How To Use Client Software

The following set of notes corresponds to the Client Use module of the Internet Design course, providing students an outline of the information they are expected to understand. The corresponding reading for this module is chapter six of i-Net+ Study Guide by David Groth, et. al., pages 256 - 285.

Connecting to Dial-Up ISP

• To connect through a Dial-Up modem, double click the correct Dial-Up icon.
• To disconnect, double-click the DUN icon in the icon tray and select disconnetc.
• A connection to an ISP can be maintained even if when a web browser is closed.

Web Browsing

• When browsing the web, a hyerlink is any clickable text or object that links to another portion of the page or another web site
• Although links are designed to be displayed in blue, underlined text, this format is easily changed. The easiest way to determine if a graphic or section of text is a link is to point to it. If it is a link, the cursor will change from an arrow to a pointing hand.
• To stop loading a page, click the stop button.
• To reload a page, click the reload or refresh button.
• Most browsers can be configured to work without displaying pictures.

Using Email

• If configured properly, the email utility will automatically check for new messages at pre-set intervals. To check more frequently, you may reconfigure the email utility or click the "check messages" button.
• To reply to an email click "Reply To" and the email utility will automatically address the response and fill in the subject line.
• To send a received message on to someone else, click the forward button.
• A single message may be sent to more than one person at a time by filling in the "CC" field.
• Email may be stored on the server or on the local computer, or even both. This parameter is configurable. Be certain to know where the mail is and delete as necessary.

Using FTP

• In Windows, the FTP command line interface is started by typing FTP at a DOS prompt.
• The following commands are used at the FTP prompt:
  • open: Makes connection with server
    Example: open ftp.website.com
  • ls: Lists files in the directory
  • cd: Change directory
  • get: "Gets" or downloads files.
    Example: get file.exe
  • mget: Gets mulitiple files.
    Example: mget *.exe
  • put: "Puts", or uploads, a file onto the server.
    Example:put file.exe newfile.exe
  • mput: Uploads multiple files to the server.
    Example: mput *.exe
  • binary: Sets the FTP for transferring binary files. Used for most files.
  • ascii: Sets the FTP for transferring ASCII files.
  • quit: Quits the FTP program.
• When working on a Unix or Linux server, all file names and commands are case sensitive.
• When logging in as an anonymous user, type the user name anonymous and an email address for the password. The email address does not have to be real as long as it is formatted like an email address (sample@lookatme.com).

Using Telnet

• In order to use Telnet, you must first connect to the server then login with a valid username and password.
• On a Unix server, a forward slash is used to denote directory paths.
• The following commands are available on a Unix / Linux server running the bash shell:
  • ls: Lists files in the current directory.
  • cd: Changes to a different directory.
  • cp: Copies a file from one place to another.
    Example: cp filea /mywork/filea
  • mv: Moves a file from one location to another. May also be used to rename a file.
    Example: mv yourfile.txt myfile.txt
  • rm: Removes or deletes a file.
  • pwd: Print working directory. Tells the path for the directory you are currently working in.
  • exit: Exits the telnet session.

Using Newsgroups

• In order to participate in a newsgroup, you must first subscribe to that particular news service. Subscribing involves providing a username and email address to the server.
• When providing your email address to register for a news service, it is a good idea to obviously alter the address so that humans can know what your email address is but computers harvesting email for spam purposes will not be able to add your real email to their spam list.
  Example: johndoeDON'T-SEND-SPAM@aol.com
• There are over 53,000 different newsgroups covering almost every conceivable topic.
• To view new items posted on a newsgroup, you must download the listings of new topics from the server, then click on the subject lines to download the messages that look interesting to you. News service is not automatically updated for the client.
• A plus sign + next to a subject header indicates that there are a number of other postings or replies associated with this particular posting.