Last updated on 13-May-1997
MIRC - downloading and setting up
As far as I know, most of you are connected to commercial Internet providers and are working in a WINDOWS environment - either WINDOWS 3.11 or WINDOWS 95. Others of you may be working in a WINDOWS environment even if you are connected to the Internet through a non-commercial provider (i.e. University network, Teacher College network).If you are working on the Internet in a WINDOWS environment, this part of lesson 1 is for you.
MIRC
To connect to IRC you'll need a small chat program like mIRC. mIRC is the shareware IRC chat program made for Windows by Khaled Mardam-Bey. It offers a fast and clean interface to IRC and it is well equipped with options and tools. You can download mIRC for free!The MIRC Homepage can be found at -
http://www.mirc.co.uk/Here you find the latest information about the MIRC program as well as download the latest version.
In order to make the downloading of the program quicker, I have placed the most recent version - 5.02 - on the software section of the Ramat-Negev FREENET, both for WIN3.11 and WIN95.Download MIRC
Installing mIRC on your systemOnce you have downloaded the mIRC file, you are ready to install mIRC in windows. During the install procedure mIRC's files will be automatically extracted from the file and all necessary steps for starting mIRC will be taken. If you're upgrading an older version of mIRC you will be able to keep all your old settings.
Open the File Manager. You can find its icon in the Main group in Windows. Locate the mirc 5.02 file which you just downloaded and saved to your harddisk. It is either named mirc502s.exe (16 Bit) or mirc502t.exe (32 Bit)
To start the installation process just double click on the file. The installation program will be started automatically.
Determine the place on your harddisk where you want mIRC to be installed. Normally the proposed c:\mirc will do fine. Upgraders just browse to the directory where their current mIRC version is found and select that as destination directory.
If you want the installer to keep backup copies of all eventual older files, keep the "Make backups" option selected.
If you want the installer to add a mIRC program group to windows and set up the mIRC icons, keep the "Add icons" option selected.Select 'OK' and you're done! The installer will take care of all the work.
Setting up mIRC
Now that mIRC is installed on your PC and the program group and mIRC icon are available in the program manager, this is what is required to set it up:
Using mIRC
- First make sure that you have already connected to the Internet.
- Double click the mIRC icon to start up mIRC.
- mIRC will show the SETUP DIALOG and require you fill in some information.
In the mIRC Setup select the IRC Servers tab and enter the following information in the fields:
- Real Name: Your real name (i.e. David Lloyd)
- E-Mail: Your email address (i.e. david@ramat-negev.org.il)
- Nick Name: A one to nine character alias to use on the chat system (i.e. Sanddune)
- Alternate: If someone else is already using the Nick Name you you've chosen on IRC, you will be known by this alternate name instead. (i.e. Sanddune2)
- You also have to select a local or nearby IRC server. A long list of servers is available by default. Just select one.
- Next, select the Local Info tab. Normally you dont have to fill in anything here. Just make sure the boxes under 'On Connect, Always get :' IP Address and Local Host are Checked (selected). For various Internet Providers and PC setup's you might need other settings here. Dont worry too much for now, if you get problems later just read the help provided on this topic in the mIRC Help file (mirc.hlp). (Or contact me at - david@ramat-negev.org.il)
- Now select the Identd tab and Enable the Identd Server. Your User ID should already be filled-in there. Eventually fill in your Account Name in this field. (Your account name is the part before the @ in your email address, like david in my case) The system should allways be set to UNIX and Listening on port 113.
- Once this is all set, click on the OK button to close the mIRC Setup Dialog.
- mIRC is now set up and totally ready to use.
Click on the File menu and select Connect. (Or select the lightning button in the Toolbar)
After a short wait (up to 20 seconds) you will see some meaningless blurb appear in the status window.
The last line will say something like "End of MOTD command".You are on IRC now !! Congratulations.
To join a conversation, type the /join {channel_name} command in the single line box at the bottom of the Status window. Popular channels are #42plus, #friendly, #mirc, #teen, #hottub, #england, #usa, well there are thousands. To get a listing of all available channels you might try the /list command (but it will take a while to list all of the available channels - I will explain, in the next lesson, how to modify the listing so that you get much fewer channels and better results).
When you join a channel, a new window will appear on your screen. The names on the right side column are those people who are currently joined in the channel.
The left hand window is where everyone's conversation takes place.
To say things to the people joined to the channel, just type your comments in the single row box at the bottom of the channel's window.To leave a channel, just double click on the close box, which is located at the top-left hand corner of the channel name's window.
To leave mIRC, type the /exit command.
There are many more commands available on IRC, and I will be teaching you how to use these commands in the next lesson.
If you have difficulties connecting to an IRC server, because of errors like "No Authorisation" or "Cannot Resolve IRC Server name" try using a different IRC server.
You should be now able to complete your second assignment, as outlined in Lesson 1, Part A. If you have any problems, contact me.