1. What
do I do if I'm having computer problems?
2. Why can't I access my email?
3. How do I get a new machine connected to the University's
Internet?
4. How do I access my email from home?
5. How can I find out the name of my computer?
Q: What do I do if I'm having problems with my computer?
A: Your first step should
always be to call the University Help Desk (8-4357). Since they handle a wide
variety of computer and system problems on a regular basis, the chance are that
they will be able to resolve your problem much more quickly than we can. This
is especially true if your computer is a Desc machine.
If they are unable to fix your problem, or if they refer you to your department
SCAD person, your next step would be to fill out the on-line
IT Work Order Form. Once you have done that, we will contact you to set
up an appointment to resolve your problem. If we are unable to resolve the problem,
we may have to call software or hardware support. If this happens,depending
on the problem, we may need an account number to charge their services to.
Q: Why can't I access my email?
A: There are many answers to this question, since there are several possibilities for the source of your email problem. It could be a problem with the university's mail system. Here are several steps you should take to determine the source of the problem:
1. Can you get to the Internet? Try going to the University's home page. If you can, check the Help Desk page to see if there are any current outages (on the upper right side of the page).
2. Are others in the building experiencing the same problem? If so, it's probably either a university- or building-wide outage.
3. If no one else is having trouble accessing their email, it is probably something specific to your machine. Check to make sure that the network cable is properly inserted into both your computer and the network box. You may want to disconnect and reconnect it at both ends. If this doesn't work, call the Help Desk.
Q: How do I get a new machine connected to the University's Internet?
A: Fill out our on-line Host Database Request Form. We will then have your machine added to the host database. We usually make the entry within an hour or so of receiving it from you. It then takes up to another 30 minutes for the host database to process the request. Once the request is processed, you should be able to access the Internet.
Q: How do I access my email from home?
A: Use the Univesity's Webmail system.
Q: How can I find out the name of my computer?
A: Go to the the Help Desk page. At the bottom of the page you will see a line that says something like: "You are connecting from yourmachine.Princeton.EDU." The first part of this ("yourmachine" in the example) is the name of your computer.