• General Lab Use
• Applications and E-mail
• Saving Files
• Printing
• Troubleshooting Common Problems

General Lab Use

Locations
OIT provides Windows XP workstations in all of its Unity computer labs.  In addition, many college and departmental computer labs are based on Unity lab software.

Availability
Workstations and the other resources in Unity labs are open to all NC State students, faculty and staff who have active Unity accounts.

Logging In
To log in, you will need your Unity ID and your Unity password.

Logging Off

To log off, use the Logoff icon on the desktop or in the Start menu.  It is extremely important that you log off when you are finished at the workstation.  If you don't, anyone can come along behind you and have full access to your account and your computing resources, including all of your files.  It is your responsibility to keep your account secure.  Please see Safe Computing at NC State for more information.

Applications and Email

Application Programs
To run an application, open the Start Menu and browse through "All Programs" to find the application you are looking for.  In addition, some applications may have icons on the desktop.

Checking E-mail
As a student, you can access your NC State Unity e-mail via a Web browser and Webmail (http://webmail.ncsu.edu). In the Unity labs, a shortcut to webmail is provided on the desktop.  For more information on Webmail, see the Webmail tutorial.

Saving Files

My Documents
You should always save your files to your My Documents folder.  In the Unity labs, My Documents points to your Unity (AFS) home directory (your K:\ drive).  You can also choose to save your file to another medium (e.g., external hard drive, USB memory disk, CD, DVD).
NOTE: Be careful not to save any files to the local workstation.  Files stored locally are not backed up and could be deleted if the machine gets re-installed.

Printing

You can print from a Unity workstation to the printer in the lab. See Printing on the "Workstations in Unity Labs" page for details.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

AFS file space (K:\ drive) is missing, can't access files.
If your K:\ drive is missing, an error probably occurred as you were logging in or the startup script to Map AFS Home timed out before AFS was ready.  To attempt to remap your K:\ drive, select the "Map AFS Home (K:)" link from the Start Menu.

The system could not log you in.
There is a slight chance that your Active Directory domain account password is out of sync with your Unity password.  If this occurs you can login to another type of workstation (Mac, Linux, Solaris) or use your own computer, go to the password change page (http://www.ncsu.edu/password) and either sync or change your password.  To sync your password you will need to enter your current password in all 3 password fields on the page.