Open Pirch by clicking "Start..Programs..Pirch98..Pirch98". The main Pirch window will open. Click the "Login" button at the upper-left corner of the Pirch window. A smaller window will open where you can fill out your information such as nickname, email, etc.

In the upper-left corner of the "Server Connection" window you will see a drop down list of IRC networks. If you know which network you would like to connect to (DALnet, MSN, TalkCity, etc) you can choose that network from this list. Otherwise you may want to try ChatNet. This is a medium sized network with a variety of channels, and you won't have to wait for a long time to list all the channels like you would on a large network like DALnet or Efnet. Right beside the network list you will see a list of servers. The server you choose is not really important because they are all connected together. However, some servers might be slower than others, so it is a good idea to choose a server that is close to you. For example, I live in Florida, USA, so the ChatNet pensacola.fl.us.chatnet.org server is the closest to me. If you live in Europe, try selecting one of the ".EU" servers. You can leave the password field blank unless you know how to use IRC serveices.

The next section is "Personal information". For the "Name" field you can enter anything you want. I would advise against entering any real information here. It is best to enter something cute or funny, or a line from your favorite song here. For the email field, enter something like "joeblow@whatever", or any such email address that is not real.

Next is the "Logon Nicknames" area. Enter any nickname you want to use. Also enter an alternate nickname to use in case your regular nick is already taken.

Now look at the "Initial usermodes" area. I would suggest you check the box that says "invisible" and leave the other two unchecked. This is just another precaution, so that people can't bug you if they don't know your nickname or if they're not in the same channel as you.

Now check the box that says "Auto connect". If you leave this box unchecked you will have to press the "Connect" button once the server window opens, otherwise you connect automatically.

Click "Connect" or hit "Enter" and you should connect to an IRC server.