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Frequently Asked Questions

Printable Version

How to Use this Page

This compilation of frequently asked questions (FAQ) is designed to help you answer your own questions. Immediately below these introductory paragraphs, you'll see a group of general subjects, such as E-mail, Dialing in, etc. These subject lines are links that point to Q & A about that subject. Some links point to Q & A within this document,and others point to external documents. Choosing a given subject line takes you to either an internal Q & A group or to an external document. Browse through the Q & A pairs. The Top button at the end of each answer returns your view to the top of the FAQ page; Netscape's Back button returns to your point of origin.  You can also electronically search this page with the search option built into your browser. Older versions of Netscape, for example, provide a Find icon on its menu bar (look for the binoculars button). If you don't see the Find icon on the menu bar of Netscape's newer versions (i.e., Navigator 4.0, which is included in Netscape Communicator), use the Edit and Find in sequence.  If you're unfamiliar with a word or phrase you need to know more about, look in our online glossary

FAQ Groups

Windows Basics (external page) 
E-mail, General 
E-mail, Windows (Eudora) 
E-mail, Netscape 
Network ID and Password FAQ 

Internet FAQ 

Web Browsers, General 
Web Browsers, Netscape (Mac) 
Web Browsers, Netscape (PC) 
Web Pages, Creating 
Web Pages, Searching 
Network News (Usenet, Newsgroups)
CMS, General 
Moving SAS and SPSS from the Mainframe to the Compute Server 
ABENDs (external page) 
Miscellaneous Topics 
Computer Learning Centers (CLC) (external page) 
Support pages for Windows, Macintosh, and Unix (external pages) 

E-mail

E-mail, General

Q: I graduated from SIUC last semester and am back home in another state. How can I check the mail in my SIUC mailbox from my home?

A: First, understand that your SIUC account will remain active until approximately six weeks into the Spring Semester, or whatever semester follows your last semester of enrollment at SIUC.   You can simply dial into SIUC as you always have, though in your case a long-distance charge will be involved.  Please be aware that after the ID is taken down, sometime around the sixth week of the new semester, your mailbox at SIUC and all its contents will be deleted.

If you plan to continue using e-mail beyond that six-week point, the long-term solution is to establish an account with another service provider. Your new provider will tell you how to point your e-mail program (Eudora, etc.) to your new mailbox. You can use your SIUC mailbox for six weeks, but sometime before that period is up, send a request to the SIUC postmaster asking her to forward your mail to your new mailbox. Be sure to send it FROM your SIUC mailbox, so the return address is your SIUC address, e.g., myname@siu.edu. Your mailbox will still be destroyed at the six-week point, but your e-mail will be forwarded to your new box for six months from the date you request forwarding.

Some providers offer free services. Have a look at Hotmail, for example, or Juno. The former is a free Internet mail service provided by Microsoft, and it is available from several sources.  This provides free dial-in access to a Hotmail server at a large number of locations scattered across the country.  When you send e-mail, under Options there is an option for external mail.  Use "saluki-mail.siu.edu" (without the quotation marks) for the POP Mail server, and your Network ID and password.  Use a time-out period of 500 seconds.

Q: This morning when I checked my e-mail, I received the following message:

The POP3 server responded:
Received Kiss of Death
Please enter a new password.
I hit the cancel button and closed Netscape. I reopened Netscape and again
checked my mail and everything worked okay. This is the first time I have
ever received this message.

A: The "Kiss of Death" message comes from Information Technology's mail server. It is neither a virus nor a hoax. Sometimes an undeliverable piece of mail in a mailbox generates the message. At other times, a timing conflict within the server generates the message. The latter case is probably the cause of the message you received. For reasons still unknown, a client request to open a mailbox conflicts with something else the server is doing, and it sends this cryptic message. Both Netscape and Eudora e-mail clients have received this message. The key indicator here is that the second request worked fine, which indicates that your mailbox is OK and that the cause of the problem was temporary.

Q: I use both Eudora and Netscape Navigator e-mail. I don't know how to transfer old e-mail I want to save from one to the other. Do their mail boxes use different formats? Is there a way to transfer e-mail from one mailbox to another?

A: Yes, they use different e-mail formats. If you want help in converting address files among Netscape Navigator and programs such as Eudora, Pine, Elm, Pegasus, and MS Internet Mail, go to the InterGuru site. Some of the tools on these commercial sites may help you convert e-mail formats.

Q: Someone has sent me e-mail with a large Word for Windows document embedded in it. The e-note starts out normally enough, in regular English characters I can read, but then it says "The following binary file has been uuencoded to ensure successful transmission. Use UUDECODE to extract." And then I see a lot of binary "gibberish" I can't read. What do I do?

A: The first step is to reply to the sender and ask her to resend the e-note, this time with the binary file attached to the note, not embedded. That'll make it easy to detach the binary file--a Word for Windows document in this case--and store it in a folder of your choice. If this isn't possible, you're going to need a program that can scan the e-note and extract the embedded binary file for you. One such program is WINCODE, a freeware multipurpose encoder/decoder for Windows. You can download it from any number of web sites. It's easy to use: select File/Decode from the WINCODE window, and the program will ask for the directory and filename of what you want to decode.

Q: How can I find out someone's e-mail address at SIUC? Is an e-mail search available? 

A: You can find local, SIUC e-mail addresses from this link. (Top)

Q: My wife and I both want to check our e-mail accounts using Eudora on the same computer (a Macintosh). How do we do this without changing the settings each time? 

A: Several steps are involved in creating multiple mailboxes, so we've described how (for Eudora and Netscape) in a separate document.  (Top)

Q: When I'm traveling off-campus, is there any way to send and receive e-mail through the SIUC mail servers without having to make long-distance calls back to Carbondale?

A: Yes. Free Internet mail service is available from several sources. One is called Juno. This provides free dial-in access to a mail server at a large number of locations scattered across the country. A similar service is called hotmail. When you send e-mail, under Options there is an option for external mail. For the mail server address, type in saluki-mail.siu.edu, which is the access address for our mail server from off-campus. You can then read e-mail in your SIU mailbox, and e-mail can be sent.

Q: Sometimes friends attach very large files, like images and word processing documents, to e-mail they send me, and I have problems trying to open this mail (with MIME types and so on). It also causes my mailbox to fill up quickly. Information Technology advises using something called "FTP" to send large files rather than e-mail. How do I "FTP" a file? 

A: FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It was designed to allow computers to send files to each other across the Internet. Computer type and file type don't matter. Using an FTP server for large files will make sending data easier for you and take some of the load off Information Technology's mail server, and we strongly recommend it. The following instructions explain how to use FTP: 

1. Information Technology has a publicly available FTP server running on its compute server. You may need to activate your Network ID for access to the compute server, if you haven't already done so. As a test, click telnet://compute.siu.edu, the compute server, and try to login with your Network ID and password (the same pair you use to dial in and open your e-mail). If you're told that "You entered an invalid login name
   or password," you need to activate Unix access for your ID. You can do that from telnet://kids.siu.edu, the network server. Login with your Network ID and password, and select the U option, "Activate this Network ID for Unix login," and answer the prompts. 

2. This opens an account on the compute server. Actually, this "account" is a directory not unlike your mailbox on the mail server, or the directories/folders you routinely create on your desktop computer. It's space on the compute server's hard drive you can use to FTP files to people and they can use to FTP files to you. Once this account is created, you can login to it via Telnet. This server uses the Unix operating system, so after you login, you'll be able to use Unix commands. FTP is one of these commands. 

3. Now, to FTP a file to someone, you must get that file into this account.  You can login to the account and create the file from scratch with a Unix text editor. Or more likely, you can FTP a file to your account. 

4. A variety of FTP clients can talk to the FTP server running on compute.siu.edu. A document like this can't possibly adequately cover this variety. Windows 95/98, for example, has an FTP client built into its accompanying version of DOS. Initiate an FTP session with your account on the compute server by typing in from the DOS command line

       ftp compute.siu.edu

and login with your Network ID and password. An FTP prompt will replace the DOS prompt. Suppose you want to upload a large file of binary-format data (BIGFILE.DAT) to your account so your friends at
SIU in Carbondale, Edwardsville, and Niigata can download it. At the FTP command prompt, enter 

       binary

which ensures transmission in binary mode, and then type in 

       put c:\mydata\bigfile.dat

which transfers the file on your C-drive, \mydata\bigfile.dat, to your account on the compute server. The drive and pathway will vary of course. Or suppose you want to upload a large plain-text file (BIGFILE.TXT) on your A-drive. Type in 

       ascii

which ensures transmission in ASCII mode, and then type in 

       put a:\mytext\bigfile.txt

which transfers the file to your account on the compute server. 

5. The file basically becomes public property at that point. If a friend wants a file in your account, he can login to the compute server, using his own ID and password, change to your directory with the cd command, i.e.: 

    cd yourname

and then 

       get bigfile.txt

which brings the file down to his desktop computer. (Top) 

Q: How can I search the Internet for FTP sites?

A: There's a special tool for searching anonymous FTP sites. Archie is an Internet service that lets you search the indexes of most files available at anonymous FTP sites. These indexes are kept on special Archie servers around the world. To get to Archie, enter the URL http://www.agrenv.mcgill.ca/SEARCH/ARCHIE.HTM, which takes you to the host Archie site.  Scroll down until you get to the actual Archie Request Form area that contains the search information. Follow the prompts to initiate a search.

Q: I'm an SIUC student. While I'm home on break, am I permitted remote access to my e-mail? I know a firewall is set up, but I still have people sending e-mail to my SIU account that I would like to read from my commercial account. Is this doable? 

A: Yes, you can check your mail when you're away from the SIUC dial-in server. Dial in to your local Internet Service Provider (ISP), and set your e-mail client's POP mail account to yourname@saluki-mail.siu.edu, where yourname is your mailbox name. Also make sure your outgoing mail (SMTP) server is set to the SMTP server on your local ISP. The firewall you mentioned (a type of security filter you must pass through) will prevent you from downloading any software from the SIUC FTP server, but it'll let you check your e-mail. (Top) 

Q: I've been receiving unwanted e-mail lately, such as unsolicited advertising from commercial businesses, and other stuff I would call "junk" mail. I find this very annoying. What can I do to keep
this electronic junk out of my mailbox? 

A: There are steps you can take, regardless of the type of unsolicited e-mail.The Internet is not regulated with anything like the USPS strictness, but there are things you can do. This is a fairly extensive list, so Information Technology's postmaster has described them in a separate document. (Top) 

Q: I tried to apply for a POP Mail ID from the "Computing on Campus/SIUC E-Mail Services" Gopher menu sequence. The "Request POP Mail ID" is no longer there. How do I apply for an
e-mail ID? 

A: Gopher has been removed from SIUC system, but you can still apply for a Network ID from a web page. The network system was started up at the beginning of Fall Semester 1996 to ensure security for online services like e-mail. This means you must begin with a Network ID request. Go to the SIUC Intranet page. Look for "security issues" on the home page. The word security is a link to the Security Services page, where you will see an option to "Request a Network ID." The prompts will lead you through the process of applying for a Network ID. At the end of the process, you will be asked whether you want an e-mail ID also assigned. Choosing Yes or OK will create e-mail access for the ID. If you don't request an e-mail ID at that time, you can do so later via the web page at https://webmail.siu.edu:443/util/id_request.html (which is what the highlighted "ID" below does). Now, enter your Network ID and password (network calls it your Challenger password). If your ID and password match--the whole idea of this security system--you will be allowed to login to the server, and a menu will provide choices. One choice is for applying for an e-mail ID, and that's the one you should select. You can apply now if you wish.  Getting started with e-mail is easy. An in depth discussion of electronic mail is also available. Another document focuses on the network security package
and e-mail IDs. (Top) 

Q: I know for a fact I have mail in Eudora. But when I open my mail, all I see are messages that the server has been contacted and  that the mail is opening. No in-basket is displayed; no incoming mail is displayed. I've double-checked my configuration, and I didn't notice anything wrong. 

A: This problem usually indicates that your Account information in your e-mail client program, Eudora in this case, contains mixed-case data. Your "userid" field MUST be in all lowercase. In Eudora, this is under the Special/Configuration menu option, "POP Account" field. This is basically what happens: 

You start up the mail client and open your Inbox. The POP3 server compares your userid/password data against the host machine's password database Your client displays some kind of status message about "connecting to the server" The POP3 server can't find your userid, since it is not in all lowercase POP3 refuses the session request because it thinks you're an invalid user 

Your client status display (your screen) changes to nothing--actually, it returns to its initial waiting state--but it isn't "nice enough" to tell you why. It looks like your client is locked up or there is a network problem. (Top) 

E-mail, Windows

Q: I'm using Eudora for Windows. How do I get it to stop constantly adding lines under the [open windows] section of eudora.ini? When it gets so big I begin getting GPFs (General Protection
Fault errors). 

This is caused by not closing your windows as you finish with them. Before exiting Eudora next time, click on Files and then hold down Shift and click on Close. All the windows will close; if you want to see your Inbox when you start next time, you can open just that one before finally exiting. (Top) 

E-mail, Netscape

Q: I've heard the newer versions of Netscape have e-mail built into it. I already use Netscape, and I've been using Eudora for e-mail; how would I configure Netscape e-mail? 

A: Start by selecting Options in the Netscape menu bar. Then select Mail and News Preferences, and then select the Servers tab. (There may be some variation between Windows, Macintosh, and Unix Netscape versions.)  For the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server, use saluki-mailhub.siu.edu; for the Incoming Mail (POP3) Server, use saluki-mail.siu.edu. Your POP3 User Name will be the name of your mailbox, i.e., whatever is to the left of the "at" sign in your e-mail address. If your e-mail address is myname@siu.edu, then your POP3 user name will be myname. Netscape should automatically fill in the Mail Directory field. (Incidentally, while this window is open, you can give Netscape the SIUC News (NNTP) Server address: saluki-news.siu.edu.) 

Click OK to close the window, and again select Options and Mail and News Preferences, and this time click the Identity tab. The Your Name field will be your actual name (John Jones, etc.); the Your Email field will be myname@saluki-mail.siu.edu (where myname will be your own mailbox name); the Reply-to Address will be myname@siu.edu; and Your Organization will be your organizations. The Your Name and Your Organization fields are conveniences: Netscape will insert them in the From: header line when it sends your e-mail. But the Your Email and Reply-to fields should be correctly filled in. Click OK; Netscape should now be configured for e-mail. (Top) 

Q: Sometimes when I'm surfing the web and I click on some document or image I want to see, Netscape tells me "Unknown File Type" and that I started to download a file of "application/pdf." I select "More info" from the pop-up panel, and Netscape takes me off to a "Plug-in Finder" page. What's going on? 

A: The .pdf filetype stands for portable data format. Files created in this format require the Acrobat program to read them. How to get this program, how to install it, and how it works are explained in this document. (Top) 

Network IDs and Passwords

Q: I have some general questions about Network IDs and passwords. For example, I'd like to know how to change my POP e-mail password; whom I'm supposed to contact when I have a dial-in problem; I'd like to know when my ID activates or expires; what I'm supposed to do when network tells me my password is invalid and locks out my ID; why I get this "invalid" message more often on the 453-3500 number; and why I sometimes get disconnected 30 minutes into a logon session on the four-hour number. 

A: Your questions involve several issues, so we've decided to answer them in a separate document. The links in the list below point to the complete document, to specific topics within the document, and to a web page devoted to Security Services: 

Show me the complete document. 
Where do I change my e-mail password? 
Whom do I contact about a problem? 
How does registering or not registering at SIU affect my Network ID? 
Show me the Security Services web page so I can apply for an ID. (Top) 

 

The Internet

Web Browsers, General

Q: Sometimes when I'm browsing the web, I encounter files with a ".ps" extension in web page links. I'd like to be able to open these files with my browser, but I always get error messages. How can I open these ".ps" files? 

A: The .ps stands for PostScript. PostScript files need a special program, or viewer, to open and successfully read them. Aladdin Enterprises' GhostView is the easiest viewer to download and install. This software runs on Unix, Macintosh, and Windows platforms. It works with the IBM WebExplorer, NCSA Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It's free for personal use to SIUC students, faculty, and staff. Their home page is at www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost). We've written a document to assist those who are unfamiliar with installing viewers like GhostView and configuring the Netscape browser for helper applications. (Top) 

Web Browsers, Netscape (PC)

Q: I use Netscape for Windows, and I get the message "document contains no data." 

A: Increase the cache size in Netscape via the Options/Network Preferences/Cache sequence. In our experience, the Netscape browser works well with a Memory Cache setting of 600 Kilobytes and a Disk
Cache setting of 5000 Kilobytes. (Top) 

Q: I really like the Netscape World Wide Web browser, but since I've begun using it, I've noticed that my hard drive fills up much faster. All kinds of space is used up by the files in my Netscape/cache directory, for example. 

A: Every time you use Netscape, a copy of the pages you browse is stored in a Netscape subdirectory. These pages are not automatically deleted at the end of the Netscape session, and they eventually build up to a point that wastes a large amount of hard drive space. (If you look in the CACHE subdirectory, you'll see dozens of strange-looking filenames, e.g., "m0pagi28.htm").  Netscape offers an easy way to periodically "clean house." First, from the Netscape menu bar, click the Options/Network Preferences/Cache. sequence. Then, click the "Clear Disk Cache Now" button. Netscape will erase the accumulated pages. The same page also offers a button to clear accumulated pages in Netscape's memory cache. (Top) 

Web Browsers, Netscape (Mac)

Q: When I download Netscape software for my Mac, I receive an error message to the effect that I need something called "stuffit expander" in order to open the file. What is "stuffit expander," and how do I get it? 

A: The Stuffit Expander is the Mac world's counterpart of the DOS world's PKUNZIP suite of decompressing software. Basically, large software suites are compressed into a single file before transmission across a network. After you've downloaded this single file, it must be decompressed, or extracted, or in the Mac world's parlance, expanded. The Mac Stuffit Expander does just this. Typically, you will drag the icon representing your freshly downloaded software onto the Expander icon and drop it there. You can get Stuffit Expander at this URL. It's free. (Top) 

Q: Tell me more about this compression business.

A: When you get files from the Internet via FTP, you'll probably notice that many files are compressed. We don't need to get into the technical details of file compression, but let's just say it involves some very sophisticated ways to make files as small as possible. What you do need to know, however, is that most compressed files must be decompressed before they're usable. The compressed file is really only good for storage and transferring. The only exceptions are compressed sound and graphic files, which you can hear or see without running a decompression program. Netscape Navigator, in fact, automatically decompresses them.

Graphic files, such as .GIF's, are already compressed in their standard format. They have to be because graphic files contain so many repeated bits of information (like background colors), that presenting every pixel in its exact location would result in an enormous file size. GIF files are, in fact, compressed almost as much as they can be, and running a compression program, such as WinZip or PKZIP, on them may actually make them bigger. Why? Rather than squeezing a few more bits of space, the compression program adds information to the file. This is usually information such as how the file was compressed and how to decompress it. Compressed graphics are discussed in greater detail in a separate document.

In order to decompress files that need it, you must get a compression/decompression program. One of the best is WinZip 6, which you can get by accessing http://www.winzip.com. Follow the instructions on the WinZip home page to download a copy. (Note: You can download and try WinZip free of charge. If you decide to keep and use the program, it costs $29. Volume discounts are available.) (Top)

Web Pages, Creating

Q: I want to create my own web page. I think you call it becoming an "information provider." 

A: This question raises a number of issues, so we've written a separate page to answer them. The following links point to subtopics within the document. 

Show me the complete document. 
How do I find out more about the World Wide Web? 
What is an Information Provider? 
Do I qualify as an Information Provider? 
I am a student. Can I create my own Web pages? 
Where do I get training? 
What software and tools are available to get started? 
How do I create a home page? 
What is an index.html and why do I need it? 
Are there any standards for developing Web pages at SIUC? (Top) 

Web Pages, Searching

Q: How can I limit a search of World Wide Web pages to the SIUC site only? Or to any single site? I really don't want to spend time searching 16 million web pages for information I know is available
at a given site. 

A: Good question! Limiting searches means faster results for you and less overall traffic on the Web. We've answered this question in depth, including graphic illustrations, in a separate document, Searching the Web. (Top) 

Netnews, Usenet, Newsgroups

Q: I read that there are more than 20,000 newsgroups in existence on the web now. How can I find out what's going on in that many newsgroups? 

A: A large number of these newsgroups can be searched through the DejaNews search engine. You can get to DejaNews directly from this URL: www.dejanews.com. It lets you choose between a quick search or a more
extensive power search. (Top) 

Mainframe Computing

CMS, General

Q: My CMS disk is Full (external page) 

Q: How do I use e-mail (CPROFS) on the mainframe? (external page) 

Q: How do I acquire additional disk space on CMS? (external page) 

Q: I get a new CICS screen (APPLID CICIOCP1) I've never seen before after I dial VTAM.

A: You can escape this screen with the following sequence, which will return you to USSMSG10/SIUnet:

1. Press PF3

2. Clear the screen

3. Enter CESF LOGOFF

4. Press Enter

Q: How do I login to the SIUC mainframe and CMS from a web page? 

A: You'll need software on your computer called tn3270, which basically convinces the SIUC IBM mainframe that it's talking to a 3270-type terminal.  IBM mainframes need to talk to 3270 terminals, so you must get your
personal computer to imitate (or "emulate") one. If you don't have this software on your computer, you can download it and its installation instructions from this link. Choose the link that matches your operating system (Macintosh, Windows, etc.).(Top) 

After you have installed this 3270 terminal emulator, write down its disk/directory/program name pathway, e.g., C:/TCP3270/WIN3270.EXE">C:\TCP3270\WIN3270.EXE -A -P default -H. (The options, -A -P default -H, are unnecessary, but they'll speed up your connection.) Now you need to tell Netscape where to find the software. On the Netscape screen, click Options/General Preferences/Apps, and type in whatever your disk/directory/program name combination is. Include the options if you wish, and click OK. (Unix servers talk to VT100 terminals, which Telnet software emulates. This is also where you tell Netscape the location of your Telnet software [it'll be something like C:\TELNET\TELNET.EXE]). If Netscape can't find tn3270 or Telnet software, it gives you that mysterious "Unable to find application C:\somedirectory\somefile.exe" message you may have seen from time to time when you try to follow certain links. If you want to check whether your copy of Netscape already knows where a 3270 terminal emulator is, click this test connection. To check for Telnet, click this test connection. (Top) 

Q: I heard the LISTSERVER on the SIUC mainframe has been taken down and replaced with a listserver running on a Unix machine. How can I find out more about this? 

A: Campus Systems has a document describing the transition and how to subscribe on one of their web pages. 

Moving SAS and SPSS from the Mainframe to the Compute Server.

Q: I have some questions about the move from the mainframe to the computational server. I've been running SAS and SPSS on the mainframe a long time, and I have questions I don't see answered in the following section. Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list anywhere devoted especially to this move?

A: Yes, we have an FAQ devoted to the VM/CMS Transition Plan at this link.

Q: I've been using SAS and SPSS on the mainframe through CMS. Now I hear CMS is being "taken down" from the mainframe. How will I be able to run my stats programs? 

A: You've heard correctly. SAS and SPSS are being phased off the mainframe. Both are now currently available on the SIUC compute server (a server that specializes in providing computing services, just as a mail server specializes in providing e-mail services). Campus Systems has posted documentation on the web at www.infotech.siu.edu/info2/campusys/stats/ that explains how to use SAS and SPSS on the Compute Server. Using the compute server requires the presence of Telnet software on your hard drive. If you don't have Telnet, some of the following links won't work. You can download Telnet from this Information Technology FTP Server link, or you can click the "SIUC Online Tools & Services" button
at the bottom of this page. 

As an SIUC student, faculty, or staff member, you're entitled to access the compute server, but you may need to activate your Network ID for Unix access. As a test, click the preceding "compute server" link. Try to login with your Network ID and password (the same pair you use to dial in and open your e-mail). If you're told that "You entered an invalid login name or password," you'll need to activate Unix access for your Network ID. You can do that from this link. Login with your Network ID and password, and select the U option, "Activate this Network ID for Unix login." For more information about the compute server, have a look at this Campus Systems document. (Top) 

Q: It has come to our attention that the forms on our campus website have not been allowed to mail out of the 'siu.edu' domain. The message says that this is for security reasons. We received the following message:

Sorry, the person who created the form you just filled out specified
a bad address to mail the results to. It was somename@someorg.com, which
is not in the 'siu.edu' domain. For security reasons, information from forms
can only be sent to mail addresses at Southern Illinois University.
If you know who created the form, please inform them of this error. If you
don't know who is responsible for the form, contact the server
administrator, webmaster@web1.siu.edu and inform them of the time the
error occured, the URL of the form, and anything else you can think of that
might be relevant.

The form in question is located at http://www.siuc.edu/~xasiu/isfm.htm.The form sent is a standard CGI form which was located at http://www.siu.edu/cgi-bin/mailform.pl. We would like to know the reasoning behind this security problem. CGI programs are only allowed to be run by users in the domain in which the directory is placed. There is no security risk unless the individual who uses the account is a security risk. There is no security reason clearly apparent for this block. The users of the individual accounts (i.e., websites) are responsible for the site and its contents, including using CGI forms. Since Chi Alpha does not have an e-mail address in the 'siu.edu' domain, it is necessary to send forms outside the domain. Some of the people involved do not live in the local calling area or choose to use local ISPs rather than SIUC. Having the ability to send forms outside the domain would be of great service to us. Any help in resolving this issue would be appreciated.

A: The mailform.pl program and policy have been in place for nearly five years. The purpose for the block on sending e-mail outside SIU is to prevent the misuse of this program. Without the block, someone outside the University could develop a Web Form, direct the output to our mailform.pl process (maliciously or otherwise), and then send e-mail anywhere in the world. Without the block, massive amounts of "spam" could thus be routed through our domain and would appear to its recipients that it had originated from our domain. We are only providing the mailform.pl process for internal University use, and the block is a measure to ensure this. The block was put in place only after repeated experiences with hacker abuse. We want to prevent any further misuse of University services. Using an 'siu.edu' address like 'somename@siu.edu' there will obviously not be a problem.

Q: I'd like to use the Unix "XC" editor to create and modify files in my account on the compute server. How can I find out how to use it?

A: The XC editor is a Unix clone of the VM/CMS Xedit editor. The command set that works in Xedit also works in XC, so if you're familiar with Xedit, you'll know how to use XC. If you're not familiar with Xedit, have a look at any document or manual about Xedit, like this one, and use the same commands in the XC editor. Or you can teach yourself XC from the tutorials at a page maintained at the University of Delaware.

Miscellaneous Topics

Q: I would like to fax documents directly from the word processor I use with Windows 95/98. Is there a way to do this?

A: Yes. You must install Microsoft Exchange if it's not already installed. An attached document explains how.

Q: I use Windows 95/98. When I want to remove a program, I go to the Control Panel and double-click Add/Remove Programs. However, Windows sometimes refuses to completely remove some software;
how do I get rid of it?

A: Use the Registry Editor. Choose Run in the Start menu, type regedit, click OK, and then navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Always back up your registry before you make any changes to it, which is fairly easy to do:

1. Select Registry in the menu bar

2. Select Export Registry File from the drop-down window.

3. In the Export Range area, be sure the All button is selected (unless you only want to back up a selected branch).

4. In the File Name field, type in the path and filename you prefer, e.g., C:\TEMP\MYREG.REG. You'll need about 2.7 MB of disk space.

The Uninstall folder lets you delete programs with relative safety. In the left window pane, use the right mouse button to click the folder--under Uninstall--that represents the item you want to remove. A small window will popup, and one of the choices in the window is Delete. Click Delete. Windows will ask whether you really want to delete the item you've highlighted with the right mouse button. When you're finished, close the Registry Editor. Be especially careful when working with the registry; deleting software from the wrong folder can cause you many headaches.

Q: All my Windows desktop icons just became corrupted. What do I do? 

A: Restart your computer in MS-DOS mode (or just exit Windows). Delete the file ShellconCache in your Windows 95 directory, and restart (note that this is a hidden file, so you'll have to show hidden files to find it).

Diagnosing and fixing Windows 95 problems covers too much ground for a general FAQ document like this one, so we've provided this link to a commercial web site that specializes in troubleshooting 95. (Top)

Support Pages

Windows. This page includes Campus Windows news, Windows FAQ lists (including a Windows 95 QAID [Question and Answer/Information Database] and Windows NT), and links to several magazines (InfoWorld, PCWeek, etc.). 

Macintosh. Includes Campus Mac news, information about Eudora and Netscape, Mac Dial-ins, Open Transport, Fetch, a list of online publications, its own Mac FAQ, mailing lists, a Teaching Resources Center, and many links to other sites. 

Unix. Includes links to pages about Linux, the Perl language, extensive FAQ lists, and links to other sites.