FAQ's

Passwords

Passwords should be over 6 letters long including ideally letters and numbers. Windows XP passwords are ‘case sensitive’ so ensure CAPS LOCK is not on when typing in your password. Try to avoid easily guessed words like names, days or telephone numbers. Avoid if possible writing it down near any computer equipment or in personal diaries. You are responsible for keeping your password secret and are not permitted to share your login account with anyone at all. Anyone found using someone else account will be logged off and the original user account will be disabled as well, until the owner sees IT Support or tutor to explain how their account has been 'lent' to another user. Passwords can be reset by a staff member, providing that you can show ID. If you are calling from outside college you may be asked to confirm one of your pre-selected question to confirm who you are. If you cannot remember you answer then you will have to come into college to show ID to have the password changed.

What to do if the machine says 'User not found'?

Please ensure the username is correctly entered it should consist of your initials and a six digit student number e.g. Hugo First, HC number of 002456 will have a user ID of HF002456. Check there are no spaces before or after your username either as this will cause your username not to be found either.  Also check that the domain name is HIGHLANDS not left blank or anything else.

 How do I backup/take my work home/from home? (how to get a CD cut or disc etc.)

If you do work at home and save to a floppy disk then you must bring it to either Help Support in the library or Technicians room JBS308 for transferring and virus checking. The same applies if you wish to take work home to work on but some form of ID will be required to prevent copies being taken of other peoples work. At the end of the year you can request for your whole folder of work to be copied onto a CD as work is routinely deleted during the summer. You can get a CD made for a £2 anytime but generally this is done at the end of term. Floppy disks are also available to buy at 25p if you require one instead.

 I do not have a username, where do I get it from?

Your username will be supplied by your tutor at the start of term with a default password. If you are on a day release, adult education or non full time course you will have to ask your tutor to forward a class list to IT Support to be set-up for the next lesson. This is of course reliant on the enrolment procedure being completed as well as payment for the course being made. If either of these conditions is not met then you cannot use the computers until both requirements have been fulfilled.

 Screen or Computer has frozen, what do I do?

 Occasionally computers ‘freeze’, ‘hang’ or ‘crash’, this means that the mouse and keyboard may not work.   You may lose any unsaved work.   If the computer crashes, please do the following:- 

 PC will not shut down after selecting shut down

The computer may have ‘frozen’,   ‘crashed’ or may just be taking a long time to process the action.   If there has been no change after 5 minutes, please try the following:

Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete (Del) keys on the keyboard, select Shut Down from the Close Program window.  If the computer does not shut down, Switch the pc off at the power button which usually on the front of the computer.

My mailbox is full - what should I do?

Your mailbox includes your Inbox, Sent items and Deleted items, (plus tasks and calendars for Outlook users). So check all these to see if there is anything you can delete.
Attachments can take up a lot of space, so save them elsewhere, and delete them from your email.
Members of staff using Outlook can set up Personal Folders to provide additional storage for emails, in order to free up space in your Exchange mailbox on the server.

Contacts not appearing on my list

If you are using Outlook 2003 and click on a new message but can't get your personal contacts on the list, or you click on the Address Book and your contacts do not show on the drop-down list, you should do the following:

 

Summer 2006 Upgrade to Office 2003

General Questions about upgrading from Office XP to Office 2003

What is the purpose of the Microsoft Office XP to Microsoft Office 2003 upgrade?

The time is right in terms of security. Older versions of software, including Office XP, are at the end of their lifecycle and, as a result, aren't getting the attention to security that newer versions do. No one wants to be a victim of identity theft or virus attacks that can lead to compromise or loss of critical documents or records. There are some serious concerns regarding Office XP, and we want to ensure that faculty, staff, and students-- and their data-- aren't victims.

The goal is to have all campus computers upgraded to Office 2003 by September 2006.

What applications are included in Office 2003?

Office 2003 includes the following applications:

Microsoft Office Word 2003
Microsoft Office Excel 2003
Microsoft Office Access 2003
Microsoft Office Front Page 2003
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Microsoft Office Picture Manager (new, replaces Microsoft Photo Editor)
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
Microsoft Office Publisher 2003 (opens both Publisher 2000 and 2003 documents)
Microsoft Office Visio 2003
Microsoft Office Project 2003
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003

What application is NOT included in Office 2003 that was in Office XP?

Microsoft discontinued Microsoft Photo Editor in the Office 2003 release and replaced it with Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

What are the major changes between Office XP and Office 2003?

Applications will work much the same. There are some differences in menu items and screens. Outlook has some additional useful features including the ability to display multiple calendars

More on Microsoft Outlook 2003

Quick reference guide (opens as Acrobat document)