Revised: April 2, 2000

Because of the lab setup, you will have to do things somewhat differently than you do at home or elsewhere.  The following description of the lab will change as we learn more about the lab setup:

1) Saving your files and installing programs - You can only write to (save to) particular portions of the hard drive, in particular c:\temp.  The contents of c:\temp are erased when one logs on again.  Each workstation has a unique portion of the U network drive it can write to, and these files will remain until deleted by someone else or the end of the semester.

2) In the lab, to download programs from the internet using Netscpape where ftp protocol is used (where the address in the location bar switches to ftp...), you need to use the following proxy instructions: In Netscape, click Edit, then Preferences, the click the + Advanced, then select Proxies, then select Manual proxy configuration, then click the view button.  In each of the entries for HTTP, Security, FTP, and Gopher, specify port 80.  (Check what address or file should be specified)

3) Since the floppy drive is inaccessible, work that you do in the lab that you wish to save and have access to later, you will either have to email or FTP elsewhere.  Each of these alternatives is addressed below:  

a. Email - The version of Netscape Communicator (4.01) that is running in the lab is old and the security certificates have expired.  This means that you will be unable to access sites where RSA Data Security, Inc. certificates are used, such as Hotmail. The technical folks for the lab are exploring various alternative to deal with this problem, including setting the date prior to the end of 1999 and installing a new version of Netscape.  However, from home I tried accessing my Yahoo! account using an old browser (Netscape Navigator 3.04) which produces an error with Hotmail, and it didn't produce a problem with Yahoo!, so hopefully you will be able to use Yahoo! email in the lab to send the work you do in the lab elsewhere.  You can use your NOVA email, but as we have seen, that can be slow.

b. FTP clients and command line FTP - I do not yet know whether the FTP client program can be configured to FTP from the lab.  However, command line FTP from the lab to NOVA does work -- some of the time.  More experience is necessary to know whether the problems are due to NOVA or the lab setup.  Follow the general directions for using command line FTP, but instead of typing open www.nv2.cc.va.us , type open relay.  The computer will request username -- enter username@www.nv2.cc.va.us  For example, I would type wpegram@www.nv2.cc.va.us .

Thus the difference is that instead of typing open {host name address}. you have to type open relay, and then enter your username@hostname address.

Comments to William Pegram, wpegram@nvcc.edu