January Student Orientation Academic and Research Computing January 2008

2 Campus Computing Information and Resources These slides will tell you about – campus computing services – using your laptop This presentation is available on line at

3 The Voorhees Computing Center The VCC is THE place to go for help. Here you will find: The Help Desk Rensselaer Computer Repair Rensselaer Campus Computer Store It looks like a church.

4 VCC Help Desk Located in the VCC Lobby (open ‘til 10 PM, Sunday-Thursday) Have you helpdesk’ed today?

5 Lower level of the VCC Monday-Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm Laptop repairs - warranty and accidental damage (ThinkPad Protection) Laptop loaners available for Mobile Computing Program participants Certified technicians on site Rensselaer Computer Repair (RCR)

6 Laptop accessories – mice, batteries, USB hubs, screen cleaning supplies Peripherals - USB flash drives, CD/DVDs, cables, etc. Printers and accessories Software at an educational discount iPods and accessories Available to RPI community only VCC Main Floor

7 RCS - Rensselaer Computing System RCS offers many services including: public computers campus network Internet access file space for web pages and storage RPI LMS – some of your courses may use this course learning management software

8 Your RCS Account Your RCS userID and password is your access to many of Rensselaer’s computing resources. – You must change your password from the original! – Different from your SIS account where the ID is your RIN and the password is six digits. You are required to follow good computing practices. The computing “Conditions of Use” policy is available on the Help Desk web page.

9 Appropriate Uses of RCS Coursework/Research Presentations Electronic Mail/“Chatting” To access your RPI LMS courses Accessing campus public workstations Searching the World Wide Web Recreation/Games

10 Inappropriate Uses of RCS For commercial purposes Displaying offensive materials Copying licensed software illegally Putting copyrighted materials on your homepage Sending or forwarding chain mail, anonymous, harassing, or forged

11 Append to your userID for your address: Webmail allows for web-based access from any Internet-connected location: webmail.rpi.edu To configure other programs, go to the Help Desk web page and select .

12 RESPITE – Campus Spam Filter By default all is filtered. Anything that is statistically likely to be Spam is rejected. We recommend that you customize the Respite filter to suit your needs.

13 Campus Networking Wired and wireless connectivity is available VPN client is available for access from off-campus Campus firewall – Restrictions are listed in the Networking section of the Help Desk web page

14 Campus Printing Public printers are available throughout campus – mostly black & white, but some color; large-scale plotters are available in the VCC To print, you must set up printers on your system – How-to instructions are in the Printing section of the Help Desk web page as well as printer locations and charges. – Each semester, you are given an allocation for black and white printing. After you have used up your allocation, charges are placed on your student account. You are always charged directly for color printing and plotting.

15 File Sharing File sharing is turned off by default on your laptop. Information on file sharing can be found in the Networking section of the Help Desk web page. Do not illegally use or share copyrighted materials.

16 Music and Video File Sharing … Legally Ruckus is a legal downloading service for students at Rensselaer. Sign up if you are interested. RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) actively work to find computers that are violating copyright laws. RPI students have been sued by RIAA for illegal activities. RPI does not monitor student activities, but does log network activities when served with legal notice. Be responsible!

17 Caring for your laptop Do not leave laptop unattended Use the security cable (even in your room) Laptops don’t drink – avoid liquids Treat it gently – don’t stuff too many books in your backpack Do not leave it in a car – too hot, too cold, tempting to steal Periodically fully discharge and recharge the battery

18 Protecting Your Data Don’t share passwords Beware of phishing attempts Don’t open attachments when you aren’t expecting them and/or don’t know the sender

19 Protecting your laptop The laptop comes with a three-year manufacturer’s warranty and accidental damage coverage – take it to Rensselaer Computer Repair Keep Windows up-to-date – set your laptop to update automatically Remember - for information about the Mobile Computing Program and support for your laptop, go to

20 No viruses and spyware here Symantec Antivirus software is pre-installed on your laptop – Keep it up-to-date using automatic (recommended) or manual updates – It’s available free to all RPI students, so you can also install it on a desktop. Combat spyware: suggested software to install: – Windows Defender – Ad-Aware and Spybot

21 Backup Your Data Rescue and Recovery – part of the ThinkVantage Productivity Center DVD writer, USB flash drive, or external hard drive can be used to backup data EZ-Snapshot - Campus network backup – 10 gigabytes of free backup storage – Need to register and configure this application. See “Other Services” on the Help Desk web page. Only you can protect your data!

22 Back to the future In the future, you might want to (or need to) put your system back to the out-of-the-box state. This is called “re-imaging”. We can assist with this process at the Help Desk. But – this process destroys your data files and any applications you may have installed. You must back them up before re-imaging.

23 Can’t remember all this? Just remember rpinfo.rpi.edu (the default home page on your laptop) RPInfo: Rensselaer's Information System has direct links to Help Desk Respite Webmail Campus Computer Store SIS RPI LMS and much more!

24 Rensselaer Acronyms VCC – Voorhees Computing Center ARC – Academic and Research Computing DotCIO – Division of the Chief Information Officer RCS – Rensselaer Computing System RCR – Rensselaer Computer Repair RCCS – Rensselaer Campus Computer Store

25 A New Beginning Welcome to Rensselaer And Happy Computing!