Contents *Note: Blue wording here and throughout the manual are links to other parts of the manual. You can use these links to navigate quickly through this manual. Introduction 4 Fast Facts 4 Laptop Program: General Information 4 Who’s Lenovo? 5 Why the ThinkPad? 5 Getting Help 5 Billing 6 Lost or Stolen Items 7 Checkout Instructions 7 General Laptop Information 8 Included Items 8 Descriptions & Definitions of Items 9 Setup Instructions 12 Operating Instructions 15 Logging In: 16 Installing software: 19 Browsing the Internet 20 The Localweb Web Site 21 WebCT 22 School E‐mail 22 Recording or “Burning” CDs 23 Page | 2 The ThinkLight 25 Internet Safety 25 Safe Browsing 25 Spyware & Viruses 26 Specific Threats 27 Laptop Care 29 Handling the Laptop 29 Cleaning the Screen 31 Battery Conditioning 32 Disk Defragmentation 32 Useful Links 35 Contact Information 35 Page | 3 Introduction The purpose of this handbook is to provide general guidelines for using the laptop as well as instructions for more advanced or campus specific issues that most users would otherwise have no way of knowing. Fast Facts Short on time? The following links go to key parts of the manual: Program information: Getting Help| Billing| Lost or Stolen Items Maintenance and Safety: Battery Conditioning | Handling the Laptop | Soft Carry Case | Cleaning the Screen Operation and Features: Browsing the Internet | Recording or “Burning” CDs | Internet Safety Problems Accessing Network Services| WebCT | School E‐mail | Mozilla Firefox Laptop Program: General Information Each academic year, Saint Francis University provides every new full‐time freshman student and every full‐time junior student with a new “ThinkPad” laptop computer, provided by Lenovo Group, Ltd. If you are a student at Saint Francis, you’re probably reading this manual from one of these laptops right now. In conjunction with the university’s laptop program, a wireless data network covers all major academic areas and most communal areas of the campus. Students will have access to the internet and every network function (such as printing) anywhere the wireless service can be accessed. Saint Francis University leases all laptop computers from the laptop vendor Lenovo for two years. At the end of the two‐year lease, or when a student is no longer Page | 4 enrolled at the university, he/she will have the option to buy the laptop at the current price determined by the lease agreement (currently $350 for end‐of‐lease; subject to change). Students will receive a new laptop from the university every two years, and always have the option to buy their previous laptop. Following this plan, all undergraduate students will have a laptop that is up‐to‐date for the duration of their academic career at Saint Francis University. Students may take their laptops home during semester breaks, holidays and summer vacations. If at any time a student is enrolled for less than 12 credits (part‐time status) or does not register as a full‐time student for the next full semester, the laptop and its associated items must be returned to the Laptop Help Desk. Who’s Lenovo? A few years ago a company called Lenovo Group Limited bought IBM’s personal computer program. This deal included not only the developers, designers, factories, support services etc. for IBM’s ThinkPad laptops, it also included all copyrights and trademarks associated with the ThinkPad. Lenovo decided to keep and use the trademarked name “IBM ThinkPad” in part because customers are familiar with that name, and the laptops would retain their reputation. The rights to the IBM name will eventually expire, so Lenovo is slowly phasing out the “IBM” part of the title, and will gradually incorporate Lenovo into logo designs so that the ThinkPad will be linked with them by the time the IBM rights expire. Students may notice that their own laptops now only say ThinkPad instead of IBM ThinkPad on them, or have Lenovo in small type in various locations. Why the ThinkPad? Saint Francis University has used the ThinkPad since the beginning of the Laptop Program. Some of the major reasons for picking ThinkPad laptops include: • Year after year ThinkPads have fewer hardware failures than many other brands, if not all of them. This long‐term durability alone makes the ThinkPad an outstanding machine. Page | 5 •
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IBM, and now Lenovo, offers outstanding warranties on the ThinkPads. Many of the parts replaced by Help Desk staff may not be covered by other providers. Other companies are not as cooperative with educational institutions. For example, when power cords are damaged due to misuse, nine times out of ten Lenovo will replace the cord at no charge. The Help Desk was able to become a certified IBM (now Lenovo) Service Center. This was not possible with other venders, and enables the Help Desk to process warranty claims on site and replace parts on site, which means the Help Desk can process machines much faster than sending them to a service center elsewhere. Getting Help The Laptop Help Desk, located in Scotus 103, is provided for student support of computer problems. It is covered under the Technology Fee (along with the laptops, printing services, internet, etc). Students may call ext: 2800 for support (814‐472‐2800 off campus). Any questions or problems with the laptops will be addressed at the Help Desk. Students are advised that all but the most basic problems will require them to bring their laptop to the Help Desk. However, students are encouraged to report issues such as loss of wireless signal, internet connection, broken/jammed printers, or other problems that affect a number of individuals to the Help Desk. Help desk hours will be posted outside the help desk; hours may vary from semester to semester, but generally help desk hours are: Mon.‐Fri. 9:00am‐11:00pm, Sat. 10:30am‐1:30pm and Sun. 5:00pm‐11:00pm In the event that something should malfunction over a summer or semester break, service can be provided when the student returns or the laptop is brought to the Help Desk during business hours. Also, the student may contact Lenovo directly for service, but only for hardware problems. The Help Desk is open during the summer semesters. Summer hours will vary. Billing In the event that an item is lost or damaged through misuse, or if the laptop itself is damaged, the student will be billed according to the following list: • Laptop casing ‐ $15.00‐$35.00 • LCD Screen ‐ $250.00 Page | 6 •
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CD‐Rom Drive ‐ $250.00 System Board ‐ $250.00 Power Cord / Adapter ‐ $40.00 Lithium Battery ‐ $168.00 Cat. 5 Patch Cord ‐ Free All Lenovo ThinkPads issued by the school have a 3‐Year Warranty (the warranty extends one more year if the laptop is purchased after the lease expires) that covers all manufacturer defects and failures. In the event that a laptop sustains accidental damage or suffers damage through negligence, the school has placed insurance on the laptops that will cover the damage less a $250 deductible. Therefore, the most a student will ever pay for repairs for a single repair incident is $250. Lost or Stolen Items If you suspect that your laptop has been lost or stolen, contact security immediately at ext. 3360 (814‐472‐3360 off campus) and filing a police report. Next, contact Nick Weakland, SFU Laptop Program Coordinator, at ext.2800 (814‐472‐2800). In most cases a loaner laptop can be issued immediately and can be kept if the original laptop is not recovered. ThinkPads feature Computrace, a tracking program that enables a stolen laptop to be found and recovered by the authorities. Computrace has a 90% success rate in recovering lost or stolen laptops, but if the student laptop is not recovered, the included insurance policy will cover the cost of the laptop with a deductible of $500.00. Further explanation can be found in the laptop agreement contract, which is given to the student when the laptop is received. Other items that are lost or stolen will be billed to the student according to the prices listed above. Checkout Instructions At the end of the academic year, students may keep the laptop and all associated items for the summer break as long as they are pre‐registered for the next academic semester and are in good financial standing. When returning the laptop, all Page | 7 items must be present and in working condition. Any missing or malfunctioning items will be billed at the preset rate indicated in the “Billing” section of this handbook. General Laptop Information All ThinkPads have the same general features, many of which are common among different types of laptop computers. This section will provide a general overview of what features the ThinkPads have and the laptop related items that come with the laptops. Included Items The student will be responsible for the proper care of each individual item included when he/she receives the laptop. All items must remain in good condition (i.e. are working, clean and not physically damaged) until they are returned. Failure to return laptop components in good condition will result in a predetermined charge for each missing or damaged item. Please note that there are some items that do not need to be returned (as indicated by the asterisk). The items that students receive are: • ThinkPad Laptop • Soft Carry Case* • Power adapter • Lithium‐Ion Battery • Category 5 Patch Cord (Cat 5)(Blue Cable or network cable)* • Phone Cord* • ThinkPad Manual* • Promotional Software CDs* * Although these items do not need to be returned they will be accepted if the student does not want them. ** Please Note: A printer is not included with the laptop. We have designated several large network printers throughout campus to facilitate all student‐printing needs. The main printers are located in the Library Computer Lab, Scotus Lab 107, and at the JFK Help Desk. Every student with a laptop will have access to any public printer they wish Page | 8 to use. These printers will only print black & white pages so it is up to the student to decide if they wish to purchase their own personal printer to print colored pages. Descriptions & Definitions of Items ThinkPad Laptop A portable computer provided by Lenovo with a battery and Wi‐Fi access card designed for wireless use in a variety of locations. Soft Carry Case One of the most essential items for your laptop computer, the soft carry cases provided by Saint Francis University are made with dense padding that will protect your laptop from impact, spills, and pressure. The cases are a “sleeve” design, with D‐rings to attach an included strap, if so desired. The real benefit of the sleeve design is that it will fit inside most backpacks or carry bags that students may use. Using the sleeve at all times will help to ensure that the laptop is not damaged. See “Laptop Care” for more information. Power adapter Used to supply power to the laptop. Connect the small round end into the yellow port on the back of the laptop. The laptop will operate on battery power if the AC Power adapter is not present. Any time the laptop is connected to the AC power adapter and the adapter is plugged into an electric wall outlet, the laptop is charging the battery. Ethernet Port Looks similar to a large phone jack, this communication port enables the laptop to connect to Saint Francis’s Local Area Network (LAN). Dormitories may have similar jacks on the walls that can be plugged into using the Cat. 5 “Blue Cable” provided for wired internet and network access. On the ThinkPads, they are normally located on the left side of the laptop. Be careful not to confuse this with the modem. Integrated Wireless Card Communications card built into the laptop that allows connection to Wi‐Fi networks. ThinkPads have a small switch on the lower left‐hand side of the case, next to Page | 9 the speakers, that will allow the user to physically shut off the wireless card. If there are problems accessing wireless, this switch should be checked first. Category 5 Patch Cord (Cat 5) Also dubbed the “hard wire” or “blue cable” for Ethernet (wired network) connectivity, these blue cables and jacks look similar to phone cables, but are wider and have more pins (wires). Connect this cable to the Ethernet port on the left side of the laptop and the other end to one of the wall jacks which are available throughout the University. Lithium‐Ion Battery This item slides into the underside of your laptop and allows the unit to function without the need of an A/C outlet. Under normal conditions the laptop should operate for approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes, although this will vary greatly depending on the programs being used, screen brightness, and room temperature. This item has been preinstalled in student laptops. USB (Universal Serial Bus) Input/output port for connection of many computer peripherals, including but not limited to: mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, cameras, jump drives, game controllers, etc. S‐Video Port (Not all ThinkPads have this feature) Port for connection to a projector or TV set that has S‐Video capability. It is possible to get an RCA adapter for older televisions. This port is for video only, another cable is needed for audio. PCMCIA Card Slot Commonly called a “PC card slot.” This is an expansion card slot used for a variety of devices, such as a USB port expansion card, extra hard drive, memory card reader, TV/Radio tuner, etc. TrackPoint/Touchpad Lenovo ThinkPads are equipped with two different mouse controls, both of which can be used according to individual preference. The TrackPoint is a small red dot Page | 10 located in the center of the keyboard which functions similar to a joystick. See example below. For example, if the TrackPoint is pushed upwards, the mouse will move upwards. There are three buttons directly below the keyboard which are the mouse buttons. The left and right click buttons work just like the left and right buttons on a mouse. The middle button is called the “scroll bar”. Holding down the scroll bar while pushing the TrackPoint up or down will scroll the current window, much like the wheel feature found on most traditional mice. The Touchpad is the inset pad located at the bottom center of the ThinkPad. Sliding a finger across the pad will make the mouse move on the screen. Tapping the pad will perform a left‐click, while double tapping will perform a double click. A click‐and‐drag can be performed by double‐tapping and on the second tap holding the finger down, while dragging to the desired position. There are two buttons below the Touchpad. They also function for left and right clicking respectively. Speakers ThinkPads come equipped with internal speakers, the controls for which are located at the top left of the keyboard. When experiencing problems with sound press the volume‐up button several times and check for the green bars at the bottom of the screen which indicate the volume level. If this function is working properly and there is still no sound, the sound may be muted elsewhere on the computer. Windows contains a speaker‐shaped icon in the system tray that will bring up more advanced volume Page | 11 controls. Be sure that all sliders are set to maximum (all the way up) and that only the microphone and line‐in is muted. If the problem is still not resolved, check the volume control for the media program being used (for example, Windows Media Player). Headphone/Microphone Jack Normally located on the left side of the laptop, the headphone jack is a green circle that accepts standard headphone plugs. The microphone jack, circled in red, accepts the same size microphone input. Built‐in Microphone ThinkPads also have a built‐in microphone; it is directly underneath two small vertical slits, normally located along the edge of the keyboard, though exact placement will vary. Function Key Marked “Fn” in blue, it is located at the bottom‐left side of the keyboard. Holding this key and pressing another button with blue markings on it will activate that function. For example, pressing Fn + PgUp (PgUp has a blue lamp icon on it) will turn on the “ThinkLight,” a small work light placed above the top center of the screen. Also, pressing Fn + F4 (F4 has a blue moon on it) will put the computer into standby or “sleep” mode. Other functions are listed in the manuals included with the laptop. Setup Instructions When you first receive your new ThinkPad, please check to ensure that all of the aforementioned items are present and working properly. Members of the Saint Francis University staff have already tested each individual machine thoroughly, but it is possible that some items have been misplaced. Upon opening the laptop you will find the circular power “ON” button in the top‐
center of the keypad area. Gently pressing the button once will turn the unit on. Before you can use the ThinkPad, you must enter some personal information into the Operating System. Page | 12 • Wait ffor the first w
window to aappear. Please accept th
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box and movve the slide tto the Highest value. Click the Ok button to finish. a. Now you y can connect to the wireless neetwork. Firstt check thatt the wirelesss switch
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14 b. Double
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ded in the neext section.
Page | 1
15 Operating Instructions This section provides information about the most common tasks a student may wish to perform, as well as detailed information about campus specific resources, laptop maintenance and internet safety. Logging In: When the laptop computer is first started, a login screen similar to the one below will be displayed. The user name will generally display the owner’s user name (e.g. abcst2) if the workstation only box is not checked. When the Workstation only box is checked on a student laptop, the username should say “Administrator”. Workstation Only Box What does the Workstation only check box do? Whenever a user logs onto a system with Novell installed on it, they are actually logging onto two different systems at one time. The first is the Novell network services, the second is the local machine, or workstation. When the workstation only check box is checked, the system does not log into network services. This means the there is no access to network printers or network drives if the machine is logged in as workstation only. The workstation only box is useful when using the laptop off campus. The machine cannot log into the Saint Francis network if the network is not present, so checking the workstation only box will bypass that step. Problems Accessing Network Services Sometimes a machine will lose its Novell connection, or the machine will be logged in as “Workstation Only Box,” requiring the machine to have to re‐connect to the network. Symptoms of Novell loss are print errors and loss of network drive access. Page | 16 If network services cannot be accessed at any time, you can reactivate Novell by doing the following: e. Try accessing other resources on the network, such as such as the internet. If websites are accessible, then the laptop is working correctly. If not, follow the steps for Now you can connect to the wireless network. f. Right‐click on the red ‘N’ icon in the system tray g. Choose Novell Login… h. Enter your user name and password and click “OK” This should re‐enable access to network printers and network drives. If you are still having problems, visit the Help Desk in Scotus 103. Network Drives When a student logs into the network, they automatically have access to two things, one of these are the network drives provided by Saint Francis University. To view these drives, open “My Computer” from either the Desktop or the Start menu. It should look similar to the following example. There is one drive that starts with the username (ex. abcst2) of the person logged into the computer, and is designated with the drive letter “I:”, as it is on the left‐
hand side of the example. This is the personal drive, which can only be accessed by that particular person and can be used to store any kind of data; for example documents, Page | 17 backups, pictures, music, etc. Files stored here are safe, no matter what may happen to the laptop. Even if the laptop is completely destroyed or infected with a virus, these files are safe and can be accessed by logging into another computer. The other network drives contain campus information, for example installation files for programs such as Microsoft Office or GroupWise. In addition there is the “P” drive which contains information related to various classes. Professors can put Word documents, pictures, PowerPoint presentations, etc. in this drive for their students to access. *Important Note: Logging into the computer with the “Workstation Only” box checked will cause these network drives to be unavailable. See “Logging In:” above for more information. Network Printers Public printers are available in several locations across campus. The most commonly used ones are in the Scotus computer lab in Scotus 107, and the Library computer lab. 1. To print from an application to one of these printers, go to File > Print. Page | 18 2. Select the appropriate printer from the list, it should look similar to the image above. The printer names often refer to their location, for example the Scotus Computer Lab printer is labeled “Scotus Lab 107”. 3. Click OK. 4. Printed items can then be picked up at the printer. There are some things students should keep in mind: • It is best to wait to print a document until you are headed to the printer. Even though students are able to print from anywhere on campus, everybody on campus uses these printers, so there is no guarantee that the document will still be there if you take too long. It may end up in the trash or mixed into a pile of forgotten documents. • Documents are printed in the order that the print commands are sent to the printer. This means that if you are the 10th person to send a print command to a particular printer, you will have to wait your turn in line for your printout. Since, many people print documents right before class, try printing class assignments well in advance to avoid a long wait at the printer and possibly being late. • Students have a print limit of 1000 pages for every semester. Students can check their printer balance on the Localweb under “Student Information” > Individual
Printer/Paper Balance (must be logged into Novell for this to work) Installing software: Students are permitted to install any software they feel is beneficial to their academic accomplishments. Special note should be taken that only software included in the original install will fall under the responsibility of Saint Francis University. All student‐installed software is the sole responsibility of the student and will not be replaced in the event the laptop requires service. Many free programs are available over the internet, but not all of these programs are safe to use. Virus, worms, spyware, adware, and malware can all be spread via programs downloaded from the internet. Therefore, please be advised to check that a program is safe before installing it on a computer. The Help Desk can fix most problems, but some bugs imbed themselves so deeply they cannot be removed. This results in the laptop having to be reimaged, meaning that all data on the laptop that is not backed up externally (i.e. Network drive, jump drive, CD) is lost. For more information on finding safe software, see the “Internet Safety” section. Page | 19 Many are commonly used programs try to get a user to install extra software that is often unnecessary and only takes up disk space and computer resources and may even change settings (such as the homepage) which may be undesirable. In time these “extras” build up, slow down the computer and cause excess clutter (toolbars can be exceptionally troublesome); it is best to avoid installing them if you can, and to uninstall unneeded software. An excellent example of unneeded software can be seen when installing AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). As seen in the following example, the default option will install three extras components. Changing to the “Custom” option enables the exclusion of these extras. By simply paying attention when installing software and not installing these little extras users can save themselves a good deal of problems in the future. Another common pitfall is the software that comes with devices such as digital cameras and printers. Sometimes none of the software that comes with a device is needed, so it is best to plug in a device first and see if it will work without the included software. When a device is no longer going to be used, be sure to remove the software related to it, as it will continue to operate in the background and slow down the pc. Browsing the Internet All laptops distributed by Saint Francis University have two internet browsers installed on them: the standard “Internet Explorer” from Microsoft, and “Mozilla Firefox” from the Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla Firefox Students are encouraged to use Firefox for browsing the internet for several reasons. Firefox operates more efficiently than Internet Explorer, making it work faster and more smoothly. Firefox is also safer, it does not suffer from many of the security Page | 20 problems that Internet Explorer does, which means that fewer viruses and spyware will come through Firefox. Firefox also features free public extensions that add extra features, and themes which will change the appearance of the Firefox browser. There are hundreds of extensions available for Firefox which add extra features or are designed to operate with a specific website such as eBay, MySpace, Facebook and more. Some Add‐ons that are useful for college students are explained below. More information about Add‐ons for Firefox can be found at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en‐US/firefox/ Zotero – www.zotero.org Zotero is an extension for Firefox which is designed to help researchers store and manage information about sources, as well as create citations. This makes projects such as research papers easier to manage. For complete information on Zotero visit their website. Answers.com ‐ https://addons.mozilla.org/en‐US/firefox/addon/735 The Answers extension provides one‐click information while browsing in Firefox. Just point at a word and click while holding the Alt key. A box will appear that describes the word or phrase. For example, when clicking on Saint Francis University: Page | 21 Search Bar Firefox has a built in search bar in the top right that can be customized to work with a number of web pages. Some default search engines may include Google, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon, but these will change depending on the version of Firefox that is installed. Additional search engines that can be added include but are not limited to: Ask.com, Live.com, Merriam‐Webster, Wikipedia, and Flickr. For more information on adding search engines to Firefox, visit: https://addons.mozilla.org/en‐US/firefox/browse/type:4 The Localweb Web Site Part of the information systems offered at Saint Francis is the Localweb web site. This page is set to be the default homepage of the laptop internet browsers. Items located on the Localweb include: Campus Directories Campus phone and address listings for all students and employees at Saint Francis. Webmail Web access for all members of the Saint Francis Community. Access My Network Drives Web access to files stored on the private network drive provided by Saint Francis University. Class Schedules Provides access to the official postings of all class times for Spring, Fall and Summer undergraduate semesters as well as graduate level classes. Online Student Information Student information such as transcripts, billing, and current class schedule, as well as car registration permits. Students are required to log into their student information at the start of every semester to confirm their attendance at Saint Francis. To login, use the student user name and PIN number which will be sent to each user via Saint Francis University email. Online Faculty Staff Information Same as Online Student Information, but for faculty and staff use. Submit a Workorder This is for faculty and staff use, it provides web access to online work requests. Page | 22 Located on the left hand side of the Localweb homepage are a link for Student Information, which provides links to a variety of internet resources, and a link to the Pasquerilla library website, where resources such as the card catalog, inter‐library loan and database resources can be found. WebCT Saint Francis University subscribes to an academic software package called WebCT. WebCT allows professors to post information related to the courses they teach, such as grades, notes, syllabi, and class discussion boards, but professors may or may not utilize WebCT. All classes that have WebCT information will automatically be made available on students’ WebCT pages at the start of a semester. Most online courses offered by Saint Francis are held through WebCT. WebCT can be accessed under Student Information on the left‐hand side of the Localweb or directly here: http://webct.francis.edu:8900/webct/public/home.pl School E‐mail Every student at Saint Francis University is assigned an email address which they are expected to check daily. The school and professors will use campus email to relay important messages. Information such as library notices, campus closings or emergencies, public events, schedule changes etc. will be relayed via email. Students are expected to check their email regularly. There are two ways students may check their email. The first is through the “GroupWise” client included on the computers. The icon on the desktop will look similar to this: The second is through the Localweb website, which is set to be the default homepage for both web browsers. Click on the small envelope with “Webmail” written underneath will take the user into the web access interface for the campus email system. Students are encouraged to use the GroupWise program whenever possible because it is faster, provides more options, and consumes less internet resources than the webmail. The GroupWise program offers an integrated address book, which contains all members of the Saint Francis community. This makes it unnecessary to remember the email addresses on campus. In order to send an email to someone at Saint Francis, click on the New Mail button near the top of the GroupWise program, then type their last name. The system will search for matches and display them as the name is typed. To scroll through the matches at any time press the down or up arrow keys, then press the right arrow key to select the correct person. Pressing the enter key will select the person currently highlighted and then give the option to add another name. Page | 23 The mail system also contains a calendar that can be used to keep track of appointments and events, and even share dates and tasks with other students or employees. Complete information and tutorials on how to use the GroupWise system can be found at: http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise/brainstorm_training/ Recording or “Burning” CDs Included with each laptop is IBM’s software for creating your own CDs. To create a single use CD: 1. Insert the blank CD 2. When the Autoplay window comes up, select the “Add Files using RecordNow Data” option. 3. When the window comes up you can then click the option on the left hand side for the function you want to perform. For example, if you want to make a backup of Word documents or pictures, you would click on “Data”. A music CD would be “Audio”. 4. Click the “Data Disc” option and then “Add Data” to choose your files. You will see the directory for your system, by default it will start in My Documents. In most cases, your files will be on the Desktop or in My documents. 5. Find and select the files then click “Add” to add them to the record list. 6. When you have all the files you wish to burn, click the large red button in the bottom right corner. Having re‐writable CDs (often marked CD‐RW) allows you to record on the CD over and over again and to delete files, while single use CDs allow you to write only until the disk is full. The Record Now program has an option to erase rewritable media under the “Tools” section, which will allow you to remove all files and make the disk “clean” again. There is another feature of the CD burning software called Direct Letter Access DLA). DLA allows you to treat a CD like a floppy disk, meaning you can drag‐and‐drop files onto the drive and they will be written immediately. Page | 24 To activate DLA on a disk: 1. Insert a blank disc 2. Wait for the Autoplay options to come up and select “Format using Sonic DLA”. 3. A box will come up with a prompt for “volume label” where you can input a name for your disc or leave it blank. Some other options are also available but it is not necessary to change anything. Click Ok when you are ready. 4. The program will format your disc, after which it will be ready for use. Things to keep in mind about DLA are: • The CD with DLA activated on it will be read by all ThinkPads, but other computers may have problems reading them. • Rewritable discs will allow you to delete files from a DLA enabled disk just like you would normally delete any file, but single‐use discs (CD‐Rs)will only hide the files you try to delete, you will not regain they space the files take up. • Using DLA will slightly reduce the amount of data you can put on the disk. The ThinkLight This is a small work light placed in the top section of the screen that will illuminate the keyboard and screen. The light can be turned on and off using the Fn+PgUp keys as indicated in the diagram. Page | 25 Internet Safety This section contains information on a number of subjects related to using the internet safely. Safe Browsing One of the best measures that a person can take to protect a computer against spyware and viruses is to install and use Mozilla Firefox to browse the internet. Not only is Firefox more secure, it is not susceptible to most of the malicious software that affects Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer it is a common target for attacks because it is the default internet browser on all Microsoft Windows computers. Therefore designing bugs that will infect Internet Explorer will allow the virus to infect the greatest number of computers possible. A general rule of thumb is to not give away any personal information on the internet unless the site is known to be safe. The best way to see what kind of reputation a website has is to put its name into a search engine. The first couple results will probably be for that site, but further down the list there should be results for reviews, forums and blogs where people talk about the site. Always check on the reputation of a website before signing up or giving any personal information. There is no easy way to tell which sites are safe, especially when viewing the results of a search engine. However the ads displayed on a website can often be a good indicator of how trustworthy a website is. Ads that are obscene, obnoxious or show explicit material indicates that the website they’re on isn’t very trustworthy. Ads that present offers for free stuff, whether it is a physical product or a computer program, generally can’t be trusted. If something is really free, they shouldn’t have to try to “sell” it to people, so if it seems that they’re trying too hard to give something that’s free, there’s probably a catch. A good privacy‐protection practice to follow is to use a separate email address (registered with a fake name) for signing up to mailing lists, signing up for memberships on websites, or in any case where an email address is asked for and the site is not necessarily trustworthy. This will keep a large amount of spam from coming to a personal email address as well as protecting personal information. When looking for free software, sites that show customer reviews or forums and blogs are generally good places to look for links to free software. Anywhere where the public can write their own opinion is a good place to start or to check out a program before downloading it. If a program has spyware or viruses hidden inside of it, or it is just bad altogether, someone on the internet is going to say so. One of the best sites to Page | 26 research software is at www.download.com, from cnet.com, a well‐reputed technology website. Spyware & Viruses There are many different terms for the various malicious computer programs that have been created over the years, but for the most part there are two different kinds of bugs. *Quick Tip: All files have an “extension” at the end of their name. For example, a Microsoft Word document ends in “.doc” such as in “class notes.doc”. A picture often has “.jpg” “ .jpeg” or “.gif” such as in “graduation.jpg” Programs all have the extension “.exe” such as “setup.exe” or “install_program.exe”. A program is the most likely file to carry a virus, so be careful which programs are opened. Viruses One category of malicious programs is that of viruses. Viruses can be referred to as worms, Trojan‐horses, malware, etc and viruses exist for all computers and all operating systems (i.e. Windows, Linix, Mac etc.) and usually imbed themselves inside other programs. The important thing to know about viruses is that they are destructive programs that either aim at making a machine unusable or try to take over a computer for malicious purposes, such as use the computer to carry out attacks on other machines. Some viruses can be removed, others cannot; either way, a virus is an inconvenience that is best to avoid. Viruses generally come packaged inside other programs and documents. This is why it is important to never open an attachment in an email from an unknown person or party. Even when the sender is someone familiar, think twice about opening an attachment. Ask, “Is this something that this person would normally send?” and “Does it look like something he/she might send?” Many “free” programs that are available online have viruses or spyware inside of them. It is best to research any program before downloading it. Simply typing the name of the program into a search engine will give a results page that lists some forums where the program in question is discussed. This is a very good way to quickly find out if a program is good or bad, and if it is virus free or infected. Page | 27 Spyware Spyware is commonly used as an umbrella term to encompass unwanted software that is not intended to do harm to a computer. Instead, it is used to gather information the person(s) using the computer and/or to display ads to the user (this is referred to as adware). Spyware, like viruses, can come packaged with other programs downloaded from the internet, or it can come from websites that program them into their web pages. This is done by exploiting security holes in internet browser software. Security holes are in essence a corruption of legitimate features in a program, a feature is exploited for other uses. For the most part, spyware that sneaks onto a machine in this manner is not very threatening and easy to remove, but it can clog up a computer if it is not cleaned regularly. Specific Threats Provided in the section is information on some specific threats. Phishing Phishing is a type of identity theft scam where an attacker will pretend to be an a trustworthy individual or company in order to obtain usernames and passwords, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Phishing is normally done through email; an attacker will send an email which appears to be an authentic communication from an online service to a number of targets in hopes that someone will respond with the information requested. Often the attacker will clone a website (design a website to look like another site such as Paypal, eBay, an online bank, etc.) and insert a hyperlink to that website in the email. The email, which appears to be authentic, will generally say there is a problem with the user’s account, and that they must click the link and login to their account to fix the problem. Only when the recipient does this, their username and password is recorded and the fake website will show a login error. Now the attacker has access to this person’s account and can do whatever he/she wants with it. The best way to avoid phishing attacks is to never click on a link in an email to log into a website; go to the site manually by typing in the address or by using a favorite/bookmark (i.e. if you need to log in to Paypal, type www.paypal.com into the address bar instead of using the email link). Another good security practice is to use different passwords for all of your accounts, and delete any emails that contain passwords, so that if someone gets into Page | 28 one account they cannot automatically get into others by using the same password or reading your emails. Instant Messaging Viruses A type of virus that many people fall victim to is an instant messenger (IM) virus. AOL Instant Messenger is a common target of these viruses, but there are viruses that affect a number of instant messaging applications, such as Yahoo, ICQ, and MSN. Following what the name suggests, the virus infects instant messaging programs and using them to spread itself to other computers. When the virus gets into a computer, it implants itself into the instant messaging program of choice (AIM, Yahoo, etc.) and waits for someone to log in. Once someone starts the program and logs into the instant messenger the virus begins sending messages to all of the people on that person’s contact list. The user doesn’t see the messages that the virus sends, so often there is no way of knowing a machine is infected unless someone tells the user. Sometimes the only thing these viruses do is try to spread themselves and cause annoyance. Other times however, they may also collect data such as passwords and financial information, or download other viruses onto the computer. IM viruses generally send out static messages (always the same message) which urge the receiver to click on a link. Normal prompts follow the lines of, “Wow this is so funny, check it out!” or “Look at my new pictures, just click here.” Almost never will the link be typed out, such as: http://localweb.francis.edu/Student/StudentHndbk/Student%20Handbook%200708/Student%20Handbook%20Homepage.asp (This is a link to the Student Handbook). The punch line is: if you click the link, you got the virus too. The best policy is, if you think the message is uncharacteristic or suspicious, verify that the person you’re talking to actually sent it to you. Instant messenger viruses can spread very fast and can cause a great deal of chaos. Therefore it is imperative that the virus be removed as quickly as possible. If you suspect that someone has an IM virus: 1. Avoid clicking on the links they send you 2. Tell them they have the virus, and tell them to turn off their instant messenger. 3. Get the person to go to the Help Desk as quickly as possible. 4. If you think that you may have the virus, go to the Help Desk too. Page | 29 Laptop Care This section features some “do’s and don’ts” of laptop care as well as detailed instructions. Not only does good laptop care decrease inconvenience to the student for repairs, it can also save the student a good deal in the way of costs. Because the laptops are on lease, the student does not own the laptop and is responsible for all damages when the laptop is returned at the end of the two‐year period. Handling the Laptop The laptop computer may seem like a fairly solid device, and modern laptops can handle a fair amount of abuse, but many parts inside the laptop can be easily damaged if the laptop is not treated properly. i. Always be gentle with the laptop. Avoid dropping, bumping, vibrating or pushing the laptop, especially while it is running. Doing so may cause the hard drive to malfunction, leading to data corruption, data loss, or hard drive failure (in which case all data would be lost). j. Do not put heavy objects on the laptop, laptop display, or CD drive bay. Always be sure to close the CD drive when it is not in use. Leaving the CD drive open will risk having it bumped or jarred, which may damage the drive and cause it not to function properly. k. Never place objects on the keyboard. Many students damage their screens by inadvertently leaving an object such as a pen or pencil on the keyboard and closing the lid. Placing items on the keyboard also risks damaging the keys; if keys come off of the keyboard, they may pop back on, but if they do not the keyboard will have to be replaced. l. Keep food and drink away from the laptop. Having food and drink close to the laptop risks having the food go onto the laptop, which is often a fatal event for a computer. Even crumbs and small splashes (such as bubbles from carbonated beverages) can lead to a non‐functioning laptop over time. m. Before moving your computer, be sure all cords and cables are disconnected. n. Pick up the laptop by the base with both hands. Never pick up a laptop by the screen, as this can easily crack the screen. Picking up the laptop with only one hand, especially on the corner, can cause the system board to flex. Any stress on the casing such as twisting or bending can cause the board to flex, which stresses the electronic connections on the system board, many of Page | 30 which are microscopic. Over time flexing will cause these connections to break, resulting in a non‐functioning computer. While warranty will cover most cases of system board damage, the student will still have to wait for repairs to be made. o. When moving the laptop more than a few steps make sure it is in standby/sleep mode. Do this by using the Fn+F4 keys, then close the lid and check that the moon icon on the lid is lit before picking it up. p. It is also advisable to use a sturdy carrying case such as the ones provided by Saint Francis University. Doing so will protect the laptop against most bumps & drops as well as pressure damage. q. Pressure damage is what happens when a laptop is subjected to high amounts of stress. Usually this is caused by books or other items pressing on the laptop inside a bag or when books and other heavy items are placed on top of the laptop; this also includes twisting and flexing damages. Pressure damage can result in a large range of symptoms such as broken screens, broken CD‐Rom drives, or crashes and startup failure (symptoms of system board problems). r. Avoid sitting the laptop computer on your lap or other body parts. The laptop and power adapter can become hot during use, especially while charging, and extended contact to skin, even through clothing, can cause burns. Also, sitting the laptop on your lap subjects it to bumps and vibrations from body movement. s. Avoid placing the laptop on a bed, cushioned chair, or other furniture other than a table. The laptop will tend to sink into fabrics and soft cushions or pillows, causing the fabric to wrap around the laptop and trap heat inside the laptop. If the laptop overheats it may stop functioning and may even catch fire. Also, overheating can damage laptop components, including the hard drive, and could result in data loss. t. Arrange cables carefully. All cables for the power cord, Ethernet cable, a mouse, a printer or other devices should be placed where they will not be pinched by the laptop, objects or furniture and where they will not be stepped on, tripped on, pulled on or subjected to any other forceful actions. Strong force may damage or break cables and sockets. Page | 31 Cleaning the Screen 1. Laptop screens can be cleaned with an ordinary household glass cleaner such as Windex as long as it is done properly. 2. Completely turn off the computer. Don’t just put it into standby, got to start > Shut Down 3. Put the laptop on a flat surface and tilt the screen back so that the top of the screen is touching the surface. The laptop should on lay flat on the surface so that when the screen is pressed on it does not move. 4. Spray the cleaner onto a paper towel or soft cloth. Do not spray the cleaner directly onto the screen. 5. Using slight pressure, gently wipe the screen with the cloth or paper towel until the screen is dry. Battery Conditioning The battery is one of the most important parts of a laptop; the battery in a way is the life‐source of the laptop. Currently, most electronic devices use lithium‐ion batteries because they provide an exceptional run time. The down side is that they lose a large part of their capacity within a few years. That is why it is critical that the user take good care of the battery to ensure the longest life possible. Using a simple technique often referred to as “conditioning” will extend the lifetime of a lithium‐ion battery. Note that this also applies to any device that uses a lithium‐ion battery, such as cell phones, MP3 players, portable game systems and PDAs. In order to condition a battery all that must be done is to completely drain the battery, and then charge it fully (to 100%). Completely draining a battery means that all of the power is drained out of it. Some devices will shut off at a certain point (the laptops will go into standby or hibernation modes), preventing complete draining of the battery. Therefore, the device must be turned back on. Continue turning it on until there is no response when the power button is pressed. Then plug it in, and let it charge completely before using the battery again. Most devices can be used while charging, so as to decrease inconvenience while charging the battery. The first few times a battery is used are the most critical in determining its lifespan. If nothing else, a user should condition the battery at least 3 times when it is first used. Page | 32 After this initial period, the battery should be drained as often as possible, but it is not necessary to squeeze every drop of power out of it all of the time, as it is not always practical to fully drain your battery (for example, if your battery is getting low in the middle of class, it is ok to plug the laptop in at 1% or even 5%). The battery need only be conditioned once every 1‐2 weeks. To summarize: 1. Conditioning your battery (draining the battery completely) will help increase its lifespan. Ideally, a battery is conditioned 3 times when it is new, and once a week or more afterwards. 2. To drain the battery completely: keep turning the device on until it does not respond to the power button at all. 3. Charge it completely (100%) before using it again. Disk Defragmentation Whenever a computer runs, it constantly reads and writes information onto the hard drive. Every time a file is re‐written the computer may not put all of the information together in one place. The file is split into segments or fragments; this is called file fragmentation. The computer chooses the most easily accessible places on the drive when it writes data, however the downside is that it is not efficient to read back fragmented data. The disk defragmenter utility will analyze the data on the hard drives attached to the computer and reassemble fragmented files, which improves overall system performance. To run the Disk Defragmenter utility, go to: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter Page | 33 he hard dissk drives atttached to the machin
ne The utilitty will displlay all of th
(geneerally there will only be b one), thee size of th
he disks, the free spacce, and whaat perceentage of th
he disk is free. The perrcentage collumn is the most important one: in i
orderr for the utility to operrate correcttly there mu
ust be at least 15% free space. Th
he otherr reason it is i good to keep k
at leasst 15% free is that the computer will w run morre efficiently. When
n a hard drivve is filled up the operaating system
m and prograams have lesss room
m to move files around o
on the disk, m
making read
d/write operrations take much longer, slowing down overall perform
mance. Clickiing the Anaalyze button
n will makee the utilityy check the disk for frragmentatio
on witho
out changingg any data. TThe utility will then sugggest whetherr or not the disk needs tto be deefragmented
d. Even if the utility do
oes not sayy defragmen
ntation is neecessary, th
he utilityy should be run at least once a month in order tto ensure top performan
nce. Defragment will make th
he utility deffragment th
he data on your machinee. Clicking D
The status s
bar at the bottom
m will show
w the progreess of the uttility and thee current fille beingg worked on. It is importtant not to u
use the comp
puter while the utility is running. Th
he Stop button will cause the u
utility to stop
p completely, which willl require thee program tto start from the beginning b
if it is run agaain. If it is necessary n
to
o use the co
omputer, th
he Pause
e button can be presseed to tempo
orarily stop the t utility an
nd not lose the progresss that h
has already been made. Page | 3
34 Useful Links Description LocalWeb – St. Francis insider info Pasquerilla Library Homepage WebCT Homepage – Online courses CNET – Tech product reviews Download.com – Software reviews & downloads from CNET Microsoft Security at Home – Security information for the general user Mozilla – Home of the Firefox internet browser & Firefox add‐ons Link http://localweb.francis.edu http://library.francis.edu http://webct.francis.edu:8900/webct/public/home.pl
http://www.cnet.com http://www.download.com http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.mspx http://www.mozilla.com Contact Information All numbers are (814‐472‐ ext.) for off campus calls. For example, the Help Desk is 814‐472‐2800 Place & Description Laptop Help Desk (Nick Weakland & Staff) IT Services (email, password, room phone problems) Campus Police Library Circulation Desk Extension 2800
3097
3360
3160
Page | 35 Designed and written by Paul Feighner III for Saint Francis University Special Thanks to Nick Weakland George Pyo Sr. Dan Wetklow Melanie Kopanic Copyright © 2008 by Paul Feighner This manual may be modified and/or distributed freely in any form under the following conditions: ‐ Copies of this manual or works derived from this manual must be attributed to the original author and publication, but in no way that suggests that the author, publisher, or Saint Francis University endorses the distributor or editing parties. ‐ This manual may not be used in full or in part for commercial purposes under any condition. Published by Paul Feighner for Saint Francis University, 117 Evergreen Dr. Loretto, PA 15940 Produced in the United States of America. Page | 36 Bibliography
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