January Student Orientation
Academic and
Research Computing
January 2008
Campus Computing Information
and Resources
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These slides will tell you about
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campus computing services
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using your laptop
This presentation is available on line at
http://helpdesk.rpi.edu/laptops/resources/
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The Voorhees Computing Center
The VCC is THE place
to go for help.
Here you will find:
• The Help Desk
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It looks like a church.
•
Rensselaer Computer Repair
•
Rensselaer Campus Computer Store
VCC Help Desk
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Located in the VCC Lobby
(open ‘til 10 PM, Sunday-Thursday)
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276-7777
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consult@rpi.edu
http://helpdesk.rpi.edu/
Have you helpdesk’ed today?
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Rensselaer Computer Repair (RCR)
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
Lower level of the VCC
Monday-Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
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Laptop repairs - warranty and accidental
damage (ThinkPad Protection)
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Laptop loaners available for Mobile
Computing Program participants
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Certified technicians on site
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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
http://computerstore.rpi.edu
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RCS - Rensselaer Computing System
RCS offers many services including:
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
public computers
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e-mail
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campus network
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Internet access
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file space for web pages and storage
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RPI LMS – some of your courses may use this
course learning management software
Your RCS Account
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Your RCS userID and password is your access to
many of Rensselaer’s computing resources.
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You must change your password from the original!
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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.
Appropriate Uses of RCS
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
Coursework/Research
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Presentations
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Electronic Mail/“Chatting”
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To access your RPI LMS courses
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Accessing campus public workstations
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Searching the World Wide Web
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Recreation/Games
Inappropriate Uses of RCS
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For commercial purposes
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Displaying offensive materials
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Copying licensed software illegally
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Putting copyrighted materials on
your homepage
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Sending or forwarding chain mail, anonymous,
harassing, or forged email
E-mail
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Append “@rpi.edu” to your userID for your email
address:
jonesa@rpi.edu

Webmail allows for web-based access from any
Internet-connected location:
webmail.rpi.edu
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To configure other e-mail programs, go to the
Help Desk web page and select Email.
RESPITE – Campus Spam Filter
http://respite.rpi.edu/
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By default all email is filtered. Anything that is
statistically likely to be Spam is rejected.
We recommend that you customize the
Respite filter to suit your needs.
Campus Networking
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Wired and wireless connectivity is available
VPN client is available for access from
off-campus
Campus firewall
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Restrictions are listed in the
Networking section of the
Help Desk web page
Campus Printing
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
Public printers are available throughout campus –
mostly black & white, but some color;
large-scale plotters are available in the VCC
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To print, you must set up printers on your system
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How-to instructions are in the Printing section of the
Help Desk web page as well as printer locations and
charges.
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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.
File Sharing
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
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.
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Do not illegally use or share copyrighted
materials.
Music and Video File Sharing
… Legally
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
Ruckus is a legal downloading service for students
at Rensselaer. Sign up if you are interested.
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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!
Caring for your laptop
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
Do not leave laptop unattended
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Use the security cable
(even in your room)
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Laptops don’t drink – avoid liquids
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Treat it gently – don’t stuff
too many books in your backpack
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Do not leave it in a car –
too hot, too cold, tempting to steal
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Periodically fully discharge
and recharge the battery
Protecting Your Data
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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
Protecting your laptop
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
The laptop comes with a three-year manufacturer’s
warranty and accidental damage coverage – take it
to Rensselaer Computer Repair
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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
www.rpi.edu/laptops
No viruses and spyware here
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Symantec Antivirus software is pre-installed on
your laptop
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Keep it up-to-date using automatic (recommended)
or manual updates
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It’s available free to all RPI students, so you can
also install it on a desktop.
Combat spyware: suggested software
to install:
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–
Windows Defender
Ad-Aware and Spybot
Backup Your Data
Only you can protect your data!
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Rescue and Recovery – part of the
ThinkVantage Productivity Center
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DVD writer, USB flash drive, or external hard
drive can be used to backup data
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EZ-Snapshot - Campus network backup
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–
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10 gigabytes of free backup storage
Need to register and configure this application.
See “Other Services” on the Help Desk web page.
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.
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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
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Help Desk
Respite
Webmail
Campus Computer Store
SIS
RPI LMS
and much more!
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
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A New Beginning
Welcome to Rensselaer
And
Happy Computing!
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