Common Questions:

Accounts and Quota

What is my quota and how can I get it increased?
Engineering student HawkID accounts have two different quotas: print quota and disk quota.

The print quota is an amount that determines how much you can print from your engineering printers.

Disk quota is regularly increased. Disk quota can be increased in special cases. Request more disk quota by visiting the ECS main office, 1256 SC.

I'm over quota but I need the files still on my account. How can I keep them and get under quota?
Read about Reducing Disk Usage. You can save files you need occasionally but not daily to some removable storage device like a flash drive or a portable hard drive.

If you need more help getting under quota, talk to the consultant at the Engineering Help Desk, 1253 SC, 319-335-5055.

Files

How do I get to files in my home directory from home?
Faculty and staff use the Cisco Anyconnect VPN or Junos Pulse VPN to get to files in their home directory. Connect2 is available on any computer platform that runs a web browser. Students can use VDI to get to files. Faculty and staff can run Remote Desktop from home to connect to your campus computer.

What's the best way to transfer a large file?
To transfer a file between your own computer and your engineering account, use the Junos Pulse VPN.

Many people use email to transfer files by attaching the files to a message and sending the message to one's self. This method uses mail quota because the attachments are saved until you delete the message. An emailed file exists on the originating machine or account, on the mail server, and, when retrieved, on the receiving machine or account. Use the VPN to move files; it is quicker and results in less space being used by the same file(s).

I deleted a file that I need. What can I do?
If the file is on your home directory or in a share, you can recover it yourself. Every 4 hours a copy is made of files that have been modified. You can view, copy, or restore these previous versions by selecting the file (or directory), right click and select Properties, then click the Previous Versions tab to select the version to restore. Read about using Previous Versions.

Passwords

How do I change my password? Can I do it from Windows? Linux? the web?
You can change your password from the web using the password page.

On Windows press Ctrl + Alt + Delete. A menu will appear. Click Change Password and follow the instructions. On Linux, go to the password page.

If you don't remember your password, go to the password check page. Perhaps your password has expired, and there are links on that page to reset your password.

Printing

What printers do I have access to?

All engineering account holders have access to the four Elder and Hering LaserJet printers (ptrcss00, ptrcss01, ptrcss02, ptrcss03), the LaserJet ptrcss05 in 2301 SC, and the color LaserJet, ptrcss10, in the Elder lab.  See Printing - All You Need to Know for information on adding other printers from a Windows lab machine. To use other printers in the Engineering College you must be given access to them by the department that owns the printer.

How can I print to a specific printer?
Within the Windows or Linux application from which you want to print, go to File | Print. In the selection box under Printer Name, choose the printer you want to print to: e.g., ptrcss00. You can also print to the color laser printer, ptrcss10, that is in the Elder lab.

Software

Can I install my own software?
You can try to install software. However, if the installation requires that files be physically written to any drive other than the local directory or H drive, the installation will likely fail.

Hardware

What computers are in the labs?

Find information about the computers, scanners, and printers in the labs, on the lab hardware page.