Vpn

i have access to a college network which allows guest access but sticks a "VPN" layer in the middle. once you pick an opsys and check off some "accept policies" box, it announces you "have access" for 24 hrs. but first you need to DL a "VPN installer", reboot, install VPN, and then log in to THAT with the temp ID/PW combo it gives you.

bit messy, but i managed to do it for months on my old PC (xp). i say "messy" b/c i never managed to be able to reuse the already-installed VPN or even the still-around VPN installer on my next visit; had to re-DL and re-install from scratch every since time. but, hey, at least it worked.

cut to TODAY. i notice first off that the opsys choices don't include w7: "XP, Vista, Mac-sumpin1, Mac-sumpin2, iPod/iPad". i try XP, DL the VPN installer, but reboot or no reboot, it won't install. "Cisco 5.0.01.0600 does not support 64-bit systems".

i try "troubleshoot compatibility" options, clearly selecting "XP SP3" etc, but in the end, it just won't install and keeps giving me that message.

i start over and try selecting "Vista". gives me error msg at an earlier stage this time, and makes me DL and install some "DNE-Client" app BEFORE the VPN. ok, i do that thinking maybe it's got something to do with this 16-bit/32-bit issue, but in the end, i still get "Cisco 5.0.01.0600 does not support 64-bit systems".

questions:

1) are 64-bit systems so rare that a major university could not be accomodating them? at least on their "guest" accounts?

2) cisco forums tell me i need vpnclient-winx64-msi-5.0.07.0290-k9.exe but i need to be a paying customer to get it (shouldn't the COLLEGE be doing this?).

i managed to find/DL it elsewhere, but is this even the right thing to do? even if it's the correct app, it now represents a copy DLed/installed ahead of time, which (see paragraph 2) never worked in the past. plus i still don't understand what that "DNE" step was all about...should i click on that pre-install or not?

3) lastly, when IT guys at that colllege were fiddling w old PC last year they left an app called SafeConnect (http://www.impulse.com) on the PC. is this somehow related to VPN? or was this specifically to bypass VPN, such as when they were logging on themselves directly?

i pulled it over to the new PC and installed it -- hoping the latter -- but now i am unsure. even if it gives me direct access, i'll prolly need a real ID/PW -- whole point of VPN was to allow "guest" access.

 

well, i installed it and went to the campus to give it a try. no obvious issue with client itself, but it doesn't auto-detect the network the way the old one did.

when i click on "properties" for the connection, i see lotta info a la DNS# DHCP# server# server-sumpin# -- lotta stuff like that (back home posting now so i can't quote verbatim).

meanwhile there are "new" and "import" options in VPN -- is there something i can configure there to get it to see the connection? new, for example, asks for "connection entry" "description" and "host". would the DNS# go into "host", for example?

i tried blindly plugging in the various numbers in the various slots, but nothing which caused the network to magically appear.

had a campus techie take a look, but the "VPN expert" is off for the week. maybe summer.

guy who was there agreed that "something" needs to be configured, but was also unsure what exactly.

 

anyone understand this stuff?

well, in the end the techs on campus told me they were PHASING OUT vpn aniwes, so no one wanted to spend any time configuring mine, so they just slipped me another illicit (direct) ID. sometimes it pays to be incompetent! :-D

does anyone at least understand what the aforementioned SafeConnect is? they told me this was the key to losing the VPN layer (campuswide), but from what i can tell, i can still connect without it. is it a firewall? it is AV?

i don't want any MORE junk running on my PC, but nor do i want to risk mucking up their access/login handshake by overcleaning. not sure i could talk my way into a THIRD unauthorized ID....