How to install mIRC

Instructions for Net Newbies and Download Dummies.

These terminally simple instructions assume you know nada, nothing, njente about computers. We not only assume that you know nothing, but we assume that knowing nothing is making you nervous... Right?

No worries, we will help you with Downloading, Installing and the Setup of mIRC. If you made it this far you will certainly manage to get and install mIRC on your PC, if not today then tomorrow! On this page we hope to clarify downloading mIRC (and files in general) from the Internet to your PC and we will introduce you to installing and setting up the program in Windows. Just read on and follow the instructions..... dare to dive into it head forward ! It might be a good idea to print this page!

STEP ONE: Download mIRC 6.16.

mIRC is distributed in a self-extracting cabinet; a small program that will unzip and install mIRC on your PC. You don't need any external programs to install and setup mIRC on your PC, just follow the instructions below.

In these instructions we assume you are using Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP, NT or newer. In the unlikely event you are using a very old version of Windows, like Windows 3.1, 3.11, or Windows for Workgroups, an older 16 bit version of mIRC is available. This file is named mIRC 5.91

Now you're ready to download the mirc 6.16 cabinet from one of the addresses on the list of download sites and save it to your hard disk. The file is named mIRC 616.exe

To download a file and save it to your hard disk instead of viewing it, click on the link to the file while holding the SHIFT key on your keyboard down. In several web-browsers (IE, Netscape, Mosaic) you can also right-click on the link and select 'Save this link as...' from the popup menu that will show. When your web-browser asks where to place the file, select a directory on your hard disk where you can find it back later.

Sometimes your web-browser will confront you with a warning message like :
"Unknown File-type. No external viewer configured for this file.
Do you want to configure a viewer now OR save file to disk ?"
In these cases select "Save file to disk".

Also Internet Exploder will warn you how 'some files can harm your computer if it contains malicious code'. That of course is true, but mIRC does not contain such malicious code.

STEP TWO: Installing mIRC
Once you have downloaded mIRC, you are ready to install it. During the install procedure mIRC's files will be automatically extracted from the cabinet 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 Windows File Manager or Explorer with which you can see what files are found on your PC's hard disk. You can find its icon in the 'Start' menu, under 'Programs'.

Locate the mIRC 6.16 cabinet which you just downloaded and saved to your hard disk. It is named mirc616.exe

To start the installation process just double click on the cabinet. The installation program will be started automatically.

Determine the place on your hard disk where you want mIRC to be installed. Normally the proposed c:\program files\mirc will do fine. Up graders 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.

STEP THREE: 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:

First make sure you have an active connection to Internet. Normally you just have to start up the modem connection to your Internet provider to do so. To anticipate any problems in the future always first start your modem and then mIRC.

Double click the

icon (shortcut) to start up mIRC.

mIRC will start and show the Options Dialog and require you to fill in some information:

In the mIRC Options dialog (as above) you see an options tree structure. You can expand a branch of the tree (a Category) by selecting an item (Connect, IRC, Sounds,..) and clicking on the little 'plus' sign. A list of sub-items will unfold. At first only the main 'Connect' menu item seen above, has to be filled in. Select this item and enter the following information in the fields;

Real Name: Your real name (ie, Tjerk Vonck)
E-Mail: Your email address (ie, tjerk@mirc.com)
Nick Name: A one to nine character alias to use on the chat system (ie, Kreet)
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. (ie, Kreet2)

Now you could select a local or nearby IRC server, but there is no need to. For now the server mIRC selected for you will do fine! (In this image you see how mIRC selected an Undernet server.) If you decided to select a different IRC network, a long list of servers is available by default in the /Connect/Servers/ sub-item. Just select one.
Next, you could select the Local Info sub-item, but normally you don't have to fill in anything there. Just make sure the boxes under 'On Connect, Always get :' Local Host and IP Address are Checked (selected). For various Internet Providers and PC setup's you might need other settings here. Don't 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 mIRC FAQ.
Then you might want to select the Identd sub-item 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 'tjerk' in my case) Or fill in anything you like. Do not use spaces or strange characters! The System should all ways be set to UNIX and the port is always port 113. 'Show Ident requests' can be left Off, 'Enable only when connecting' can be set On.

Once this is all set, click on the OK button to close the mIRC Options Dialog, Or press the large "Connect to Server" button in the Connect menu.

mIRC is now set up and totally ready to use.

STEP FOUR: Using mIRC

Click on the File menu and select Connect to connect to IRC. Or select the lightning button in the Toolbar for the same effect, or use the large "Connect to Server" button mentioned above.

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".

It is possible it takes a while for the connection to establish. Or mIRC has to retry a few servers and/or networks. Don't worry, sit back and relax - in the end it will work!

You are on IRC now !! Congratulations.

The mIRC Channels Folder will pop up. It shows a selection of the most popular IRC Channels available all over the world. You might want to try some of them? You can double-click on any channel suggested in the list. Or you can select more channels and hit the Join button.

Alternatively, to join a conversation, type the /join {#mIRC-Colors} command in the single line box at the bottom of the Status window. To get a listing of all available channels you might try the /list command.

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.

There are many more commands available on IRC, and we recommend you do some further reading in one of the widely available info files. These www pages offer an IRC Intro page in case you need more info on IRC, and the mIRC FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to help you solve any possible problem you might encounter now or in the future.

If you have difficulties connecting to an IRC server, because of errors like "No Authorization" or "Cannot Resolve IRC Server name" try using a different IRC server or read the mIRC FAQ for more info.