This is the telephone number of the UNT Computing Center Support
Services, also known as the Helpdesk. Our mission is to provide support to all faculty, staff,
and students at UNT who have any questions and/or problems of any sort
concerning computing at UNT.
To give you some idea of the types of support we provide, and to
answer some of the commonly asked questions we hear at the Helpdesk, I'm
going to use a question and answer format. This format is commonly
used on the Internet where it is known as a FAQ, i.e. a list of
Frequently Asked Questions (with Answers).
1.0 General
Questions
1.1 Q: How do I get in touch with you?
A: Did you by any
chance skip the first paragraph!?!? Seriously, there are several ways
to contact us: 1. Yell really loud. 2. Call us at (817)565-2324. 3.
If you're not having a problem using electronic mail you can send us
E-Mail addressed to: Internet address:
helpdesk@unt.edu Pegasus Mail:#cc1\helpdesk WordPerfect Office
Mail:helpdesk 4. Drop by our office in the Information Science Building
(ISB), Room 119. We're open Mon-Fri, 7am-6pm. No appointment necessary.
1.2 Q: I have a question about ________________ . (Or, where to
look first.)
A: First take a look at the inside cover of each
issue of Benchmarks. There is a LOT of valuable information contained on
that one page, and it is virtually guaranteed to be accurate and up to
date. You might want to actually read some of the articles, too.
Benchmarks is a bimonthly news- letter published by the Computing Center
that is available at several loca- tions around campus, including our
office. Each issue includes an order form on the back cover for a free
subscription. While thumbing through Benchmarks, you may run across a list of Short Courses we offer.
These are noncredit (and free!) courses that are conducted every
semester and are designed to provide an introduction to, or an overview
of, a variety of computing topics. Each course is typically offered on
several different dates, to make it easier to work into your schedule,
and lasts for about 2-4 hours. The Short Courses are terrific
opportunities to get hands-on, personalized instruction in areas of
comput- ing that aren't taught anywhere else. Highly recommended.
You'll also want to take a look through the handouts that we provide.
During our business hours we keep the most popular handouts in a
dis-play case outside the Computing Center's main enterance. I'd
recommend starting with the ever-popular Welcome to the UNT Computing
Center. If you can't find what you are looking for, or aren't sure what
you should be looking for, feel free to come in and ask one of us. We've
got lots more handouts inside. At any point in time, feel free to
contact us. (See the answer to question 1.1.)
1.3.Q: What kinds of
computers do you have at UNT?
A: The snide answer is every kind.
The accurate answer is every kind. However, in the arena of personal
computers, UNT is oriented predom- inantly to IBM PC-compatibles. Apple
Macintosh and PowerMac compu- ters are currently rising rapidly in
numbers, however. There are also some NeXt systems, Amigas, and probably
others; but their numbers are too few to have a dramatic impact on
campus. We also have some main-frames and super-minis, but you can read
about those in our handouts.
1.4Q: Where can a student go to
use a computer?
A: You might think that you should come to us, the
UNT Computing Center. That sounds logical, but it's wrong. Well, not
entirely wrong...we can give you a pamphlet that shows you where every
one of the thirteen General Access Labs are located, their hours of
operation, and some gen- eral usage rules. (See
the article Student Computing Facilities at UNT)
1.5Q: Can I
get an Internet account? - or - Where do I go to get an E-mail address?
A: Believe it or not, the answer to the first question is No.
There's no such animal as an Internet account. What you can get (if you
are faculty, staff, or an enrolled student) is an account on a host
system (for example, Jove) that provides you with a connection to the
Internet. This also auto- matically provides you with an E-Mail address.
At the present time, UNT does not directly charge for these accounts.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have a host system
account in order to make use of the Internet. Virtually every machine in
all of the General Access Labs has some capability for accessing
Internet facili- ties. See Section 5.0 for information about the
Internet and Section 4.0 for information about General Access Labs.
1.6Q: How come you don't support _____________ ?
A: Primarily
because reality imposes limitations on all of us in one form or another.
(Wow, how philosophical! Stay tuned for the nitty-gritty, though.) As
human beings, we at the Computing Center have limits on the amount of
knowledge we can acquire. (Of course, some of us have a higher limit
than others.) UNT has budgetary limits imposed on it that limit the num-
ber of people that can be employed, the number and types of computing
equipment that can be bought, and even the number and types of software
that can be acquired. What this means is that we are forced to pick and
choose what we will support and to what extent we will support things.
This is all spelled out in the Supported Computing Items List, a handout
you can get at the Computing Center that is always outdated because of
the extremely dynamic field of computing. Some items that we have we
guarantee we will: always try to get the latest version, answer
any and all questions about, and resolve any problems with. At the other
extreme are things that we make available as a convenience to a number
of people who want them, but we don't guarantee anything about them. And
there are always going to be certain things that we just can't get,
don't want to get, and/or can't support if you happen to have it. All
that we can do is to try our best to support the vast array of software
and hardware that's out there, but you have to be prepared for a nega-
tive response in some cases if you have questions or problems. The
Computing Center is always open to suggestions and requests, however, so
never just arbitrarily give up.
1.7Q: I've saved everything I've ever written to this diskette that
is 3 years old that I carry in the bottom of my bookbag. After wiping
off the cookie crumbs and removing the lint from it, I put it in the
computer but I can't read any of my files. What can I do?
A: Plan
a quick trip to Lourdes? We really aren't miracle workers, you know.
Well, sometimes we can perform what seem to be miracles, but none of us
are applying for sainthood just yet. Uhhh, pardon me a moment while I
switch into LECTURE mode. There are 3 ways to prevent this situation
from happening: (1) Back up, (2) Back up, and (3) B-A-C-K-U-P!
Also, take better care of your diskettes. The rule of thumb to follow is
It's not a matter of IF you will lose data, it's a matter of WHEN.
OK, lecture mode off. Seriously, bring your diskette to us and we'll do
what we can. Also bring a fresh diskette that we can use to save
what-ever we can recover. You might also want to cross your fingers,
light a candle, say an incantation, sacrifice a chicken, or whatever you
normally do in times of extreme duress. It couldn't hurt, and anything
might just help. Frankly, even I get amazed at some of the files we've
been able to recover. Did I mention that it's a good idea to back up
your work?
2.0 Applications (Software) Support (Wordprocessing,
Spreadsheet, Database, etc.)
2.1Q: I'm writing The Mother of
All Term Papers and I'm using a word processor from MWPIBTY
(MyWordProcessorIsBetterThanYours), Inc. I need to _____________ and I
can't figure out how to do it. Can you help me?
A: Questions like
this come up all the time. While we would like to know everything about
every piece of software ever written, this is just not possible. Because
of this, we are forced to limit our guarantee of sup- port to software
and hardware that is on our official Supported Computing Items List.
(See the answer to 1.6) But this applies only to our guarantee of
support. In reality, we will make every attempt that we possibly can to
help you, no matter how obscure or obtuse the computing topic. This
level of support ranges from Huh? to Oh yeah. I used to use that all
the time. Here's what you do... .
2.2Q: I do all of my writing
on my home computer using ___________. Can I bring my files to campus
and print them here? How?
A: Currently, the predominant word
processor available in the General Access Labs is WordPerfect,
regardless of the platform you are using (DOS, Microsoft Windows, or
Macintosh). Microsoft Word for Windows is starting to become available
but just barely. Fortunately, WordPerfect will read files produced with
many different applications, or provides a conversion utility that will
often do the job. The absolutely first thing to do is to try it out.
Don't assume that if we don't have the program you use, that you have to
go through a lot of has-sles. Often it's as easy as firing up
WordPerfect and telling it to load your file. Only when that fails
should you take further action. First check with the lab monitor. He or
she should know their lab the best. Failing that, con-tact us. (See the
answer to 1.1.)
2.3Q: Someone told me that I can get a free copy
of __________ from the Computing Center. - or - Someone told me that
since I am a stu-dent/faculty/staff I can buy _____ from the Computing
Center real cheap.
A: I bet you just wish this were true.
Actually, it is! But not to the extent that most people would hope for.
For anyone affiliated in some way with UNT, we do own site licenses for
some software which means all you have to do is supply us with the
diskettes for you to get it. We also have some freeware and shareware
that we distribute in the same way. And if you are faculty or staff,
there are provisions for you to obtain licensed copies of even more
software...FOR USE ON UNT-OWNED COMPUTERS.
Free Software for Students/Faculty/Staff, Software, Description
Procomm Plus 1.1b, An older version of a very popular telecommunications
package. MS-Kermit and MacKermit, The personal computer versions of the
mainframe/minicomputer telecommunications software. (NOT for the faint
of heart!) F-Prot, The latest version of virus prevention,, detection,,
and eradication program for IBM- compatibles. Disinfectant,,
GateKeeper, The latest versions of virus prevention,detection,, and
eradication programs for Macintosh computers.
That's it! Not an
impressive list but very useful stuff nonetheless. The University
Bookstore is the place to go in order to purchase a large vari-ety of
software at (greatly discounted) educational prices. For faculty and
staff I recommend checking with your department's Soft-ware Manager for
products that are available to you. I really don't want to make the
students jealous in this article.
3.0 Host Systems Support
3.1 Q: What are host systems and why should I care?
A: Nobody says
you should care. But if you would like to have access to the Internet
from a personal computer off campus, then you definitely want a host
system account. (See Section 5.0 concerning the Internet.) There may
also be some applications that you want to use that are only available
on our host systems, e.g. SPSS on the academic mainframe. Host systems
at UNT are the mainframes and super-minicomputers on which you can apply
for an account and which allow you to access your account through
dial-in modems or from other host systems. Other depart-ments may manage
their own host systems (e.g. Computer Science man-ages the machine known
as Ponder); you'll have to contact them for infor-mation. The ones that
are managed by the Computing Center are shown on the next page. Common
name, Primary Domain Name, Used mainly for: Jove, jove.acs.unt.edu,
Internet access,, E-mail Sol, sol.acs.unt.edu, Special research
projects CMS, vm.acs.unt.edu, COBOL,, NATURAL,, ADABASE programming &
statistics VAX (being phased out), vaxb.acs.unt.edu, Internet access,,
E-mail [Important Note: The answers to the next two questions may
not be accurate at the time you are reading this. My sincere apologies
for any resulting confusion, but the procedures for students to follow
in applying for accounts and receiving User-ID and password information
are being revised. Don't hesitate to ask one of us at the Helpdesk if
you have questions about the procedures.]
3.2Q: How do I apply
for a host system account?
A: Come to our office. There is a
request form that you need to complete and turn in to us. Depending on
the type of account for which you are applying, you may need to have
someone in the department to which you are affiliated (your major
department if you are an undergraduate) sign off on the application. If
you have an individual (as opposed to a class) account on one of our
host systems already, or you have had one in the not-too-distant past,
you will need to complete an Update/Renewal Request rather than a New
Account Request. At the present time, you will need to return to our
office a few days after submitting your account request to pick up your
User ID/Password slip. All requests except for account renewals generate
one. (See the next ques-tion.)
3.3Q: What do I do with my User
ID/Password slip? What does all of the information that's on it mean,
anyway?
A: Keep this slip in a secure and unforgettable place; you
may need to refer to it at some future date. The most important
information on this slip is your User-ID, a randomly chosen password,
and a list of the systems on which you have accounts. When connecting to
one of our host sys-tems, you will be asked to Login , i.e. the system
is asking for your User-ID. Next, you will be asked to enter your
password. You must change your password when you first use your
account. In fact, it is a very good idea to change your password on a
regular basis (like every 30-60 days) and please! treat your password as
if it were the PIN code to your checking account. You don't give your
friends unrestricted access to your checking account, do you? For
information about selecting a good password, and the procedures you
follow to change it on our various host systems, come to our office and
we will give you a vari-ety of informative handouts.
3.4Q: I don't
have a computer (or modem). Does this mean I can't get an Internet or
E-Mail account?
A: For those of you (unfortunate ones) who don't
have the equipment yet, all is not lost. There are a number of options
open to you: 1. Get real friendly with someone who has a computer and
modem. 2. Use the Internet access capabilities of the computers in the
General Access Labs. 3. Get a host system account and access it from a
General Access Lab for now. 4. Get an ACS (Academic Computing Services
network server) or some other LAN (Local Area Network) account. Note:
For items 2-4, refer to Section 4.0 for information. By the way, see the
answer to 1.5 for instructions on not using the phrases Internet
account and E-mail account.
3.5Q: What programs/applications
can I use on the host systems?
A: Almost all of them, actually.
Frankly, if you are used to using software on a personal computer and
have expectations of the host systems work-ing the same way, you are in
for something akin to culture shock. Host systems typically use
operating systems that are far removed from MS-DOS or Macintosh System
Software. There are even some folks (politely referred to as mainframe
or UNIX jocks ) who would argue that true operating systems don't
even exist on personal computers. If you are not already familiar with
the UNIX operating system, used on Jove and Sol, and/or VM/CMS, used on
the academic mainframe, you definitely need to get your hands on our
Introduction to _____ hand-outs (see question 1.2) and think about
registering for one of our Short Courses (also discussed in the answer
to question 1.2). For more informa-tion, contact us. (See question 1.1).
If you are already familiar with using host systems, the best thing to
do is to contact us if you can't locate a particular application on the
system on which you have an account, or you want to find out which
system has a particular application so that you can apply for an account
on it. (See the answer to 1.1.)
3.6Q: I've forgotten my password
and can't get into my account.
A: No problem, if your account is
on a system managed by the Computing Center. Just come into our office,
but make certain that you bring some form of identification with you
anything official that has your pic-ture on it. Only extremely rare
exceptions are made to the requirement for you to physically appear in
our office with a picture ID to obtain a password, and then only under
very exceptional circumstances. This is dictated by our security
policies and is for the protection of your data, as well as that of
other account holders on the same system. If your account is on a
system that is not managed by the Computing Center, you will have to
follow the procedures set by the office or department which manages that
system. However, you can contact us to find out who you need to see or
where you need to go.
3.7Q: How long can I keep my account? Will
it expire when I graduate?
A: All individual accounts expire on
August 31 of each academic year. You may submit a renewal request each
August to keep the account active for another year, provided you remain
enrolled. Class accounts expire on the last class day of the semester
in which the class is held. There currently are no provisions for former
students or alumni to keep their accounts after leaving UNT.
4.0
General Access Labs and Local Area Networks Questions and Issues
4.1Q: Which lab do I go to? - or - I'm looking for a lab that has
______.
A: Take your pick. Each lab is basically its own entity
with its own man-ager, and none of them actually fall under the auspices
of the Computing Center. There is a central management board that is
responsible for gener-ating overall lab policies and procedures, but the
types of equipment and software available varies from lab to lab. You
can pick up a pamphlet from us or any of the labs that details the
location, hours of operation, and general lab policies. For information
about what specifically is avail-able in each lab you will need to
contact the lab manager or one of the lab monitors directly.
4.2Q:
Can I get a personal lab or network account?
A: Since the General
Access Labs are each managed individually, you'll need to check with the
lab manager or a lab monitor there. (See the answer to 4.1.) For a Local
Area Network(LAN) account, you will need to talk to the manager of the
network you want an account on. Now would be a good time to highlight
some important differences between host system accounts and Local Area
Network or General Access Lab accounts. 1. General Access Lab networks
are a special kind of Local Area Net-work; therefore, just about
everything that applies to LANs applies to Lab networks. A major
difference is that Labs offer generic accounts that enable any student
to use the facilities of virtually any Lab without having a personal
account. The primary disadvantage to this arrangement is that you cannot
send or receive E-Mail since you have no local E-Mail address. (See
question 4.3.) 2. Unlike host system accounts, network accounts are not
generally avail-able to students. 3. With rare exceptions, network
accounts do not have dial-in capability; you must be on campus in order
to connect to a network account. 4. Some of the UNT library facilities
are on LANs and are therefore not accessible from off campus. Of
particular interest to most people is Willis Library's CD-ROM reference
collection. However, the library's on-line card catalog system is
available from off campus.
4.3Q: I want to use E-Mail from a
General Access Lab. What can I do?
A: If you have a host system
account, you can simply log on to your account from virtually any
machine in any of the Labs and send and receive E-Mail from that
account. If you do not have, or do not want, a host system account, the
Computing Center offers a special type of account that is best suited
for you. This is known as an ACS account because it is an account on
the ACS LAN server. An ACS account is accessible from any of the
General Access Labs and provides you with an E-Mail address.
4.4Q: I don't get much help from the Lab Monitor. What can I do?
A: In defense of Lab Monitors, there are certain things that they
are con-strained from helping users with. This has been brought about by
instruc-tors wanting to ensure that students are truly doing their own
work. Also, keep in mind that Lab Monitors are usually students just
like you that are working part-time while going to school. Now, if you
still feel that you are not getting the help you should be get-ting,
report the situation to the Lab Manager. You can find out who this is
from either the Lab Monitor or by contacting us.
4.5Q: What can my
LAN manager help me with? (This is more applicable to faculty and staff
than students, since they are more likely to have an account on a
LAN.)
A: The absolutely best way to find out what your LAN manager
is sup-posed to and can do for you is to call him or her and ask.
Basically, a LAN manager is responsible for: 1. Anything that has to do
with your network account. Examples are: for getting your password,
inability to login, inability to run software from the server, etc. 2.
Getting a new computer connected to the network. 3. Configuring your
computer so that it will work as a workstation on the network. 4.
Answering questions or resolving problems with any of the above. The
Helpdesk staff are trained to recognize questions and problems that are
best resolved by your LAN manager and can direct you to the appro-priate
person. If you are unsure of whom to call, you can always call us.
5.0 Internet Questions and Support
5.1Q: What is the Internet?
A: You may have been reading lately about the Information
Superhighway. Well, that's what the Internet is not! What it is is a
network of net-works. (Clear as mud, right?) Put another way, it is a
collection of com-puters around the world that are connected in such a
way that they can communicate quickly and efficiently with one another.
This inter- communication that takes place among all the computers
connected to the Internet is what moves your E-Mail from point A to
point B, trans-ports the latest postings to a variety of discussion
groups, transports and delivers information from a variety of
information services that users can subscribe to, and makes available
vast quantities of information in the form of files that you can
download and documents (even entire books) that you read on-line. And
it is much more.
5.2Q: How do I learn to use the Internet?
A: You can't really hurt anything by just jumping in and learning by
trial and error, but you will probably miss out on a lot of things that
way. If you have a friend who is conversant in Internet-ese, have them
give you some instruction. Get one of the tons of books about the
Internet pub-lished in the past year. Which one is best? Whichever one
works the best for you; it's your call on this one. In addition, see the
answer to question 1.1 for sources of information and help.
5.3Q:
What can I get to on the Internet? - or - What can I do on the
Inter-net?
A: Just about anything you want. My favorite expression
is If you have an interest in some particular field or area, there is
most likely information about it on the Internet; the trick is finding
it. The first thing you'll want to do is learn how to use the Internet.
(See the previous question.) There is just so much available that it is
impossible to list everything, a task made even harder by the dynamic
nature of the Internet. Have fun exploring! One caveat though. While
the Internet may seem like a hodgepodge of cultures, ideals, morals,
etc., there are actually rules that govern its use, albeit rules that
are primarily enforced by the users themselves. These rules take the
form of Internet etiquette, or Netiquette, and are largely learned
through mistakes. Believe me, Internet users are not shy about let-ting
novices know when they have breached one of the rules of Netiquette!
Some of these rules can be found posted to certain news-groups such as
news.answers and news.announce.newusers. (This is where the books on the
Internet can be very handy.)
5.4Q: I have a ____ account. What is
my Internet (or E-mail) address?
A: Start with your User-ID and
add the following to it: If your account is on:, Add this: Jove,
@jove.acs.unt.edu Sol, @sol.acs.unt.edu VAX, @vax.acs.unt.edu CMS,
@vm.acs.unt.edu ACS, @acs.unt.edu For example, if my user ID is ZZ99
(which it isn't), and I have a Jove account, I would tell everyone to
send me E-Mail addressed to: zz99@jove.acs.unt.edu.
5.5Q: I have a
boyfriend/girlfriend/just-a-friend/significant-other that's going to
school somewhere else. Can you help me find his/her/its E-Mail address?
A: Congratulations! You have just asked the one question that is
both the easiest and hardest question to answer. The easy answer is
Telephone him/her/it and ask them for the address. The hard answer is
Good luck! There are several approaches that can be taken, too numerous
to go into here, primarily because you may need to try every one of them
before you find the address, and none of them is guaranteed to be
suc-cessful anyway. The best thing to do is bring this problem to us in
person. We won't necessarily do the work for you, but we will certainly
show you how to go about it.
5.6 Q: I have friends who use some
E-mail program on a Brainiac-5 at their school. Will they get E-Mail I
send them or do I need to use the same program and type of machine?
A: Thankfully, yes they will get your E-Mail, and no you don't have
to be using the same software or type of machine. A set of standard
lan-guages was developed some years ago that allows computers on the
Internet to communicate with one another. At each end of a connection,
the local computer is responsible for translating from the language it
understands to one of the standard languages and vice versa. The real
term for these languages is protocols. Your local system chooses to
translate its protocol to the appropriate Internet protocol depending on
what functions are being used. For example, E-Mail uses one protocol,
news uses another, ftp still another, etc. Bottom Line: As long as you
are using the Internet, mail is mail the world around. And finally, the
most important question of all! Q: What can I do to make your job of
supporting me easier? A: Uhhhh, money can do wonders for support.
Seriously, there are some things that you can do that may seem rather
insignificant to you but could go a long, long way towards making our
jobs easier and us happier (and a happy consultant is a helpful
consult-ant!): 1. Demonstrate at least a little effort in learning the
terminology. We don't expect anyone to become the techno-geeks that we
are, but it sure helps when we don't have to search for different ways
to refer to things that we are familiar with. 2. Please try to be
patient with us. We're only human (really, we are!) and we have our bad
days and trying moments just like everyone else. How-ever, I would be
willing to match our service and support attitudes to any other campus
office, even on our worst days. We try that hard to be help-ful,
understanding, and friendly. 3. Demonstrate appreciation for our
efforts. We lap this kind of stuff up! Even a brief smile and a quick
(but sincere) Thanks goes a long way with us. 4. Remember your User
ID. Know at least the name of the system you have an account on. Protect
your password. And please, keep backups of your important files. Have
fun this year! Work hard, but certainly enjoy your time here, and Happy
Computing. . .
If you have problems or questions about this server, please contact me as soon as possible. You can send mail to the following address:
WWW@unt.edu