Using the Windows PCs in
 Gould-Simpson 228 & 930

A. Rules

  1. Before you log on to a machine in the lab, read the notice which is printed on the screen. And please abide by the rules! All CS equipment, including the PCs in GS228 and GS930 are for CS related work only. This applies especially to consumables such as printer paper and toner.
  2. No food or drink OF ANY KIND is allowed in the CS labs.
  3. Always log off when you leave.
  4. Never lock a lab computer for more than 5 minutes. Locking is intended for short breaks (e.g., bathroom breaks) only. If a machine is found locked with nobody around, it may be rebooted, and any unsaved work will be lost.
  5. The Secure Disposal Bins are for disposing of copies of assignments to prevent someone else from using your work. They are for white paper only, and the contents are recycled. Do not place printouts of your assignments in other trash or recycling containers.

Failure to abide by the rules can result in temporary or permanent deactivation of your CS account, loss of printing privileges, or deactivation of your access card, depending on the infraction. Section leaders should notify the lab staff of offenders.

B. Navigating Windows

  1. Logging on
    Press     CTRL-ALT-DEL. The legal notice will be displayed. Read it. Click OK. This will bring up the logon window. Enter your username and password. Then click OK. The first time you logon, you will be prompted to change your password. The new password will have to be entered twice for confirmation. See the Knowledgebase FAQ article on Password change questions for more information on changing your password.
  2. Logging off
    Click on the Start button normally found in the bottom left corner of the screen. Choose Log Off. Click Yes. Do not Shut Down the computer. Alternately, press     CTRL-ALT-DEL, choose Logoff, and click OK.
  3. Locking a PC
    Press     CTRL-ALT-DEL and choose Lock Workstation. To unlock, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and enter your password.
  4. Changing your password
    Press     CTRL-ALT-DEL and choose Change Password. You will have to enter your current password, followed by your new password twice.
  5. You have access to your UNIX home directory from your Windows account. It shows up in My Computer as “<username> on ‘Samba Server (Samba)’ (H:)”. This is where you should save your work.
  6. For some classes you must have the drive X: mapped to a network share for use by your Java programs and for turning in your assignments. To map the network drive, choose Map Network Drive from the Tools menu of an explorer window. Choose X: for the drive, and enter \\Rotis\classname for the folder name (where classname is cs127a, cs127b, cs227, etc.). Check the Reconnect at logon box.
  7. Each user account has a Profile (see http://www.cs.arizona.edu/computing/help/profiles.html for more information). Profile quotas are monitored, and you will be notified by email if you go over your quota. If you fail to get your profile back under quota, the system administrator will delete files at his/her discretion. Also, the system may not allow you to log off if your profile is over quota.
  8. Helpful hint – in most windows (e.g., the logon window), the Tab key takes you to the next field, and Shift-Tab takes you to the previous field. Hitting the Return/Enter key when a button is highlighted (e.g., the OK button) is the same as clicking that button. So the logon process can be “mouse-less”, by typing your username, Tab, your password, Enter.

C. Email

  1. It is required that you read email that is sent from the CS department, which will be sent to your official UA email address. Telling your section leader/TA/instructor your preferred email address is not sufficient. Not reading important announcements from the department (e.g., over quota messages) is no excuse for failing to remedy a problem that has been detected. Failure to remedy problems will result in loss of access to your accounts.
  2. To use a browser to read your UA email, see the instructions at http://ccit.web.arizona.edu/index.php?id=webmail.
  3. To set up an email client (e.g. Mozilla Thunderbird) to connect to your UA email account, see the instructions at http://ccit.web.arizona.edu/index.php?id=521.

D. Possible problems

(The email address for lab staff is lab@cs.arizona.edu.)

  1. When you go through the APPLY process it can take up to 24 hours to create your Windows account.  Don’t wait until your first assignment is due to run the APPLY program and expect a Windows account to be immediately available for turnin.
  2. If you are logging in to a new Windows account, your initial password will be the password you choose when you went through the APPLY process. If you have problems logging on, check that your username and password are correct and that the CSC domain is chosen (if this last option doesn't show, click the Options button). Check that Caps Lock is not on, and for digits use the keys across the top of the keyboard, not on the keypad. If you are logging on to a reactivated account, the password will be whatever you left it set to at the end of the prior semester.
  3. “Network cannot log you on” message. This means that the Domain Controllers could not be contacted to authenticate your login. Check that the Ethernet cable is securely plugged in. Most commonly this is due to a transient network problem. Wait a minute and try again. Sometimes, you will still be allowed to login, but your roaming profile will not be downloaded. Also, if the network connection is down when you log off, your profile will not be copied back to the Server and any changes you made to it during that session will not be saved.
  4. If you don’t see the H: drive when you log on, first try logging off and back on; if that doesn’t fix the problem, try mapping the drive manually (choose Map Network Drive from the Tools menu of an explorer window; enter H: for the drive and \\Samba\<username> for the folder name); if that doesn’t work, try another workstation. As a last resort, you can try rebooting the workstation (press CTRL-ALT-DEL, choose Shutdown and then Restart). If none of these methods work, email lab and explain the problem.
  5. A system has been shut down. If the machine is powered down, turn it on. First check that it is not just the monitor that has been turned off.
  6. A system has been locked and the user has been gone more than 5 minutes. Tell the section leader or email lab. If the user doesn’t return for over 15 minutes, and you need the machine, feel free to reboot the machine by pressing the button on the front of the case.
  7. No power to monitor or CPU. Check that power cords are securely plugged in, both at the back of the unit and at the power receptacle. There may be an on/off toggle switch on the back of the unit; check that it is in the ON position. Check that the unit is turned on at the on/off button on the front.
  8. No keyboard input or mouse movements/clicks are detected. Check that the keyboard and/or mouse are securely plugged in to the back of the CPU. If still no response, reboot the machine by pressing the button on the front of the case.
  9. If you have problems with your account or notice problems in the CS labs (PC that won’t boot, floppy stuck in drive, floppy won’t go into drive, CD drive doesn’t work, printer problems, lights burned out, etc.), send email to lab. The more detailed the description of the problem, including the name of the machine with the problem, the more quickly we can respond. All email to lab should include a subject line. For account problems, it is very important to include your CS account name (username) in the email.

E. Free software

The Computer Science Department has an agreement with Microsoft Corporation that makes development software available to our students at no cost. To qualify, you must be taking at least one CS class. If you are interested, use the SERVICES web page to apply for an ELMS account. You will receive an email from ELMS with a URL and a password. Go to the URL and log in with your CS email address and the password. Available software can be downloaded for free. Some applications can be ordered on CD for a nominal fee. Note that items labeled ISO image are CD images and should be burned onto a CD for use.

Because of Microsoft’s requirement that you be taking at least one CS class to be eligible for the software, you must have successfully gone through the APPLY process for the semester before an account can be created, and the ELMS account will expire at the end of the semester. You can request an ELMS account for any semester in which you are taking at least one CS class. We highly recommend that you burn downloaded software to CD for safe keeping, in case you lose a hard drive or get a new computer. The black computers in the GS228 lab have CD burners in them.

Please see http://www.cs.arizona.edu/computing/facilities/msdnaa.html for more information.

F. Other sources for help

There are many helpful web pages supplied by the department. For information about accounts, email, newsgroups, the snapshot utility on lectura, connecting to the department from home, etc., go to the department home page (http://www.cs.arizona.edu/) and click on Resources in the upper left quadrant of the page. There are links to Help Pages and a Knowledgebase that you may find helpful.