Monthly Archives: November 2012

How do I… connect to my files on PSU computers from home?

You may never have heard of PASS space or UDrive, but if you’ve used any public computers on campus, you’ve used one of them.  Both PASS space and UDrive are servers on which your personal files are stored with lab computers and podium computers.

You can access those files from other computers, like faculty laptops and personal computers at home.  How?

If you’re connecting from a computer on campus (wired or wireless), please skip this step.  Computers that are NOT on campus must use the VPN tool first.  You can download the tool here (faculty laptops already have it installed).  You’ll have to log in to download the software.  Once you’ve installed it, you must use it each time you connect to PASS or UDrive from off campus.  Select the “ISP to PSU” connection when you launch the VPN software.

Faculty computers and staff computers that our department has disbursed all have a little program installed called “Map Pass and Udrive.”  If you click on your Windows button in the bottom left-hand corner of your desktop, then select “All Programs,” you should see it listed near the top.  It has a little smiley face on a folder as an icon.

If you’re using your personal Windows computer, you can get the Map PASS and UDrive software here.  If you’re using your personal MacIntosh computer, you can download it here.  Install it, and you’ll have the same shortcut with the smiley face.

The following image is what the software looks like when you launch it.  Enter your Penn State Access account, your password, then click connect.  You only need to connect to your user folders – not the root folders.

Congratulations!  You should now have easy access to the folders where your files are stored on public computers!  If you’re not sure which to use, don’t hesitate to give us a call (717-749-6300) or send us a quick message to the Help Desk (helpdesk@ma.psu.edu).  We’d love to assist you in your accessing everything that you need, no matter where you are.

Lab News

Many thanks to the helpful staff of the Academic Support Center: they’re partnering with ITS to extend the hours of availability for the General Studies 101A Computer Lab and Collaboration Space! New hours for  standard academic weeks are as follows:
8:30 am – 7:00 pm, Monday through Thursday
8:30 am – 4:00 pm, Friday

Students who need to use public computers during hours not listed here can use the Library, which has also partnered with ITS to extend hours of availability for students.  Regular hours for the Library are as follows:
8:00 am – 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday
4:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Saturday
Noon – 10:00 pm, Sunday

We will be extending lab hours at the end of the semester to accommodate student computing needs for finishing projects and papers.

Other lab news is VERY exciting!  We are piloting a new program introduced by CLM (Cooperative Lab Management at University Park – the group that manages lab computers here).  This program is called LabChat and is currently available on all lab and public computers supported by Mont Alto campus ITS.  Users who are logged into lab and public computers can now click on a shortcut on the desktop that will open a chat window.  Lab consultants are available through LabChat to answer basic questions about computer and software use.  In the case that a question is asked that requires help from our local department, the consultants will immediately contact us for support.  LabChat adds one more resource for assistance for our campus computing community.  Try it and let us know what you think!

 

Online Training Opportunities

Are there computer applications that you’d like to better utilize?  Penn State partnered with Lynda.com to deliver free online training opportunities to all Penn State students, faculty, and staff.  Content ranges from digital imaging (Adobe Photoshop) to office productivity (Microsoft Office) to web building (Dreamweaver), and so much more.

If you click on the Lynda logo below, the link will take you to the Penn State login page for Penn State.  Use your Access Account credentials to log in (the same user name and password you use for Webmail, ANGEL, eLion, etc).

Some of the features that enhance the learning experience through Lynda include the ability to bookmark your lesson and return to a specific point, certificates of completion upon finishing courses, and a history that allows you to track your progress through lessons.

Enjoy!