Student Technology Center
The Student Technology Center is dedicated to high end video/audio/photo editing. It is equipped with two high-end Dell workstations and one PowerMac. It also has the capability to capture video from VHS tape to the computer to edit it and import into presentations. It is available through reservations only by contacting Frank Hamilton at 953-8090 or via email at hamiltonf@cofc.edu. Because of the specialized software involved, only limited help is available to students and its use is primarily up to the student to develop the skills to make use of it. Instruction manuals for the software installed are available in the room.
Discounted computers
The College of Charleston offers discounted computer purchases through Dell and Apple. All CofC students, faculty, and staff are eligible. Dell offers a 20% discount on recommended laptops. Other Dell and Apple computer models may be discounted 10-12%. Special offers and promotional pricing will be reflected on each vendor’s Educational Sales web site. Please note that the College’s recommended Dell or Apple laptops are not requirements. Any modern laptop computer that meets current wireless standards should have no trouble accessing our networks or systems. Information about the CampusWide Wireless network can be found at http://www.cofc.edu/it/network/wireless/.
ResNet
The ResNet Internet service in campus housing is provided under a contract with Campus Technologies. Complete information about ResNet, its required security software, and reporting service problems can be found at the company’s web site, www.campustechno.com. All students who encounter problems accessing ResNet from their dorms should report these problems according to the procedures provided by Campus Technologies. The Student Support Desk can only provide assistance with problems involving the CampusWide Wireless network and selected administrative or academic systems.
Student Support Services
The Student Support Desk currently offers the following support services to CofC students:
- Advice and guidance on spyware/virus issues
- Assistance with the CampusWide wireless network
We do not provide hardware repair.
Laptop checkout Program
The Addlestone Library has a limited number of laptops available to students for internal use. Just come to the Student Support Desk in the computer lab and ask to check one out. All laptops have Microsoft Office and wireless capability. They do not, however, print. Laptop checkout hours are 7:30am to 11:00pm. They may be checked out for 4 hours at a time, and laptops must stay in the library. A validated College of Charleston ID is required.
WebCT Issues
WebCT operates in such a way that is sometimes difficult to deal with. we will try to add any tips or tricks that we know of to get around this behaviour.
- Popup Blocking Browsers: The new generation of web browsers automatically block popup/popunder windows, because webCT uses popups, you have to set your browser to allow pop ups from within webCT for it to function properly and you to be able to take a quiz. In Mozilla Firefox go to Tools->options click on "web features" in the left hand pane, and then the "allow sites" button. add "webct.cofc.edu" to the list of sites to unblock popups from WebCT. For IE with Service Pack 2, go to Tools->popup blocker and add "webct.cofc.edu" to the list of sites to unblock.
- Opening Microsoft Office Files in WebCT: We always recommend saving a file if possible, and then opening it in the correct Office program rather than allowing Internet Explorer to open the file for you.
- When printing from WebCT, all you get is a blank page.This is because you are printing the Internet Explorer window, not the Office program portion of the window. If the IE toolbar and icon are in the top left corner of the window, but there is also a PowerPoint, Word, or Excel toolbar as well, then you are viewing the document from within WebCT. Try going back and then clicking "save" instead of "open" when you click the link to the document. If your question was not answered here (or you need to know more about passwords, email, or other issues), try the FAQ.
Email Issues
All CofC applicants who have been accepted to the College of Charleston have a CofC email account that is accessible through WebMail. The "Email" page has help for commonly encountered problems.
Printing Theory
Printing at the labs follows a simple system. Every computer is attached to a release station which directly attaches to the printer. when you print, you will be asked to type in your name. this is how you will identify your print job at the release station. At the release station, click once to select your job and then click the print button in the upper left of the screen. The printer will print your job in the order it was received from the release station. Some documents are larger than others-- PowerPoint and PDF documents are the largest that we regularly see. If the printer seems to be taking a long time in printing one of these large files, there is nothing wrong. It just takes longer to print larger files. Printing it twice, or to a different printer will not speed up your print job. In fact it slows everyone down because of duplicate jobs. The best advice is to wait-- and to allow enough time to get your printing done before you have to leave. (i.e., Don't show up 10 minutes before class to print your documents.)
Saving to lab computers / Installing software on lab computers
Saving to lab computers can be done, although we strongly discourage it. Installing programs from CD or the Internet is allowed. If the program requires a reboot then you will not be able to install it. There is software on the lab computers that destroy's any changes on reboot. The "My Documents" folder or the "T:" drive is not affected by this software. There is no guarantee that documents you save in the "My Documents" folder will not be deleted by another user, or if maintenance needs to be performed on the machine. Therefore, we recommend against using this space as anything other than a temporary location to backup files.
Data Storage
You may purchase a jump drive, blank CD, or floppy disk along with other supplies at a vending machine located near the Addlestone Computer Lab. If you need assistance locating the vending machine, ask one the lab attendants and they will be happy to show you where it is.
Computer Lab Hours
Lab Hours are posted here.
Spyware
Spyware is a serious problem for most Internet users these days. Spyware has been around for some time, but within the last year or so, companies have discovered they can make money by using small, supposedly unobtrusive programs to monitor and report consumer activity. You can download programs to help you remove spyware here.
Mac OSX
Apples are not affected by many of the problems that affect Windows PCs because their numbers, less than 5% of the market, do not stimulate hackers to break into them. Apple's OSX is based on BSD, a Berkeley implementation of UNIX. This is the same basic system that Linux and UNIX use to achieve rock solid reliability and a sane security policy. UNIX systems use the ideas of ownership and permission--concepts that Windows did not use until Windows XP came around. The best advice I can give to Mac users is to always know what you are agreeing to. If you download a program from the Internet, you will often need to "agree" to a EULA (end user license agreement). It is in these agreements that most (semi-honest) malware will tell you what software is piggybacking with the package you are installing. Skim the agreements to ensure you don't install things you don't want.
