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Frequently Asked Questions
The frequently asked questions (FAQ) is available so that common questions can be quickly answered. The questions below have been asked us many times before.
CONTENTS
- I received unsolicited "SPAM" email. What can I do about it?
- I believe I am infected with a virus. What should I do?
- How should I purchase software?
- How should I buy a new computer?
- My password expired. How do I change my password?
- My printer is jammed or is spitting out paper. What should I do?
- I wish to change to change my email address. It is xxx@uconn.edu and I want it to be yyy@uconn.edu. What should I do?
Q. I received unsolicited "SPAM" email. What can I do about it?
A. The largest issue with email today is with handling junk email that has been given the name of SPAM, since it is like the gelataneous ham, unwanted. There are marketers on the Internet that have found they can make large returns on sending unsoliticed emails to millions of email addresses. They often use programs to harvest publicly accessible sources, such as from websites. But, they also purchase lists of email addresses from affiliate companies. There have been laws passed about the content and measures a marketer can use in these emails, but often the spammer will be outside of your government's juristidiction or they will send their SPAM emails through anonymous sources so that it cannot be tracked.
There is not a single answer to the problem of SPAM. If the messages all match a specific pattern then you could use an email filter to delete or move emails to a different folder. Most newer email clients feature some type of minimal detection abilities, but these measures are no-where near perfect. There are also products available such as Cloudmark's SafetyBar (for Outlook and Outlook Express) that can be installed to filter SPAM based on what a network of users deem as SPAM. At UConn the Exchange mail servers should detect and tag most SPAM emails with {SPAM?} in the subject line. This means that the UConn email server believes the email is a SPAM message but leaves the task up to you remove it or not. However, you can set up an email filter to automatically move or delete these messages. But, any message that wasn't tagged still would have to be manually removed.
Q. I believe I am infected with a virus. What should I do?
A. There is no one way to be sure if you have been infected with a computer virus. Each virus is different and so the symptoms vary depending on the infection type. Generally speaking there are viruses, worms, trojans, and macro viruses. The most common type is the Internet worm, where it infects unpatched and/or unsecured computers over a network. A virus is considered inactive unless it is executed so if it is in your virus scanner's quarantine folder then you are most likely not infected. And the most common sign of infection is that UITS has blocked your Internet access due to malign Internet traffic originating from your computer. We receive a lot of requests to clean computers based on the fact that a computer is slow, but this is more likely due to spyware/adware or just unreliable programs. In situations like this you should think about when the problem started, and if a restart of the computer does not help then you may want to consider removing unwanted programs through the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs option.
The first thing you should do is scan your computer with a virus scanner. However, if your virus scanner has ceased to function then it is possible it has been disabled by an active infection. The University has a site license for Symantec Antivirus (previously called Norton Antivirus) that is for all faculty, staff and students for both home and work computers. You can download the virus scanner from UITS by clicking through to this page. If you do not have a virus scanner installed then you should immediately install one. If the scan completes successfully and does not detect any viruses then you should feel sure that your computer is clean.
If you have trouble installing a virus scanner or if you have trouble running a scan or if you are blocked then please contact either the Help Desk (486-HELP) or see our Contact Information page on how to contact us.
For an indepth external reference on viruses please refer to the Malware Guide on Vernalex.com.
Q. How should I purchase software?
A. There are several ways that you can purchase software. But, typically a department will purchase its own software. In some rare events we will purchase software and then later be reimbursed for the purchase. Some faculty often use grant money to purchase specific needs software. The typical ways to purchase software are:
- Co-op: Purchases can be made from the co-op typically using BO-46 (transfer voucher) forms.
- Software License Group: This is a division of UITS that purchases common software applications for University distribution. This includes extremely common software such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Excel, Publisher), Microsoft Windows, Adobe Products, etc. But, it also includes statistical software (MATLAB, SAS, SPSS, etc.) and some other rarer titles. Some of the programs are free of charge to all University faculty and staff, such as Windows and Office, but otherwise have to pay a much reduced academic license fee. University computer labs receive much of the more expensive software for free from the SLG, but they have to be registered labs. Visit the software license group website for specific fees and transaction details.
- Online: Using a department purchasing card (small to medium cost) or a purchase order (high cost) you can order software through the Internet from any vendor that either doesn't charge sales tax or that can be convinced not to charge sales tax.
- Retail Store: Using a department purchasing card (small to medium cost) or a purchase order (high cost) you can order software from any retail vendor that either doesn't charge sales tax or that can be convinced not to charge sales tax. Often retail stores will need to create special University tax-free accounts in order transact tax-free business.
Q. How should I buy a new computer?
A. The proper way to purchase a new computer is through the HuskyPC program. This program is run by UITS through the HuskyPC website. They have several standardized Dell desktop and laptop offerings that can be customized to better fit your needs. Please contact Geoffrey Meigs (see the contact information page) on additional details.
Q. My password expired. How do I change my password?
A. There are many University systems and most of them do not share a common ID and/or password and each system has its own way to reset its own password. This can be quite confusing to many people, but the list below should help clarify the various logins. It is also possible that you may use other logins, but these are the centralized logins that everyone could have to deal with:
- Conversational Monitor System (CMS) Virtual Machine (VM) / IBM Mainframe
Summary of Services: This ID is only used to access the University's IBM Mainframe. This means that FRS data is accessed through this login / password, as well a Mainframe email account. It should be noted that Mainframe email is being phased out and replaced by Exchange email that uses the AD / Exchange login (see below).
Login Description: The login ID for the mainframe is eight characters long and most likely is either a surname (for example, smith), a first initial and the surname (for example, jsmith), a series of numbers and letters (for example, jrd99003) or something that you had manually selected (in which case you should know it).
Password Restrictions: The password used in conjunction with this login ID must be no shorter than 5 characters and must be longer than 8 characters in length.
Change Password: Please visit http://password.uconn.edu to change this password. If you forgot your password you must contact the Help Desk (486-HELP) in order for the Accounts Desk to change your password.
- PeopleSoft
Summary of Services: This ID is only used to access Peoplesoft for class administration such as grading.
Login Description: The login ID is composed of 7 numbers, this login is used to access PeopleSoft. An example of this ID would be 0225200.
Password Restrictions: The password for this account must contain 3 of the 4 complexity types and it has to be at least 8 characters in length. The complexity types are numbers (0-9), uppercase letters (A-Z), lowercase letters (a-z), and symbols (!@#$% etc.).
Change Password: You must log into PeopleSoft in order to change your password. If you forgot your password you must contact the Help Desk (486-HELP) in order to change your password.
- Active Directory / Exchange
Summary of Services: This ID / password combination is used to access Active Directory resources, which to most people only includes Exchange email. It is also possible that you use the AD login to access your computer. The Active Directory / Exchange login should not be mistaken for the NetID, because while the ID portion of the login may use the same syntax, they are very different logins and can be assigned independent passwords.
Login Description: The login is composed of the three initials, plus the two digit year of induction and then an incremented value from 000 to 999. An example would be JRD99003 for John Robert Doe that began working at UConn in 1999 and is the third person with JRD99 as the beginning of their ID.
Password Restrictions: The password for the AD must contain 3 of the 4 complexity types and it has to be at least 8 characters in length. The complexity types are numbers (0-9), uppercase letters (A-Z), lowercase letters (a-z), and symbols (!@#$% etc.).
Change Password: Please visit http://adpassword.uconn.edu to change this password. If you forgot your password you must contact the Help Desk (486-HELP) in order to change your password.
- NetID
Summary of Services: This login is used for several services; including the proxy server, the VPN server, the student Huskymail email system, NetReg, WebCT, and various online UConn Library services. The NetID should not be mistaken for the Active Directory / Exchange login, because while the ID portion of the login may use the same syntax, they are very different logins and can be assigned independent passwords.
Login Description: The login is composed of the three initials, plus the two digit year of induction and then an incremented value from 000 to 999. An example would be JRD99003 for John Robert Doe that began working at UConn in 1999 and is the third person with JRD99 as the beginning of their ID.
Password Restrictions: The password for the NetID must contain 3 of the 4 complexity types and it has to be at least 8 characters in length. The complexity types are numbers (0-9), uppercase letters (A-Z), lowercase letters (a-z), and symbols (!@#$% etc.).
Change Password: Please visit http://netid.uconn.edu to change this password. If you forgot your password you can use the NetID password reset utility to change it to something else.
Q. My printer is jammed or is spitting out paper. What should I do?
A. First turn off your printer and unplug your printer. Let it sit for a minute or two so that it can cool down. If the printer was reporting a printer jam then open up all the standard compartments and look for paper in the rollers. If you see any stuck paper firmly pull on it with both hands, but try not to let the paper rip. On most inkjet printers there will most likely be only a single compartment. On LASER printers there will most likely be at least a front compartment and a rear compartment that you will need to check. Once you have checked the printer for jams please clear the computer's printer spooler. This should be located in the Task Tray located on the bottom right of the computer screen, unless you have moved the Task Bar. It should look like a printer icon. Delete all the items from the list. Once the entries have been removed then start the printer up and start your print task again.
For a step-by-step tutorial for this please see the tutorials section.
Q. I wish to change to change my email address. It is xxx@uconn.edu and I want it to be yyy@uconn.edu. What should I do?
A. Your email address @uconn.edu is called your personal name. You can have several personal names that point to your email address and these can be set at http://pername.uconn.edu. Please use your NetID to log into that account.
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