Instead of leaving the lab computers logged in as geology all of the time, every user will have to have their own Windows account. And users will have to log in every time they use a windows machine.

Users who have Windows machines in their offices are of course welcome to stay logged in as themselves, however they are advised to set their screen savers to use a password, lest others come in and print on their accounts (and do other nasty things. See Why internet security is important for more info.

Setting screen saver passwords on Windows machines in the lab is forbidden for now, because any password set is used for all the users. They're not unique to each account. I'm working on a solution to this. (When the whole lab is Windows 2000, passworded screensavers will be standard).

To get an account, contact System Administrator at geology@umn.edu or x4-6541. Your username will default to be the same as your University (X.500) e-mail account.

You'll be asked to sign a copy of the Computer Acceptable Use Policy and you'll need to set a password.

The Geology account will be disabled when everyone is on the new system.

Input your new username and password.

Leave the Domain: as GEOLOGY

and hit OK.

(use the TAB key to move from box to box).

The first time you log in to Windows95 or Windows98, an additional password dialog will be displayed:

Your username and password are being authenticated by our new Windows NT server, Graphite, which lives in the lab. This dialog is Windows 95 or 98 attempting it's own password authentication, which is not only redundant, but is completely worthless.

DELETE the **** characters out of New Password box, and hit OK .

This will tell the desktop Windows machine to ignore it's own password and to only use the password stored on Graphite.

You should only have to do this once on each machine you log into. If you don't do it, it'll ask for this additional password every time.

(The printers folder can also be found under My Computer)  

The printer icons in the Printers folder have changed:

PAS-104-Laser -- the laser printer in Rm. 104
PAS-206-Laser -- the laser printer in the computer lab, Rm. 206
PAS-Tek-850DP -- the new Tektronix Phaser 850DP COLOR Solid Ink printer
PAS-800-PS -- The new HP DesignJet 800 PS, or plotter, or postermaker. There are two drivers (files which communicate between the computer and the printer) for this plotter, which is why it's listed twice. Use the PS to print from Adobe products, such as Illustrator or Photoshop. Only if it doesn't work go the the GL2.
PAS-800-GL2 -- This is the same plotter as the PAS-800-PS, but is using the HPGL-2 Driver, which works better with Non-Adobe or Postscript applications, such as Powerpoint. Some experimentation may be required to figure out which driver works better for specific posters.
PAS-206-plotter -- This printer is no longer in use.

The PAS at the front distinquishes these printers from the previous ones which didn't charge. The old print method will be disabled when everyone is up on the new system.

The PAS-206-laser has a black check by it because it is the default printer.

To set the default printer, Right-click on the printer you would like to set, and a menu will come up:

Choose Set as Default with your Left mouse button.

A list of the codes you've used before will be available from the pick list, and the last code you used will show up in the dialog.

If you cancel the job, two more dialogs will pop up. Just hit OK on both of them:

Printing can be charged to CUFS numbers (i.e.e 524-XXXX), as long as the account has been cleared, and the proper objects created, by the accountants. In addition, for certain uses (classes taught in the computer lab, special projects, and thesis/dissertation printing) other codes will be created, or extra 'free' money (see below) will be given.

If you would like to print to a CUFS number (for a research project, say), please talk to the owner of the CUFS number, and have them give permission to System Administrator.

Important: Choosing <none >, or leaving the field blank, will place the printing charges into your PERSONAL account.

Everyone will get a certain amount of "free" personal printing each term. What will happen when users run out of that amount is also still still under discussion. See the Printing Overview page for more information.

***** If this error pops up as soon as you login:

click on Cancel.

The previous user of the machine didn't complete their print jobs properly. If you print them now, the jobs will print, but they will be charged to YOUR account, not the previous user's.
Cancel will delete the print jobs.

• "Isn't this really going to slow printing down?"
  It will slow down the process just a bit, however the software has some neat options and features which will minimmize this.
  A) During testing, I've been very impressed with how fast the new dialogs appear. Familiarity with the system will speed things up even more.

  B) The software will remember which accounts you've used, and default to the last account. So you won't have to choose the account every time. And you can use the Pas Client Tool to change your default account at any time.

• "What can be charged to what account?"
  The system has been in use since the Fall of '01. In general, personal printing (for homework, or non-school related) should go on the <none> account, while printing done for research projects should be done on the CUFS number related to that project. See the professor or the Principle Investigator for that number. They will have to give their permission for others to use the number.

  For printing while in a class being conducted in the computer lab, occassionally a Class_<class number> billing code will be created, such as Class_1001. See your TA or instructor for more information.

  For those working on their thesis or dissertations, extra 'free' printing money will be given to you. Please see the System Administrator.

• "What if I just want to check my e-mail, but not log in?"
  The computers in the lab will have internet access regardless of whether they're logged in to the printing system.

  On the windows machines, to use the internet without accessing the username/ accounting system, at the initial login screen hit Cancel and you won't be logged in. However, if you try to print, you'll get an error.

If you would like to add a question to this list, please contact System Administrator, or call at x4-6541.