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Questions?

General questions
Mac related questions
PC related questions

Does the college provide network access in the halls of residence?

No. There are also no plans to offer this service. You can however get Broadband installed as part of your phone line package. Ask at the accomodation office for more information.

Can I plug my laptop in the college network?

Yes you can, but you need to visit the ICT help desk first. You will need to get your computer virus-protected and updated. Then you can be authorised for network use. By adding wireless network card to the your laptop you can connect to the Ravensbourne network. This allows you to connect to your email and the Internet only.

Why can't I download exe files on the PC's in the college?

Many features are disabled in Internet Explorer because of security risks with this browser. You can download what you like with Mozilla or Safari. You will not be able to run executables in your home directory, as this risks infection by viruses or Trojans.

Why do I get hard disk quota full messages?

Personal folders have a free quota limit of one gigabyte. We also offer unstructured storage in the form of public folders, which are capped at 400GB. Unfortunately, you cannot increase either of these limits. Remember, NO student storage is backed up. Compatible storage media for backing up your work are available at the College Shop

Can I play audio CD's on the college computers?

Yes, but please use headphones as your taste in music might not be that of other people.

Can I bring my own Firewire device and plug it into college equipment?

Yes you can. On a Mac this will just work however on a PC you may need to go to the ICT Helpdesk and ask a support officer there for help. You can also use iPods and USB storage devices.

Can I access my Ravensbourne email from home?

You can access your email via webmail at http://webmail.rave.ac.uk/ or follow the link on the college Intranet. Please note that this service is not supported outside of working hours.

Frequently asked questions
Macintosh resources

The Macs in the college can give those who aren’t used to the interface some trouble when first using them and a network environment and the interaction of shared resources between PCs and Macs can sometimes confound even experienced Mac users.

The Home folder
The home folder on a Mac is the same space as My Documents on a PC. When clicking on this you can press the Apple key + I to show your quota used. There are also other folders shown in the Apple Finder by default that you can also find on a PC, but are normally used only by some Mac programs.

The Mac Trash
The trash on a Mac is where deleted files are stored. When you logout this is wiped by the system to prevent your home folder filling up. This was a common problem before log-off deletion was introduced.

Logging on, what to look for if things go wrong
When you password doesn’t work when trying to log on, because you either forgot it, typed it in wrong, or have been blocked off the system, the login prompt screen will shake. Any warning messages you get while logging in should be reported to the ICT help desk, as well as continued failed attempt to type your password in so it logs you in.

External storage
External storage on a Mac shows up as an icon on the desktop, usually Orange for Hard Disks and white for USB memory sticks. You will also see an icon in the finder. NTFS formatted drives can be read by a Mac but not written to. If you drive doesn’t show up at all once plugged in, it’s possible it’s either in a format the Mac doesn’t recognise, or is faulty. However most will work fine.

Writing CDs/DVDs
You can write CDs and Data DVDs by inserting a blank media and dragging on saving files to the icon in the Finder or on the Disc media icon on the desktop. Once you’ve selected all the files you want on your disk, click on it’s icon in the finder and click the Burn button in the top right hand corner.

Note: You can’t add more files to a CD/DVD written on a Mac once you have written for the first time.

PC Resources

While many people will be familiar with PCs and Windows when at home, there are some differences when using XP under a network environment you should be aware of.

Disk quota, how to check
You can check your disk quota buy using the program ‘Disk Space Usage’ in the Programs menu. Double click on the h: drive (which is listed as your ID number) and wait a minute or two while the system totals up your space. You will then see a break down of where your space is being used, clicking on the bars will then take you to where these files are located so you can delete or move them to external media.

Using external media
USB or firewire storage devices show up as drives in My Computer. Often there will be extra drive letters for memory stick slots on the front of the computer (given letters in the high end of the alphabet). Your own devices will usually be called E or F.

Make sure you don’t plug in more than 2 devices at the same time or else they won’t show up in the list. Plug in devices after you have logged on, not before.

Saving to the desktop and the recycle bin
The recycle bin does not work. If you delete something it gets deleted right away. There is no second chance due to the problems of creating network based recycle bins.

Do not save files to the desktop, they will be deleted when
you log off.

Writing CDs/DVDs
You can either write CD/DVDs as you would at home by placing blank media into the drive and copying or saving files onto the CD/DVD drive, usually call D:. If you double click on the drive in My Computer you can see all the files waiting to be written as ghostly icons with arrows in the corner.

Click on the ‘Write these files to CD’ to begin writing, or click ‘Delete temporary files’ to start again.

For more help on PC and Mac resources see the help desk section of the Intranet: -

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