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Geography PC lab

The Geography PC Lab is separate from the Unix Open lab, and is to be used exclusively in connection with geography department coursework. This differs from the Open Lab, which is available for all students to use for whatever purpose they choose. The Geography Lab uses the same basic system as the PC labs run by WAM, with some differences in what programs are installed and what drives you have.

Logging On

To log on:

  1. Press the Control (Ctrl), Alt, and Delete keys simultaneously.
  2. Press enter to exit the usage information window. You will then be presented with a log in screen.
  3. Type in you GLUE username in the username field
  4. press Tab or click on the password field
  5. Type in your GLUE password
If this is your first time using the GLUE system, you will be given a sheet of paper containing your account name and temporary password. Once you log in you should change your password:
  1. Double-click on the "Connect to Glue" Icon.
  2. If a box pops up and asks you a question, click on OK
  3. type in your username and press Enter
  4. You should then get a command prompt that looks like "z:~:". Type in the word passwd and press Enter
  5. A program will ask you for your current (temporary) password and the new password you would like to use. Good Passwords are at least 6 characters long (preferably 8) and contain a mix of at least two of the following: lowercase letters, UPPERCASE letters, symbols (!@#$%^&*()_+:"}...), and numbers (1234567890). It also should be easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess (real words or pure numbers are not a good idea)
  6. The program will ask you to re-type your password and then set it as your password.
  7. Type logout to disconnect to GLUE

Software

The Geography PC lab computers are equipped with some specialty software. They can be accessed via the Start Menu, or via the "Applications" Folder on the Desktop. Here is a list of available software:

Class Software
Arc, ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcReader, ArcScene Components of the ArcGIS GIS and Cartography software package
ArcView 3.3 GIS and cartography software
ENVI Remote Sensing Analysis/GIS
MS Visual Basic
MS Visual C++		 Programming Tools
Crystal Reports Tabular Report creator
Microsoft Access Database
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
   
Tools
Easy CD Creator Software to burn data to CDs.
Note: When creating a CD, do not use the DirectCD Option; it does not work on our setup. Use 'Create Data CD' instead. Copying music CDs is prohibited.
WS_FTP95 LE FTP program used to upload or download files.
WinZip 8.1 Manages packaged (zip, tar) files
Connect to Glue Connects to a Unix computer. Allows you to view the mail sent to your GLUE account, or telnet to WAM and view mail sent to your WAM account

Word Processing

Word Processing is NOT allowed on the PCs aside from that necessary for class work. Therefore, Microsoft Word is not installed on the computers; WordPad and NotePad are available for basic text document creation and editing. If you need to do a large amount of typing, ie writing a paper, you should go to either the BSOS computer labs in the 02xx wing of LeFrak or the campus WAM Labs (the nearest WAM lab to the Geography Department is located in Worcester Hall's basement).

Printing

Printing is handled via OIT's Pay-for-Print system. In order to use it you will need a Terrapin Express account and a print account. Follow these directions to obtain both if you need them. If you have library copy money attached to your student ID (not on a separate card), then you have a Terrapin Express account.

The Geography PCs can access two printers:

  • geogbw1 (black and white, 10¢/page)
  • geoglab (color, 50¢/page)
To Print, use the Print feature of the application you wish to print from and select the appropriate printer. A window will pop up showing you the printer, the maximum number of pages, and the cost. If your print job is larger than the default maximum number of pages, enter the total number of pages to be printed. Please note that this window mis-reports the total cost for the color printer. You then should press print and wait for another window to appear. This window will ask for your print account number and password. Enter them to print. Your account balance can be viewed at bank.umd.edu.

Data Storage

There are several drives accessible to students from the PCs. The ability of students to read and write to these disks varies. Listed below are the various drive, what they contain, and what permissions students have. (Note: Directory= Folder)

Drive Title Permissions & Description
A:\ Floppy Drive Read & Write
C:\ Hard Disk Read most, Write to C:\temp\
Use C:\temp\ for temporary storage; it gets deleted upon logout
D:\ CD-RW drive Read & Write, provided you have a CD-R or CD-RW disk
H:\ GLUE 'Home' Directory Read & Write. This will also contain some setup information, so be careful what you delete [especially if a file name begins with a dot(.)]. You have 25MB of storage here.
J:\ Unix System Read (some parts). Don't be worried about this drive
R:\ Your Space One level up from H:\. Contains H:\ (home), mail (mail storage) and pub (public webpage area if you want one, http://www.glue.umd.edu/~username/)
S:\ GeogLAB Read & Write some areas. This is where you should store data for class work and projects. There is a directory for each course and a directory with your name in each course you are taking. Also readable from Unix System. Last semester's data is deleted before the next semester
T:\ GeogDATA Read. This is where general data for classes and projects is stored. Please refer to the list of geodata for information about what data is stored here.
U:\ Instruction Read (and Write if submit is set up for your class). TA's and instructors may post information relevant to the courses here, including special data or instructions. There is a directory for each course here, with a directory for an instructor within the course directory.

Back-ups

The Department encourages you to make backups of your work. This is easily done using the CD-RW drive in the computers. Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW into the drive and start Roxio Easy CD creator. Select 'Create Data CD', select the files you wish to back up, and engage the burner. It may help speed things up if you copy data from the H:\, R:\, or S:\, drives to C:\temp and select the copies.

Help

If you are in class, ask for help from your lab instructor. If you need help outside of class, please contact the lab assistant on duty. This may or may not be your lab instructor; if in doubt, check the schedules posted outside of the lab door. If there is a major problem, especially if you think it will affect other students as well, e-mail your lab instructor to provide him or her notice of the problem, and also e-mail geoghelp@geog.umd.edu.

Logout

To logout, go to the start menu and select either "Log out username" or "Shut Down." If you select Shut Down, select the "Log off username" option before pressing return. If the computer asks if you really want to log off, agree. You will ten be logged off and any personal changes to the Windows system, such as new shortcuts or background images, will be saved to your h:\ drive (under the .2kprofile directory).

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Department of Geography, 2181 LeFrak Hall, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742
Phone: 01-301-405-4050      Fax: 01-301-0314-9299
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