File Sharing Guidelines

To reducing the strain on the campus network, and to reduce system degradation on your own computer please:

• Disable the server function of your file sharing utility so that other users cannot access files stored on your computer.
  
• Configure bandwidth settings as low as possible.
  
• Download only one file at a time.
  
• Limit downloads to periods of low network usage (early mornings, Saturdays and Sundays).
  
• Exit your file sharing utility whenever you are not actively using it.
  
• Make sure your file sharing utility does not automatically launch when you start up your computer.
  
• Remove all advertising ("adware") and monitoring ("spyware") programs that may have been installed with your file sharing utility. (There are several programs available for free download, such as Lavasoft Ad-aware, that may be helpful in detecting and removing "adware" and "spyware".)

More Information:

• File Sharing on the Campus Network
  
• Guidelines for protecting your computer and your data from damage (viruses, hackers, etc) that may occur due to file sharing
• File sharing and copyright - Think no one ever gets caught for sharing copyrighted files? Think again.
• WITS Services for Students