The Basic Steps

• 1. Get and Install the NSKit CD-ROM.
• 2. Configure Your Computer to Connect.
• 3. Connect to the Internet.
• 4. Use the NSKit Internet Applications.
• 5. If you dialed in to connect, disconnect when you're done.
• 6. Regardless of how you connect, don't forget security.

The NSKit Fine Print explains how to purchase ($15) or download (free, but you must be on campus) the NSKit.

There are NSKit installation instructions in the booklet that comes with the NSKit CD, which has both the Windows NSKit (for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, and Windows 2000) and the Mac NSKit (for Mac OS 8 through Mac OS 9). Installing the kit requires acceptance of the "Academic Computing and Communications Center Network Services Kit License Agreement."

A PDF version of the NSKit booklet is available online at: http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/nskit/nskit.pdf

The printed NSKit booklet includes three sets of instructions explaining how to configure the built-in networking features of your Windows or Apple Macintosh computer to connect to the Internet, instructions for:

Windows 95/98/Me,

for use with the new-syle ACCC dialin lines and old-style ACCC dialin lines, and with on-campus UIC-Net connections.

Windows NT,

for use with the new-style ACCC dialin lines and old-style ACCC dialin lines, and with on-campus UIC-Net connections.

Apple Macintosh Mac OS 8-Mac OS 9,

for use with both types of ACCC dialin lines, and with on-campus UIC-Net connections.

For more info, including configuration instructions for additional operating systems, see

• http://www.accc.uic.edu/network/dialin/
• http://www.accc.uic.edu/network/ethernet/

If you're connecting from a UIC dorm using Res-Net, see the Res-Net Web pages for configuration instructions, http://www.accc.uic.edu/lan/res-net/.

If you're connecting from home using a commercial ISP, either dialin or cable/DSL, you can and should use the NSKit applications, but follow your ISP's instructions to set up your Internet connection.

Most likely, your computer will start your Internet connection automatically, particularly for always-on connections such as UIC-Net on campus or cable/DSL at home.

1. For UIC-Net, opening your Internet connection is completely automated. Your UIC-Net connection will start up automatically when you turn your computer on. Note:If you configure your computer to use both UIC-Net and a dialin connection, there's an additional step in the configuration process to tell it not to dial in when the network connection is present. That is discussed in the dialin (Windows) and UIC-Net (Macs) sections of the NSKit booklet.
   
   
2. For Res-Net and UNAS-UIC, you have to open a Web browser and log in using your UIC netid and password to open a connection and then log in again as a period of time goes by without any Internet activity. See their Web pages for details:
   http://www.accc.uic.edu/lan/res-net/resconfig.html#5
   http://www.accc.uic.edu/lan/unas/index.html#GettingConnected
   
   
3. For dialin connections such as the ACCC dialin lines, your computer will either automatically initiate the login procedure for a dialin connection when you open an Internet application or you can initiate the dialin connection by hand. The NSKit booklet and Web pages explain how and give instructions on how you authenticate using your UIC netid and password to use the ACCC dialin lines.

The Internet applications in the NSKit are listed in List of NSKit Applications. Links to introductory instructions on how to use them are available online in The Basic Steps to Internet Access page, http://www.accc.uic.edu/software/nskit/steps.html.

In addition to these Web links, the ACCC's Instructional Technology Lab (ITL), gives seminars -- often hands-on -- on Web browsing, Web authoring, and using selected NSKit applications. For more information, including a schedule and online registration, go to the ACCC Seminars page, http://www.accc.uic.edu/seminars/.

• If you connect using a dialin connection, disconnect when you're finished. The dialin configuration instructions in both the NSKit booklet and the NSKit Web pages include instructions on how to disconnect.
  
  
• If you connect using Res-Net, you will be asked to reauthenticate after three hours of inactivity, and your connection will be closed if you fail to do so.
  
  
• If you connect using Res-Net or UIC-Net, you will automatically be disconnected when you shut down your computer.
  
  
• If you connect using UNAS-UIC, you will be disconnected after one hour of inactivity. If you want to stay connected, open a Web browser and sign-in again.

These days there are two security items you cannot do without, regardless of how you connect to the Internet.

• Good antivirus software, such as the NSKit's Norton AntiVirus, NAV, that you keep up-to-date. To keep NAV up-to-date, run LiveUpdate on a regular basis, say once a week, and also whenever you hear about a new virus or worm.
  
  
• A personal firewall such as Zone Alarm from Zone Labs. A good personal firewall will not only block unauthorized access to your personal computer from the Internet, but will also block software (and viruses) on your computer from sending information out from your personal computer to the Internet without your permission.
  
  That way, even if you do get an email worm and it attempts to send copies of itself -- or, like SirCam (page 10), copies of random personal documents -- to everyone you have ever sent email to and even some that you haven't, your personal firewall can block those messages from leaving your computer. (That is, of course, unless you do your email with Microsoft Outlook and it's an Outlook worm. That substantially diminishes your chances of being saved by a personal firewall.)
  
  For more info on personal firewalls, see: http://www.accc.uic.edu/network/athome/homesecurity.html#firewall