2008 Woodie Awards
Computers on the Fritz
New computers on campus causing unpredicted problems
Travis Hofman
Issue date: 12/10/03 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Students have been encountering problems with the new Dell computers that Lakeland bought over summer break. The problems have been plaguing students since the beginning of the semester.
These problems include, but are not limited to, such things as the computers not turning on or not logging onto the network after the user inputs his or her username and password. Another problem that students have is getting a message that says their floppy disk is not formatted for the computer they are using.
The floppy disk problem can usually be solved by formatting the disk on one of the computers at school. In almost all cases, the disk will be able to work on the computers here and at the person's home computer. The only difficulty with this is that all information on the disk will be erased.
The problem of not being able to log on is a different story. It can usually be remedied by rebooting or turning the computer off and then restarting it.
Information Technology (IT) is currently trying to figure out why the computers are not logging onto the network or not turning on at all. They turned off power management near the beginning of the year to try to prevent this problem from happening.
IT cannot know what is going on with every computer all of the time, which a lot of students seem to believe. "If there are problems with the computers, people should call 1643 and let the IT help desk know," commented Director of Information Technology Jeff Ritt. The IT help desk is available from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day of the week.
To help IT correct problems that creep up, each computer has a white sticker placed on it, on the tower not the monitor. It also helps IT when people actually tell them what the problem is, instead of just telling them that a certain computer doesn't work.
The new computers were purchased because the old computers were starting to become outdated and needed to be replaced. Computers where replaced in the Laun computer lab (room 128), Laun 129, Chase 217, and the Library. The lab in Chase 112 was removed, and a new lab was placed upstairs in Chase 219. Computers were installed in Chase 114 for class use.
The new computers are Dell Optiplex GX270s with Pentium 4, 2.6 gigahertz processors. They have 512 megabytes of RAM and a forty gigabyte hard drive. These computers have a two button mouse with a mouse wheel, 15- inch flat screen monitor, and a DVD drive.
It is possible to watch DVD movies on the computers. In order to hear the sound, one will need headphones. The headphone jack is on the front of the tower near the bottom under a gray flip up panel with the Dell logo on it.
These problems include, but are not limited to, such things as the computers not turning on or not logging onto the network after the user inputs his or her username and password. Another problem that students have is getting a message that says their floppy disk is not formatted for the computer they are using.
The floppy disk problem can usually be solved by formatting the disk on one of the computers at school. In almost all cases, the disk will be able to work on the computers here and at the person's home computer. The only difficulty with this is that all information on the disk will be erased.
The problem of not being able to log on is a different story. It can usually be remedied by rebooting or turning the computer off and then restarting it.
Information Technology (IT) is currently trying to figure out why the computers are not logging onto the network or not turning on at all. They turned off power management near the beginning of the year to try to prevent this problem from happening.
IT cannot know what is going on with every computer all of the time, which a lot of students seem to believe. "If there are problems with the computers, people should call 1643 and let the IT help desk know," commented Director of Information Technology Jeff Ritt. The IT help desk is available from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day of the week.
To help IT correct problems that creep up, each computer has a white sticker placed on it, on the tower not the monitor. It also helps IT when people actually tell them what the problem is, instead of just telling them that a certain computer doesn't work.
The new computers were purchased because the old computers were starting to become outdated and needed to be replaced. Computers where replaced in the Laun computer lab (room 128), Laun 129, Chase 217, and the Library. The lab in Chase 112 was removed, and a new lab was placed upstairs in Chase 219. Computers were installed in Chase 114 for class use.
The new computers are Dell Optiplex GX270s with Pentium 4, 2.6 gigahertz processors. They have 512 megabytes of RAM and a forty gigabyte hard drive. These computers have a two button mouse with a mouse wheel, 15- inch flat screen monitor, and a DVD drive.
It is possible to watch DVD movies on the computers. In order to hear the sound, one will need headphones. The headphone jack is on the front of the tower near the bottom under a gray flip up panel with the Dell logo on it.