to. After that, just double click on the file to install it to a directory that is convenient for you.
Configuring MIRC.
Up to this point, you should have sysreset installed on your computer already, if not, please refer to the previous step. Moving ahead, MIRC is not the easiest thing to use right off the bat. You first have to do some configurations! So let’s get things started. Double click on the sysreset icon to start the script. The first time you run sysreset and ALL OTHER MIRC scripts, you have to fill in your name, email, and a nickname that you would like to use while connected to the server. Wait, I don’t want people to know my real name! That’s not a problem, you can fill in a fake name and use a fake email if you are paranoid. The “Alternative” is optional, it is your 2nd choice of nickname in case the first one you wanted is already in use.
Next, I am going to show you how to set your dcc paths aka where the leeched stuff will be saved to. This step is optional but would probably save you some time when you want to find the files you have leeched. =P
Choose “add” and type: *.zip,*rar,*.exe,*.ace,*.tar in the “Save files with these extentions” field. This will allow zip, rar, exe, ace, tar files to be sent to you automatically. You can then click on the “Into this folder” to choose a place that is convenient for you to open.
Give yourself a pat on the back because you are now done configuring mirc. This will only need to be done once so cheers!
Connecting to a channel.
Now we need to configure the default server to connect to:
From the “Irc Network” dropdown menu, choose IRCHIGHWAY.
Now I will show you how to add channels to the auto-join list so you don’t have to type the command: /j #channelname every time you connect to a server. Click on the folder with #+ in it to open up the MIRC favorites manager.
Click on “add”
First, you will need to fill in the channel you want to add, notice the # in the before the channel name? It is ALYWAYS needed. Second, you will need to click “add” below the networks. Scroll down and choose “IRCHIGHWAY”. Then check the “join on connect” and “minimize on join” if you like. “Join on connect” simply means that you will automatically enter the channel when you are connected to IRCHIGHWAY. Click ok when you are done.
Introduction to channels.
Hurray!!! Now that you are done configuring the program, let’s connect to the channel and start downloading stuff. Click on the thunder looking icon toolbar on the upper left hand corner. This will connect you to the default server.
Once connected, you should be in the channel #hng0-trans if you had check the “join on connect” option. (Note that our current chan is now #etc)
Some things you should know about a channel is that, the part highlighted in orange by me on the left side is known as the “topic”. You should read it to find out what’s going on at the momment. On the right side, the nicks with ! in front are super ops, they are the highest level users in the channel. People with @ are ops, they can ban, op, deop, voice, devoice, kick other users so do not offend them. =P Next we have the + symbol. It means voiced. They are usually servers/bots that provide you with files to download so try to be nice to them too. The nicks highlighted in red, without anything in front of them are regular users.
Let’s start downloading!
In mirc, the most common types of servers/bots are fserver, tdcc, and xdcc. Fservers usually contain the largest collection of files. However, you will need to learn some more basic commands to work them. Tdcc’s are triggers that you type in to get a specific file being offered. They are probably the easiest to use. Additionally, we have what are known as xdcc triggers. They are very similar to tdcc triggers but it is used to offer several files at the same time. Xdcc bots are usually on a very fast connection too. To get a list of these ads, you have to type !list in the main channel window. XD
Fservers
Type !list in the channel window(left side) and a bunch of ads should start showing up. As an example, I am going to use kabuto-’s fserver. (Big thanks to him and nightrider for being the guinea pigs!)
As you can see, the areas highlighted in orange are the triggers. Fserver triggers usually start with /ctcp to avoid spamming in the channel. Just left-click at the beginning of the trigger(/ctcp) and drag(while holding down the left-click button) the mouse till the end of it to copy the text. Then, press ctrl+v to paste the text in the main channel. Press open to enter the trigger. A new query window will open displaying the contents of the fserver. As I said before, you will need to learn a few basic commands to browse and leech from a fserver.
- dir =list the contents in the current directory
- cd foldername = go into foldername(folder names DO NOT have an extention)
- cd .. =one level up/return to previous directory
- get filename.rar = please send me that file (files WILL have an extention, otherwise it is a folder!)
- sends =display a list of current sends by the host
- queues = display a list of files waiting to be sent
Now that I have entered the fserver, I’ll enter dir to see what Kabuto- has to offer. XD
Whoa! That’s a lot of stuff, no wonder his queues are always full. >.> Poor Kabuto-! Okay, let’s say I want Tokko. Type in cd TOKKô to go into the folder.
In that folder, I see some more folders (notice that they don’t have an extention such as .rar or .zip??). I will type cd foldername and dir again. Now notice that there is a file named tokko-ph-ep1-parta[hngo].zip? I will try to get that file. Enter get tokko-ph-ep1-parta[hngo].zip to queue it.
That notice tells me that I have queued the file and it is #18 on the list. As an additional note, see that warning One minute before DCC auto-close? It means your session with the fserver will close in 1 min so finish everything you want to do quick! Now if you want to check how many sends and how fast it is going at, you can type sends.
Close the window after you are done, DON’T WORRY, YOUR SEND IS STILL QUEUED, YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT WHEN YOU CLOSE THE WINDOW!
TDCC
For this part of the tutorial, I am going to use my own trigger since no one else uses them in the channel the momment I am writing this guide. Yes, I use UPP but the tdcc ad is very similar with all the other script.
See the trigger beginning with /ctcp again? Simply copy and paste that trigger into the channel window and the transfer will begin as soon as there is a send slot. Yep, that’s it! Aren’t tdcc’s easy?
XDCC
First of all, xdcc might be a little different from script to script but there is definitely a trigger displayed in the ad, so just copy and paste that trigger and put in the # corresponding to the file you want to download. This time, I am going to use Nightrider’s xdcc ad.
Take a look at the higlighted area where the trigger is. To download a file, for example Tokko-PH-ep1-partA.zip, you will need to copy and paste the trigger from /ctcp to #. Then, put in the # corrosponding to the file you want, in this case, 1. The full trigger should look something like this: /ctcp Nightrider xdcc send Tokko #1. That’s it for xdcc triggers. =)