General tips

Hardware and installation of applications

Do not change the hardware of the computer yourself. Doing so will easily lead to problems, especially for computers using Windows NT or Linux.

Do not install new software, especially sound- or movie applications; usually they come packed with other software, that may change the settings of your applications, or in bad cases of the settings of your computer. If you want to play MP3 files, ask system management for a safe music player, preferably when your computer is installed.

For the same reasons as above, answer 'No' to any spontaneous questions from the Internet about installing software on your computer.

If you need an application for a specific task, ask system management for a suitable choice.

User files

There are three reasons to separate user files from the system and application files on your hard disk: the hard disk becomes less fragmented (fragmentation slows down the computer), it is easier to back up your files, and when your system crashes it is easier to restore the system without data loss. The best solution is to have the system and application files on the C: partition, and the user files on a D: partition. Make a directory carrying your name in a directory Users, and put your own files in this directory. For shared files, make a directory User Shares (and share this directory), and a subdirectory carrying your name; do not share any other directories; this reduces the chance of accidental damage to your system. When backing up or changing computer, all your files can now be copied in one step, by copying the directories Users and User Shares. Computers installed by system management come ready with this directory structure.

Save important files on your P: disk. This disk is localized on one of the LION servers, of which a back up is made every night. CAUTION: Do not put any files that you want to keep on your desktop. These are saved in user-dependent directories, and may disappear easily. Check the places where applications like Word save your files; by default this is the directory C:\WINNT\Profiles\%username%\Personal, located on the C: disk. In most cases the E: disk is a better choice, see above, or in the case of important files use the P: disk.

Backup on CDROM

When using a CDROM to backup your data, do not use a CDROM that already contains data. If the CD writing process goes wrong, the data already on the CDROM becomes unavailable

Open files with other applications

Double clicking on a file usually opens it with the application associate with it, e.g. double clicking on *.doc files opens them with Word. If you want to open a file with another application, select the file, then press and hold the SHIFT key, while clicking the RIGHT mouse button: the menu options now include Open With ... .

Connect to another computer

Temporary connections can be easily made by browsing through Network Neighbourhood (and Entire Network if necessary). For a permanent connection, open the Windows Explorer, and go to Tools -> Map Network Drive. In the box Path, type \\[computer name]\[shared directory], check the box Reconnect At Logon, and click OK. To make a shared directory under Windows 95/98, right click on the directory, and choose Sharing. Under Windows NT (2000), shares must be made by system management. Recently installed computers have a shared directory called User Shares, under which you can make your own directory.

Starting Pegasus mail

Mail and viruses

Be careful when receiving mail from persons unknown. Reading the message is not harmful, but if in doubt, delete any attachments. If you get mail from a known person with an attachment where you don't expect any, also be careful. Don't open the attachment, if possible contact the sender, and if this is not possible, look at the extension of the attachment (use Explorer, and select View -> Details); if the extension has .exe , .vbs , .bat or .bin in it, delete the attachment (to be on the save side, delete any attachments that are not .txt , .doc, .jpg , or other well-known types).

Using mail from outside

It is possible to read your new mail on the LION server when you are outside the institute. Start a browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape), and type in the address window: http://mail.physics.leidenuniv.nl . Choose your mail Domain, and type your Physics username and password in the identification screen.

FTP and telnet

Due to the installtion of a firewall, it is no longer possible to use the familiar FTP and telnet programs from outside the institute. They are replaced by their more secure counterparts: scp (secure copy) and ssh (secure shell).

Problems

If anything seems to go wrong, take a deep breath, pause ("sit on your hands"), try to remember what you just have done, consider if this is the cause of the problem and if it can be reversed (this rule is just as valid for experts as it is for beginners!). If in doubt, do nothing if you can continue working, but make a note of the problem, and consult an experienced collegue, or system management. If direct action is necessary, take your time, reconsider your options, take another pause, and choose the option that changes the state of affairs the least. Ideally you should make a note of everything that you do.

Many problems can be solved by restarting your computer. First try to log off and log on again. If that doesn't work, close all of your applications, close Windows, turn of your computer, and turn it on again.

If all this does not work, contact system management. In that case it is extremely important to tell the person who is solving your problem everything you have done prior to the problem, even if you think that your actions are the cause of the problem, and if you are embarrassed by this. Having this information may spare hours of work (literally!) for the person solving your problem.