Computing FAQ

Why Reboot?

Today's computer programs require a lot of RAM. RAM stands for Random Access Memory. This is memory your computer uses to run programs. It is measured in megabytes such as 24MB, 64MB 128MB.

Windows memory management system can use both Physical and Virtual Memory. As soon as you run out of RAM Windows starts to swap the data from physical memory to disk to make room. Thus you can run many more applications than you have physical memory. But this system is not foolproof and sometimes some of the program's resources are on disk and others are in memory or scattered all over. This results in memory leaks, program crashes, blue screens, and disk activity.

Have you felt or noticed that, Windows after running for hours, starts to slow down? Menus pop up like a curtain and disk activity follows after each task. Program loading starts to slow down.

You may need to save your work, close all programs, and reboot your system.

Logging On / Problems With Logging On

It may be worth printing this section as you probably won’t be able to access it if you can’t log on.

To Log on to a computer:

Start your computer.
Windows 2000 starts and displays the Welcome to Windows screen.
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
In the Log On to Windows dialog box, supply the following:
User name
The user name is the label that identifies you to Windows 2000, and it is used publicly in many places in the system. It was provided for you by your network administrator.
Password
The password is the secret word that identifies you as the person specified by the user name. The password can be up to 127 characters in length and is case-sensitive. For example, if your password is mypassword and you enter MYPASSWORD, Windows 2000 denies access to the computer.

Some items to check if you are having problems:

Make sure your caps lock is not inadvertently on.
Make sure you’re using your domain username and password (and not your Kerberos/Sidecar username and password).
Have you just changed your password? Make sure you use your new one.

If this problem persists contact Computer Support.

Spam and Virus Filtering on Cornell’s Mail Servers

Here’s a quick quiz: Has your computer been recently hijacked to a bizarre website, attacked by a virus, or received e-mails touting everything from Viagra to get-rich-quick schemes? Chances are, the answer is all of the above. Call it a sign of the digital times, but every day seems to bring increasingly annoying and dangerous malicious programs from the Internet.

These days every computer has a large bull’s-eye on its screen. In an instant, our digital lifestyle can come crashing down like a house of cards because of the actions of a single disgruntled hacker. “Viruses, adware, spyware, phishing – they’re a scourge of modern life,” says Lydia Leong, principal analyst at Gartner. “You can’t hide from it or ignore it.”

More than an inconvenience, these digital attacks cost businesses upwards of $23 billion a year in PC repairs and lost work. In the first half of 2004 alone, nearly 4,500 new viruses popped up – ten times more than just four years ago – and on average three out of four e-mails now contain a virus or an advertisement (Redmond Magazine).

Cornell is using a tool called PureMessage that prevents virus-infected e-mail from reaching your computer, and labels messages that are probably spam to help you filter such messages. PureMessage automatically protects all e-mail on CIT's e-mail system.

Virus blocking: Any message that is found to contain a virus will not be delivered. Instead you'll receive a notice that a virus-infected message has been blocked, so that you can tell the sender and request a clean copy of the message if needed. You'll still need to keep anti-virus software running on your computer to block viruses that travel by some route other than e-mail. PDC uses Symantec Anti-Virus on all of our computers for this purpose. To view a sample virus message generated from PureMessage, go to: http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/email/puremessage/virus-sample.html

Spam filtering: The Cornell mail servers will add a special header to messages that look like spam. The subject line of your email will have "[PMX:#]" added to it to identify the message as probable spam. The messages will still be delivered to you, but the special header will make it easy to set up Eudora (or other e-mail software) to automatically send spam to the trash or another mailbox. If you are having difficulty with the amount of spam that you are receiving, you should set up an e-mail filter to filter out the "[PMX:#]" flagged messages. Your computer support folks can assist with this if you need help setting up the filter, or, for instructions, you can go to: http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/email/eudora/organizing.html#filterspam

Free Internet Access Ports at Cornell

Finding the hundreds of free wireless Internet access ports located around the campus just got a little easier. You can now search by building to see exactly where the ports are. The ports are typically in classrooms, computer labs, kiosks, public areas of libraries, and other locations not used exclusively by a single department or unit. The Office of the Provost and the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) fund the maintenance of these ports as part of their commitment to increasing opportunities to access network services and the Internet. To search for free wireless Internet access points, go to: http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/labs/publicports.html

Protect Yourself From ID Theft

You'd never think they could take your own identity, but they do. Such ID theft is one of the fastest-growing types of financial fraud in the United States. And it's not just about stealing your wallet or purse. It's about stealing information, like your social security number, then applying for credit, running up huge bills, and failing topay creditors all in your name.

If you want to protect yourself, make sure to get a copy of your credit report from eaach of the three major credit bureaus each year. It lists all the lines of credit in your name. Keep an eye on your accounts throughout the year by reading your monthly statements. And tear up or shred pre-approved credit offers, receipts, or other personal information. Don't leave your ATM or credit card receipts in public trash cans.

On the Internet, do not give out personal information unless you are on a secure site. Be aware of the many scams going around on the Internet. Emails that ask you to verify personal information or telling you that your account has been compromised and you need to reactivate it are often scams.

The following web sites can also help you safeguard your confidential and financial information:

Federal Trade Commission is the main U.S. government site for matters related to identity theft.

Identity Theft Resource Center highlights identity theft risk factors and provides tips for both businesses and the general public.

Email Is Not Private

While Cornell policy holds that your email is private except under the unusual and specific circumstances associated with a university or legal investigation into policy violations, email often inadvertently shows up in unexpected places. Two of the most common causes are:

misaddressed email
email that a recipient forwards to others

Experienced emailers have learned that email should not be used for any information that would cause a serious problem if accidentally disclosed. Email is NOT a private means of communication.

The Tools for Privacy Violation
Email privacy violation is a very easy process. Here are some of the obvious, and some of the not so obvious, methods used:

Keystroke Monitoring - keystroke recorders keep track of writing, web pages, programs used, etc. Keystroke monitors can be inserted into machines via Trojan Horse type devices such as Back Orifice.
Email Sweeping - An example of a tool is Mailsweeper. Mailsweeper operates silently at the e-mail servers to scan outgoing and incoming email. Email with certain key words or phrases can be blocked or copied to another person.
Diversion - It is possible for the sendmail or POP3 server to be hacked such that email from all or some people is diverted. This is essentially a home brew Mailsweeper.
General Hacking - your email is vulnerable if the authors copy of email is stored on an unprotected system or the recipients copy of email is stored on an unprotected system.

In conclusion, the general case is that email is not private. It can and is read by unintended humans and search engines for a variety of purposes. The best way to protect yourself is not to create it. If you have something that is really private do not send it in an email.