This page is part of the 2016 Lane website archive, and is presented for historical reference only.

SHED-Computer Labs Help and Procedures

Computer Labs Help and Procedures

Topics Discussed in Sections Below on this Page

Lab Locations, Tutoring & Wireless Access

Lab Rules and Procedures

Campus computer labs are for use primarily as a place to do homework, but students can also check their email and surf the web as long as they do it appropriately. Here's a list of specific lab rules:

  1. Save often (How often? As often as you don't want to do that work over again.)
  2. No food or drink (Protects equipment from damage.)
  3. Keep your workstation area neat (Make it easy on those next to you.)
  4. Surf safely (Only download school-related files, & be a good digitial citizen.*)
  5. Respect others (Be kind and considerate to everyone.)
  6. Keep your files organized (Best practice: save to your flash drive or cloud storage like Google Drive.)
  7. Log off (Protect yourself--otherwise the next user will still be logged in as you!)
  8. Don't change settings or install software (This is not your personal computer to configure as you wish.)
  9. Print only when necessary (Only when required by a class. Save a tree.)
  10. Work quietly (Other students are trying to concentrate.)

Lane Technology Use Rights and Responsibilities Policy (rules for using campus computing resources)

* Being a good digital citizen means among other things that you should be aware that everything you do online is public, and that you will be held accountable for any action you take. It is vitally important to respect/educate/protect yourself and others in the digital universe. Simple as that. More information on digital citizenship from digitalcitizenship.net.

Logging In and Logging Out

  • Logging in (2 options)
    • Use your student L number and password.
    • Use the campus generic L number and weekly password (ask lab staff).
  • Logging out (it's important!)
    • Log out of your computer when you are done with a lab work session (ask lab staff how).
    • Log out of any web-based accounts, such as email, that you logged into during your session. Many web-based sites will keep you logged in even if a computer is turned off.
    • Make sure you have saved or moved all of your saved files to a safe location (see below).

Where to save your work in a lab

Don't just save it on the hard drive of a lab computer. If you do it'll be gone tomorrow!

  • BEST OPTIONS: SAVE AND STORE IT IN THE CLOUD
    1. Save it on the desktop and then move it to a cloud storage service, such as Google Drive, at the end of your lab work session. More service options are listed below.
      • Cloud storage allows you to store your files on a remote server on the internet that you can access anywhere you have internet. Some free cloud storage options include (there are many others as well):
    2. Create and save/store your work/documents using the free cloud-based applications in Google Drive (a for-money option is Microsft Office 365). Saving and storing solutions using Google Drive and Google Drive applications:
    3. Lane's LaneDrivecloud storage system
      • Save it on the desktop of your lab computer and then move it to Lane's LaneDrive system. This is another good option for when you don't have a flash drive with you.
      • LaneDrive is available anywhere you have internet access, so you can get stuff at home that you saved in a lab.
      • LaneDrive only stores your files for the current term, and all of your files are deleted from the system at the end of the term. This means you have to remember to download them all to your own computer at the end of each term.
      • Instructors sometimes use the LaneDrive Assign/Drop and Shared features for giving assignments and allowing student upload of assignments. Ask your instructor for details.
  • SECOND BEST OPTION: USE A FLASH DRIVE (or move it to your flash drive before logging off).
    • If you don't have a flash drive, buy one and use it (they're cheap, and you can buy one at the bookstore).
    • Flash drives are relatively easy to damage or lose, so be sure to back your flash drive up regularly to your own computer and/or to some free cloud storage system.
  • You may find that if you save your work on a Mac server it doesn't show up in Windows. Ask lab staff for details and assistance.

How to save your work

  • Save vs. Save As
    • In a first-time save situation, both the Save and Save As commands do the exact same thing, which is to give you a Save As dialog box where you can do the following three things:
      1. Give the new file a name.
      2. Indicate where the file will be saved.
      3. Optionally, you can also save it as a different file type than the default type used by the application.
    • In a second-time save situation (anytime you save after your initial first save described above):
      • The Save command or keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-S for Windows, Command-S for Mac) updates changes you have made to the document since your last save.
      • The Save As command creates a new second document, opening up a Save As dialog box for you to name the file, etc. as described above. Reasons for doing this include:
        1. You are using the original document as a template for a new document.
        2. You are creating a new draft of the original document for continued editing while preserving your first document as a first draft for later reference.
        3. Making a copy of the file on another storage medium such as a flash drive.
  • Windows vs. Mac default storage folders
    • These are the folders that the Mac and Windows operating systems automatically create for you to save your work to. Use these folders when you're working on your own computer, but not in a computer lab.
      • Mac: "Documents" is the name of the default file storage folder.
      • Windows: "My Documents" is the name of the default file storage folder.
  • Backing up: making a backup (extra safety copy) of your work is important!
    • Backup your hard drive on your personal computer(s) using an external hard drive. Both the Mac and Windows operating systems include software that will manage automatic back-ups once you have connected an external hard drive to your computer. in addition to backing up your data (documents, music, photos), key details of your system set-up are archived which make it easier to either restore your computer if it crashes, or to set up and quckly configure a new computer.
    • Online backup can be automatic as well. Dropbox, Google Drive and other similar services do or may create a folder on your computer where files saved are automatically backed up to the cloud service.
    • Backup your flash drive(s) to the hard drive of your personal computer or to cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). Flash drive technology is pretty good but any piece of technology can break or be faulty, or in the case of a flash drive, be easily lost or misplaced. Protect your data.
  • Saving/backup storage options
    • hard drive (if on your own computer, if on another computer move it to to cloud storage at end of work session)
    • external hard drive (inexpensive and connects easily via a USB port)
    • flash drive
    • cloud (LaneDrive/Google Drive/Dropbox/Microsoft OneDrive etc.)
  • Saving and naming files in Google Drive
    • Files are saved automatically.
    • New files automatically are named "Untitled" but you can change the name by clicking on the existing name above the menu bar or by going to the file menu rename command.

Other File Management Topics

  • Finding a file
    • If you can't find a file where you think you saved it, here are some options:
      • Check the default save location for the application.To do this, start the application and choose the Save/Save As command, then look to see where the save location is automatically set by default for the application.
      • Check the base level folder of the default storage folder on your computer, named "My Documents" in Windows and "Documents" on a Mac. This is typically the default save location for applications.
      • Use the Mac Search tool: start the Finder, the icon on the applications dock that looks like a smiling face, and click in the text box and type key words from the name or contents of the document.
      • Use the Windows Search tool: start Windows Explorer, the icon on the task bar that looks like a yellow file folder, and click in the text box and type key words from the name or contents of the document.
  • Opening a file
    • This requires that you have the application necessary to open that file type.
      • Double-click on the file icon, or...
      • Right-click and choose the "Open With" command, then choose the application you want to open the file with.
  • Creating folders
    • You can create folders to organize specific categories of files that you save.
      • Right-click on parent folder (folder you want to create a folder in), choose New Folder.
      • You can create folders within folders (called sub-folders) to further organize sub-categories of files.
  • Moving and copying files
    • Sometimes you need to move a file to another folder, or copy a file to another drive/storage device (such as for backup).
      • Drag-and-drop. Point to the file and drag it to the folder or drive icon that you want to move or copy it to.
      • Cut/Copy and Paste. Point to the file you want to move or copy, right-click and choose the Cut (to move the file) or Copy command. Now point to the drive or folder icon, right-click and choose Paste.
  • Deleting and recovering files
    • Rick-click on the file and choose the Delete command (Mac: Move to Trash).
    • The file is moved to the Trash (Mac)/Recycle Bin(Windows), and may be recoverable within a certain timeframe.
    • Deleting from a flash drive may not be recoverable, check on your flash drive to see if there is a trash folder.
  • Renaming files
    • Right-click on the file and choose the Rename command.On a Mac, if you can't right-click, control-click (hold down the "control" key and click).
    • You can also click on the name of the file, wait a second, then click on the name of the file again; the file name will highlight and you can type the new name or edit the existing name.
  • Downloading and uploading files from/to Moodle or other sites
    • Downloading means getting a file from another computer, usually over the internet. Uploading means sending a file from your computer to another computer.
    • General download process for any situation:
      1. Click on the link/button to download indicated at the website you are downloading the file from.
      2. A dialog box appears which typically offers you the option of opening the file or downloading it. Neither of these options will be successful if you do not have an application on your computer which is capable of opening that type of file. Because of this issue many files are formatted as a PDF to make it easy for users to download and successfully read the downloaded document.
        • Choosing to open the file will open the file and you can then read it and also have the option to use the File menu Save As command to save it to a location on your computer.
        • Choosing to download the file will send it to the default storage location for downloaded files on your computer. You can also find it in the Downloads dialog box of your web browser in Firefox find Downloads in the Tools menu, in Chrome find it in the Window menu).
    • General upload process for any situation:
      1. Click on the link/button to upload indicated at the website you are uploading a file to.
      2. Use the Open dialog box which appears to locate the file on your computer that you want to upload.
    • Moodle-based courses often have files of information, such as a syllabus, that you may have to download to view. You may also need to upload an assignment or other file to Moodle.
    • Google Drive

Applications and Other Software  Installed in Computer Labs

  • You can't install softare or download software in campus computer labs.
  • Standard software installed in labs includes:
    • Windows 7 operating system
    • Microsoft Office applications suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
    • Firefox web browser
    • Chrome web browser
  • Specialized labs for specific departments or programs may include other software. Ask lab staff for details. May include computers running the Mac OS and special multimedia software, CAD software, etc., but these labs may be restricted to students enrolled in specific programs.

Information for instructors

  • Software you use in class may not be installed in computer labs. Standard software installed in labs is listed above. Check with the specific program or department labs your students use to be sure that what they need is installed.
  • Your students should be informed as to what specific program or department labs they can go to to find the software they need.
  • Your students should be aware of general computer lab rules and policies (at the top of this page), but especially that they may not download/install software.