Technical Support Center

FAQ'S

This Q&A page is designed to address some basic questions or concerns that might arise from time to time while working with technology.  More detailed questions or complex issues will still need to be addressed with your school or department's Technology Facilitator or Contact so the problem may be forwarded to the correct personnel.

  Q - Every time I turn on my PC (personal computer, any non-Macintosh computer), it comes up with a red “Novell” box asking for a username and password. Sometimes another person’s name is in the username box. What is this box for and why is someone else’s username already there?

  A – The red Novell box you are referring to is your login box. This login allows you to access your user folder, other folders you may have rights to and any network based programs that you use such as, GroupWise, Integrade, etc.  
The username is your first initial and last name (no spaces), i.e. Jane Doe is “jdoe”. The only exception being someone else in your school who has the same first initial and last name, in that case contact your Technology Facilitator for your particular log-in. If someone else’s name is already listed, delete theirs and type in yours.
The password is the one you chose or was given to you at the beginning of the school year. Your password is case sensitive, meaning unless you specified upper case letters, your password will be lowercase. Check you caps lock key if your password is not working.

  Q – My computer will not open up GroupWise or Accelerated Reader. What’s up with that?

  A – If you are working on a PC check to see if you are logged in. Do this by clicking on “Start”. Look at the “Log Off” option. If there is not a name or if someone else’s name is listed after Log Off, you are not logged on properly. Click on “Log Off” and you should be prompted to log on again. If you do not get the Novell login screen after logging off or you are using a Mac, restart your computer. See next Q&A if you need help restarting.

  Q – When the resident computer geek says, “Oh, just reboot”, what does he/she mean?

  A – To reboot is another term for restart. The preferred way to restart a PC is to click on “Start”, click on “Shut Down”, choose “Restart” and click “OK”. Log back on and you are good to go. If the log-on screen does not come back up contact your Technology Facilitator. If the “Windows is Shutting Down” message seems to linger for eternity, see next Q&A. 
Mac users need to simultaneously hold down the “control”, “apple” and “restart” (top, right) keys. IMAC users need to simultaneously hold down the “control”, “apple” and the round button at the top of the keyboard to restart.

  Q – When I shut down my PC the message “Windows is Shutting Down”, never goes away. Why is this?

  A – This is a conflict Windows is having with another program. If you hold in the on/off button on the front of the computer, not the monitor, for about 5 seconds, the computer will shut down. When you restart, scan disk will run. Allow scan to disk to finish running. The next time you want to shut down your computer click on “Start”, then “Log Off”.  When the Novell login screen appears, hold in the on/off button until the computer shuts down.

  Q – When I login on a Macintosh computer as a Teacher, my password works with the first log-on but not with the second. What password should I use?

  A – The password should be the same at both login prompts for teachers. If the same password is not working or if you are only prompted for one password, contact your Technology Facilitator so the password can be corrected.

  Q – I moved a computer to another area in my room, plugged everything back up; however, I can’t get on the Internet or GroupWise. What happened?

  A – Chances are you plugged into a different network wall node than you were previously plugged into and it doesn’t have a connection to the network. Contact your Technology Facilitator. You may want to move back until someone can come out and make the preferred node “hot”. It is good procedure to let your contact know BEFORE you move your computer or networked printer so you do not have “down time”.

  Q – My computer keeps shutting down on it’s own. It doesn’t matter if someone is working on it or not. The Facilitator already checked to make sure the energy saver was set correctly and it was. What could be the problem?

  A – There are a couple of possibilities. The most probable one being the computer is overheating. Clear away anything too close to the computer such as paper, books, CD cases, etc. Computers produce a lot of heat and require ventilation. There may also be a build-up of dust on the inside of the computer blocking air movement. Contact your Technology Facilitator if this appears to be a possibility. Do not attempt to open and clean the computer yourself. Who will teach phonics or Latin IV if you get shorted out??
Lastly, check your wall outlet! If you have a power strip in each outlet and 3 computers, a printer, a stereo, pencil sharpener, electric stapler and a TV/VCR plugged in, you’re overloading the circuit. As one Electrician so kindly put it, you can’t fit 10 gallons of anything in a 5-gallon bucket.