Hints on Installing Cygwin:


Cygwin is an environment you can run inside MS Windows that gives you a 
set of Unix-like tools including g++, the Gnu C++ compiler.  Cygwin is a
good alternative to running Linux on your PC.  

Download and run the Cygwin setup program from http://cygwin.com

You'll be asked a set of simple questions.  To install from the internet you
should have a relatively fast internet connection.  If you are going to 
transfer files back and forth between your PC and Hofstra's Linux systems, 
you should choose the Unix text file format (as opposed to DOS). 

The next part is a bit problematic: you'll be asked to choose a mirror site to
download from.  You might have to quit and restart a few times before you 
can find a site with a descent connection.

Next, you'll be asked to check the packages you want installed.  Be sure to 
check at least:

	gcc/g++   (under "development")

        emacs     (under "editors")

        openssh   (under "internet" or "networking")

Many of the packages are selected automatically, but the ones above are
not.  You may also want to select other development tools such as
make, autoconf, gdb.  You can add packages to your installation by
simply going through the installation process again.

To start cygwin, first run cygwin program.  When you get a prompt, type
"startx" to start the X-windows server.   You can also now run graphical
programs such as emacs.  

To log in to your hofstra account, do the following (assuming you've 
installed openssh):

  ssh -X -l username husun3.hofstra.edu

  
To transfer files between your pc and your account:

 sftp username@husun3.hofstra.edu

   -  use "get" to download, "put" to upload, and "cd" to navigate


The g++ compiler can be used the same way as on Unix, except that the
default executable is called "a.exe", not "a.out"