Windows SupportFrequently Asked QuestionsGeneral Windows Questions
The CSDE Computer Lab
Terminal Servers
General Windows QuestionsWhat's my password?Your password is your secret code that authorizes you to log in and use the CSDE systems. Therefore it is important to choose a good password and protect it; never give your password to anyone else, not even to a CSDE staff member. Contact the computing support staff for a password reset if:
Our offices are located on the second floor of Raitt Hall, rooms 218H and 218J. A staff member should be available to assist you with password questions during normal business hours. Please note that for security reasons, we cannot provide passwords by email or telephone. How do I change my password?To change your account password on the CSDE Windows network, you must first log into a CSDE computer with your current password. Then follow these directions: If you're logged into a CSDE computer lab workstation:
If you're logged into a CSDE terminal server:
Please choose a good, unique password in order to maintain the security and integrity of our network. Password guidelines are as follows:
For more advice on choosing a good password, take a look at this link. Why can't I log in?The following are common reasons for a login failure. If the terminal server or a workstation is not allowing you to log on, read through this list for some suggestions about how to troubleshoot the problem.
If none of these suggestions help you log in to the system, please stop by the Computing Core offices in Raitt 218 for assistance. We may need to reset your password if you've forgotten it. In addition, after a certain number of failed login attempts, your account may be temporarily "locked out" for 30 minutes -- and you will either need to wait and try again, or we can unlock the account for you. Where should I save my files on the network?We suggest that you save your documents in your H: drive, which is your personal directory on the CSDE Windows file server. This is a space owned by you, and inaccessible by anyone else. In general, this is where all users should save their work -- it's automatically connected whenever you log on to a CSDE server or workstation, so it's always available in "My Computer" and in Save dialog boxes. Your H: drive is also backed up to tape on a daily basis, to guard against data loss. The Project Drive (R:) is a network storage space for collaborative project work. We recommend setting up a project folder in the R: drive for any ongoing collaborative work with other CSDE users. For more information, see How do I set up a project folder for group work or shared datasets?, below. The Transfer Drive (T:) is a shared storage space that anyone with a CSDE Windows domain account may use. Think of it as a large temporary storage location everyone has access to. The T: area is a great way to share nonsensitive and nonessential data. To do this, simply create a new folder and copy your file into it -- now anyone with a CSDE account can copy that file for their own use. This is often easier than emailing a file. Just keep in mind that T: is meant for temporary storage only, so it's not backed up and is inherently an insecure storage area. Important Note: DO NOT USE THE TRANSFER DRIVE (T:) FOR PROJECTS, LONG-TERM FILE STORAGE, OR SENSITIVE DATA OF ANY KIND. How do I set up a project folder for group work or shared datasets?Anyone -- student or faculty -- may request a CSDE project folder in the R: drive. Just contact the Computing Core help desk at csde_help @u.washington.edu and we'll be happy to set one up for you, often the same day you request it. When requesting a new project folder, please provide the following information:
This project folder will reside on a CSDE network file server and will therefore be backed up daily. In addition, we'll configure it in such a way that only the members of your group have access to the folder. Can I use the local disk drives?All CSDE servers and the computer lab workstations have a system drive, C:, which holds the operating system and all program files. In general, users are not permitted to modify files on the C: drive. However, most servers and workstations also have a D: drive which has been set aside for local data storage and which anyone can use. In some situations where very fast data throughput is important, it may make sense to use the D: drive instead of your home directory. D: is a local disk, which means reading & writing times will be slightly faster than those on H: or R:, which are network disks. For example, if you're doing analysis on a large dataset, you may find that copying it to the D: drive before starting your analysis will decrease processing time. The local D: drives should be thought of only as temporary storage, much like the T: area, as it is not backed up and is accessible by anyone. May I store my personal files on CSDE systems?Absolutely not. CSDE systems are funded by our research center and by the UW Student Technology Fee. As such, they are only to be used for school-related purposes. Please do not store any personal files in your CSDE folders. Can I install my own software?No, on CSDE workstations and servers, users may not install their own software. This is to keep the system clean and consistent for everyone. However, we will make every effort to obtain and install any software you need for your coursework or research. The Computing Core is always happy to assist with this. We rarely turn down requests to install freeware or open-source programs. And we'll find a way, if at all possible, to get funding to buy commercial software packages. So please, if you have software requests, just ask us! What is the CSDE backup schedule?On the Windows file servers, we back up your data on a daily basis. Therefore, anything you store on the file servers, CSDE-FS1, CSDE-FS2 and CSDE-FS3, can be considered safe. This includes user home directories (H:), the Projects area (R:), and the CSDE Office drive (O:). We do a full backup of these systems at the beginning of each quarter. After that, incremental backups are done nightly between 11:00pm and 7:00am. If you have lost an essential file due to corruption, accidental deletion, etc., please contact the Computing Core help desk at csde_help @u.washington.edu and we'll do what we can to retrieve your data. Due to the nature of incremental backups, however, it can take up to 24 hours to locate and restore a particular file. Important Note: THE TRANSFER DRIVE (T:), THE DATA DRIVES (D:) AND THE WINDOWS DESKTOP ON THE CSDE TERMINAL SERVERS AND COMPUTER LAB MACHINES ARE NOT BACKED UP, AND SHOULD BE USED FOR TEMPORARY STORAGE ONLY. Are there any times when the Windows servers are not available?On Friday mornings, approx. 3:00am - 3:30am, the CSDE Computing Core has scheduled a weekly maintenance window for all Windows servers. During this time any or all Windows servers (including terminal servers and file servers) may be rebooted for installation of security patches, operating system updates, and/or new software. If you happen to be logged into a terminal server at the start of the maintenance window, you will see a message notifying you of a reboot pending in 10 minutes (600 seconds). At 3:10am the system will reboot and should be back up and usable by 3:30am. If you have files open on the file server during the maintenance window, you may experience data loss. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you save your work and log out of all CSDE Windows systems before 3:00am on Fridays, and refrain from logging in again until 3:30am. The CSDE Computer LabWhat are the computer lab usage policies?
May I borrow a manual?Lab materials are intended for the lab only. Please do not remove supplies such as paper, staplers, etc., from the CSDE lab. We have made a small number of software manuals available for perusal while you're working in the lab. These are available on the shelves next to the door. If you would like to borrow a book from the lab, please talk to the CSDE librarian. Can I burn a CD or DVD in the lab?Yes! All of the lab machines have the necessary software and hardware installed. Here are step-by-step instructions for using the CD/DVD burners:
What about printing? Does CSDE have a print quota?For help with the lab printer and information about quotas, click here to visit our 'Printing in the Lab' web page. Terminal ServersShould I use the terminal servers or the computer lab?In general, the computer lab workstations are faster than the terminal servers. Why? Here's a side-by-side comparison using the common scenario in which 15 people are using the terminal server CSDE-TS2, and one person is using the lab machine PHOENIX:
In other words, the computer lab machines have less power but are able to offer the individual user all of it for exclusive use. On the terminal servers, the limited resources must be shared amongst many users. We think you'll find the lab workstations much faster for this reason. Of course, there are some excellent reasons to use the terminal servers, including:
The Computing Core Help Desk will happily give you advice if you're unsure about this. Email us at csde_help @u.washington.edu. Why do I get a "Licensing Error" when I try to connect?Every client computer (e.g. your desktop computer at home, or the laptop you take along to your neighborhood coffeeshop) needs a "Terminal Services Client Access License" -- or TS CAL -- in order to log in to a Windows terminal server. Any computer that runs Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional has an existing built-in license, meaning that if you have XP Pro, your computer has a lifetime TS CAL and you need not worry about the remainder of this text. If, however, your computer runs Windows XP Home, Mac OS X, or some form of Linux or Unix, then it will need a TS CAL assigned to it before it will be allowed to connect. The terminal servers' license server has a database in which it keeps track of the total number of TS CALs, who the used CALs have been assigned to, and how many unused CALs remain. To make matters especially confusing, there are two types of TS CALs, which could be referred to as "temporary" and "permanent". Permanent CALs are licenses that have been purchased from Microsoft for $35 apiece and installed on the license server. Temporary CALs exist to give users and administrators some flexibility in cases where the number of available permanent CALs is limited; even if the pool of permanent TS CALs has been depleted, new client computers can still connect and receive temporary licenses, so the idea is that by the time those temporary CALs expire there will have been time for the system administrator to purchase and install some additional permanent CALs. TS CALs are assigned when a user connects to a terminal server and his or her computer either (1) does not already have a CAL of either type, or (2) has an expired temporary or permanent CAL. If a "permanent" CAL is available on the terminal servers' license server, in both cases (1) and (2) the user's computer is assigned one of those CALs and the pool of available licenses is decreased by one. If no permanent CALs are available, in case (1) the user is assigned a temporary 90-day license. However, in case (2) when their CAL has already expired, they are denied access. Once a temporary CAL expires, it cannot be used again at all. The only way the person will be able to reconnect from that particular computer is if he or she receives a permanent CAL for it. All of this is made more complicated by the fact that even "permanent" CALs also expire -- in a sense. When a user's computer is assigned a permanent TS CAL from the license server's pool, that license is given a random expiration date about 90 days from the current date. If the user continues to connect to the server using that CAL, on its expiration date the license will be automatically renewed; the user effectively has a permanent TS CAL only as long is he or she continues to use it. However, if that CAL does not get renewed due to non-use, it will be returned to the pool of available permanent CALs at the end of its expiration date. In summary, permanent TS CALs are not permanently attached to a particular computer; they are continually being recycled and recirculated by the terminal servers' license server, according to people's usage patterns. Since TS CALs cost about $35 apiece and CSDE has hundreds of users, many of whom own multiple computers, we cannot afford to purchase a license for each and every computer. Unfortunately, this means sometimes the terminal servers' license server runs out of CALs and the Computing Core must find funding to purchase more of them. How can you help, as a user? Our suggestion is to log in to the terminal servers only from one or two computers that belong to you or that you expect to use frequently. Limiting your usage thusly means that you will only need up to two TS CALs for your computers, freeing other CALs for your colleagues and allowing the terminal server licensing system to work more efficiently for everyone. Why do I get a "Protocol Error" when I try to connect?A "Protocol Error" means that your terminal server session has crashed. To fix the problem, contact the Computing Core help desk at csde_help @u.washington.edu and request that your terminal server session be reset. Please be sure to include your CSDE username and the name of the server you're attempting to reconnect to. We'll reset your session, which will allow you to log in again. This can happen periodically when using Stata on the terminal servers. Certain versions of the Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection program interact with Stata in a way which causes session corruption and results in these error messages. To prevent "Protocol Errors" in the future, please upgrade your software:
Why is the Connect button greyed out on the Web Gateway page?If this is the case, you're either using an unsupported browser or have not installed the Web Gateway ActiveX plugin. You may want to try the Remote Desktop Connection program instead (see below).
Luckily, even if you cannot access the Web Gateway (such as our many Firefox users, or those with a Mac running OS X) you can use Remote Desktop Connection instead. Remote Desktop Connection may already be installed on your computer; in Windows, it's usually located in Start --> Programs --> Accessories --> Communications. On a Mac, you might find it in your Applications folder. To download the Remote Desktop Connection program or for more information about its use, please see our Terminal Services web page. What's the difference between logging off and disconnecting from the terminal server?Logging off closes your current terminal server session. Disconnecting only closes your Remote Desktop window, and allows you to connect to that session again later. To log off the terminal server, click the Start button and choose Log off username or Shut Down --> Log off username. This logs you off the terminal server completely. If you have jobs running or files open, they will be closed. To disconnect from the terminal server, click the X (Close button) to close the main terminal server window. You'll see a message stating, "This will disconnect your Windows session." The terminal server window will close, but your programs will continue to run in the background on the server. Next time you log in, you'll be instantly reconnected and your files and programs will still be up. It's a convenient method if you'd like to start a long-running job at school, and then check on it again later from home. Be aware, however, that terminal server sessions that have been idle for more than a day are subject to disconnection in order to save system resources. Why can't I reconnect to an old terminal server session?First, please note the weekly maintenance times for CSDE terminal servers. If you have a session open during this time period, your session will be closed. Keep that in mind while starting a potentially long-running analysis job. If a network error has caused you to be disconnected from a session, it is often the case that you won't be able to reconnect to it right away. This is because it takes some time for the server to realize that you're no longer there. So it's a good idea to wait a minute to two before trying to reconnect -- this will give you a much better chance of "finding" your old session. Here's another tip: try the TS Manager, which lists all your terminal server sessions. (See 'How do I use the TS Manager?') How do I use the TS Manager?On any of the CSDE terminal servers you have access to the Terminal Services Manager program on your desktop (and in Start --> Programs --> Administrative Tools). All your current sessions will be listed in TS Manager, even those you have running on other terminal servers; just click the name of the terminal server to find out if you have any sessions running there. To reconnect to a "lost" session, find it in the listing and right-click on it to see the Connect option. Likewise, if one of your sessions has crashed, you can right-click on it and choose Log Off. Why does the terminal server seem so slow?At certain times, you may notice that the CSDE terminal servers slow down considerably. This is because of high resource utilization -- for example, a couple of users are running extremely CPU-intensive jobs, and the server's responsiveness is decreased for everyone else. One easy way to combat this problem is by assigning a lower priority to your long-running jobs. (See 'How can I change the priority of a job?') Another suggestion is to start your jobs in the evening, or late at night, when the terminal servers are less busy. And don't forget the CSDE computer lab in Raitt Hall 223, where you can have a powerful Windows workstation all to yourself! How do I change the priority of a job?To make your program run in a resource-friendly way, you can decrease its priority on the system. The job will run more slowly, but it will also not interfere as much with other people's work. To do this:
The public terminal servers are continually watching for jobs or programs that have been running for a long time (over an hour) or that are using more than 95% of any single CPU on the server. Any such program's priority will be automatically reduced by the system to conserve computing resources for other users. How do I add an R library/package?You may use the C:\Program Files\R\contrib folder for this purpose. (Please see the R documentation for help installing libraries into this location.) Bear in mind that when a package is placed into the contrib folder, it's available for everyone else to use as well. On each terminal server, the R program is installed in C:\Program Files\R\R-x.x.x where x.x.x is the version number. As we often upgrade R or install multiple versions of the software, it is not practical to let users install new R packages in the library folder for a particular R version. Instead, we have set up contrib as a publicly-writable directory in which users may install needed R libraries rather than having to reinstall these libraries each time R is updated. The "R_LIBS" system environment variable is automatically set to the location of the contrib folder, so that when you install a package from within R it will be placed there by default. Unfortunately, due to a limitation of R, help files for certain packages cannot be installed. If you get an error message relating to HTML Help, you may disregard it; the library should still function properly. How do I print a document to my local printer?You may use the terminal servers' printer redirection functionality to print to your own desktop printer. Drivers for many popular printer models are already installed on the server; if your printer is supported, it will appear in the Printers list a few moments after you connect to the terminal server. If your printer does not appear, you may contact us and we'll install the appropriate printer driver. Be sure to include the manufacturer (e.g. Hewlett-Packard) and model number (e.g. LaserJet 8150) of your printer. Please note:
Troubleshooting tips:
Why does the Convert to PDF button in Office sometimes fail?The PDF conversion button in Microsoft Office sometimes doesn't work for documents that are large or complex, so an alternative PDF conversion option has been installed on the CSDE terminal servers -- a free program called PDFCreator. To use PDFCreator, first open your document and select Print from the menu. You'll see PDFCreator available as a printer name. When you print your document to it you'll be asked for an output PDF filename, and the conversion program will take care of the rest. Why isn't Firefox installed on the servers?Firefox is only available on our newest terminal servers, CSDE-TS1 and CSDE-TS2. Unfortunately, Firefox is not compatible with the Windows 2000 terminal server environment on our older terminal servers, such as CSDE-TS4. We continue to test each new version, but as of version 2.0 (October, 2006) it is still not stable enough for use on the servers. Please do not attempt to run Firefox from your H: drive or any other location; it will cause problems. How can I access my CSDE Unix files on the terminal servers?If you have a CSDE Unix account, it is possible to access your Unix home directory from the Windows terminal servers via a mapped network drive. To enable this service for your account, please contact the Computing Core help desk at csde_help@u.washington.edu |
