QuickstartIT

1. QuickstartIT Your essential guide to student IT services @ QMU

2. Logging on to the student workstations • Before you can access any student IT services, you have to logon first. • To logon, you need to know 2 things: • Your username • Your password • Before you can get a username and password, you must be a matriculated student. • You can matriculate online at the QMU student portal • Find the student portal here: http://u.qmu.ac.uk

3. How to login on campus(1) • When you sit down at any workstation on campus, you will see this screen: • Click on QM desktop to select it.

4. How to login on campus (2) • When the login screen appears: • In the username box, type in your username. • In the password box, type in your password. • The first time you login, use the password you got when you matriculated. • Click OK.

5. About passwords • The first time you login, you will be prompted to change your password. • You won’t be able to finish logging in until you’ve chosen a new password. • There are some special rules about the kind of password you can choose.

6. More about passwords • QMU password ‘rules’: • Your password must be at least 7 characters long. • Your password must contain 3 of these types of characters: • Uppercase letters (ie A, B, C etc) • Lowercase letters (ie a, b, c etc) • Numbers (ie 0, 1, 2 etc) • Non-alphabetic characters (ie $, !, £, % etc) • An example of a suitable password might be: Fr@nce98 • Remember these important points: • Your password cannot be the same as your username. • Your password cannot contain your full name or part of your name.

7. Activity 1 • Log on to a QMU student workstation. • When prompted, change your password.

8. The QMU student desktop • The QMU student workstation uses Citrix thin client technology. • This state-of-the-art technology is more secure than traditional PCs and is much “greener”. • It is easier to upgrade to the latest software. • All the workstations on campus have the same standard desktop. • The desktop is based around Microsoft Windows XP.

9. Getting around the student desktop • Click on the <Start> button at the bottom left of the screen. • Click on <All Programs> to see all the applications you can use. • You will find the Microsoft Office applications (eg Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc) under Microsoft Applications. • Find out more about the student desktop here: • About the student desktop • Getting started with the student desktop

10. Activity 2 • From the student desktop, find the application Microsoft Word. • Then find Adobe Acrobat Reader.

11. Answers to Activity 2 • From the student desktop, find the application Microsoft Word. • Click on Start > All Programs >Microsoft Applications > Click on Microsoft Word. • Then find Adobe Acrobat Reader. • Click on Start > All Programs > Acrobat Reader

12. Student email @ QMU • All matriculated students are given their own QMU email address and mailbox. • Staff will use your QMU email address to communicate with you about your studies, or about other aspects of campus life. • You need to check your QMU mailbox regularly for important information about your studies.

13. Your QMU email address • Your QMU email address is based on your QMU student number. • If your student number is: 09001234 • Then your email address will be: 09001234@qmu.ac.uk

14. Using your QMU mailbox • On campus, you can access your mailbox via Microsoft Outlook, or via Webmail. • You will find Outlook in the Microsoft Applications folder on the student desktop. • Webmail is accessed via an internet browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. • All QMU staff and students are listed in the Global Address List (GAL). • You can use the GAL to select the names of people you want to email.

15. Sending emails with Microsoft Outlook • To send an email: • Click on <Start> • Choose <All Programs> • Select Microsoft Applications and click on Microsoft Outlook • Click on your Inbox • Click on New to open a new message. • In the To field, put the name of the person you are sending the email to. • To enter the name, you can: • Type it in the format: 09001234@qmu.ac.uk • Click on the address book icon to open the Global Address List (GAL). You can then choose the person’s name from the list. • Give your email a subject. • Type your message. • Click on Send to send your message.

16. Activity 3 • Open Microsoft Outlook. • Click on your Outbox. • Use the GAL to send yourself a message.

17. Answers to Activity 3 • Open Microsoft Outlook. • Click on Start > All Programs > Microsoft Applications > Microsoft Outlook • Click on your Outbox. • In the left-hand pane, click on Mailbox – “Your name” • Use the GAL to send yourself a message • Refer to the slide: Sending emails with Microsoft Outlook

18. Manage your QMU email inbox • Your QMU mailbox has a size limit • This limit is currently set at 50MB for undergraduates. • Postgraduate students have a limit of 100MB. • This means that you must manage your mailbox. • There are a few ways you can do this: • Delete all the messages you don’t need. • This includes emails you have received. • Emails you have sent (Sent Items). • Remember to empty the Deleted Items folder. • You can also save space by saving any email attachments sent to you elsewhere.

19. Activity 4 • Open the email you sent to yourself in Activity 3. • Click on Reply. • Send yourself a reply. • Highlight the original message by clicking on it once. • Click on the ‘X’ button to delete the message. • Go to the Deleted Items folder. • Click on the ‘X’ button to delete the message. • When prompted, click on Yes. • Go to the Sent Items folder. • Delete both messages which you have sent. • Delete these from the Deleted Items folder as well.

20. More about QMU email • Ifyou have lots of messages in your QMU mailbox which you must keep, then you could set up a personal email folder to store. • This is also known as a PST file. • It is stored in your home directory. • To create a new email personal folder: • In Outlook, click on Tools on the top menu bar. • Choose Email accounts. Make sure the option View of change existing accounts is selected and click Next. • Select New Outlook data file. • Office Outlook Personal Data Files should be highlighted. Click OK. • At the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box, make sure you select your home directory (or Z:\ drive) as the location. • Outlook suggests that you call your new folder Personal Folders. Click Open to accept this and create the folder or else give it another name.

21. Using Webmail • Webmail lets you check your QMU mailbox from anywhere via the internet. • You need a computer with an internet connection and internet browser software. • The QMU webmail internet address is: https://mail.qmu.ac.uk/exchange • You will need your QMU username and password to login. • Once logged in, you can use Webmail to send and receive emails. It looks much like Microsoft Outlook.

22. Activity 5 • Open Webmail. • Send an email to your QMU mailbox. • In Outlook, check the size of your Inbox folder. • In Outlook, right click once on Mailbox – Bloggs, Joe. • Select Properties for Mailbox – Bloggs, Joe • Click on the Folder Size button. • This will show you how much data is stored in each folder in your Mailbox.

23. Answers to Activity 5 • Open Webmail. • See the slide: Using Webmail • Send an email to your QMU mailbox. • Click on the New icon and complete the To: and Subject: fields then type your message. • In Outlook, check the size of your Inbox folder. • In Outlook, right click once on Mailbox – Bloggs, Joe. • Select Properties for Mailbox – Bloggs, Joe • Click on the Folder Size button. • This will show you how much data is stored in each folder in your Mailbox.

24. Other Microsoft applications • Microsoft Word is a word processing application. • You use Microsoft Excel to create spreadsheets. • Microsoft PowerPoint is used for presentations. • To access all Microsoft applications: • Click on <Start>. • Choose <All Programs>. • Select Microsoft Applications. • Choose the application from the list.

25. Activity 6 • Using Microsoft Word: • Open Microsoft Word. It will open to a blank document. • Type this: • This is my first document. • Save the document. • To save, click on File and then choose Save. • Or click on the Save icon. • You will be prompted to give your file a name. • Call it: myfile • By default, your files are saved in your home directory.

26. Managing your file space • All students are given a home directory. • Only you have access to this area. • The area appears as the Z:\ drive in My Computer. • It also appears as the [My Documents] folder. • All work saved in this folder can be accessed from any student workstation you logon to. • You should save all your important work and data to this folder. • By default, most applications will prompt you to save your work here. • Your Z:\ drive is held on a central QMU file server. • Your data is backed up daily. • You have a total of 130MB of space available in your home directory. • For students on most courses, this should be more than adequate. • If you need more space for your coursework, ask your lecturer to request this from Information Services. • If you need to share work with others – incl your lecturers – again ask your lecturer to request this from Information Services. • Your Z:\drive must only be used to save course-related documents and files. • You are not permitted to store non-work items, eg MP3, WAV etc. • Not only do these take up space, by having these you may actually be breaking the law.

27. Activity 7 • Managing your file space: • Click on <Start> and choose <My Computer>. • Find the Z:\ drive and double click on it. • Find the file called myfile which you created in Activity 6. • Click once on the file to highlight it. • Delete the file. • To delete the file you can either click on File and choose Delete. • Or you can right click once on the file and choose delete. • Once the file has been deleted, it is stored in the Recycle Bin on your desktop. • The file will stay there until you empty the Recycle Bin.

28. Accessing the internet • All student workstations have access to the internet via the QMU local area network. • The standard internet browser is: • Microsoft Internet Explorer • It is accessed via the [Start] menu. • The browser is configured to start at the QM:u student portal home page: • (http://www.qmu.ac.uk/portal/default.htm). • This page is also accessible from any internet-enabled computer outwith QMU.

29. Using the internet • If you know the address (URL or uniform resource locator) of a website: • Type it in to the address bar, and click Go. • Or, you can also use an internet search engine. • Possible search engines include: • Google (www.google.com) • MSN (www.msn.com) • Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) • Lycos (www.lycos.com) etc.

30. Activity 8 • Find the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. • Type in www.google.com. • Search for Queen Margaret University. • Use the links to go to the QMU website. • Next: • Type in www.yahoo.com • Search for BBC. • Use the links to go to the BBC news website. • See if you can find local (ie Edinburgh / east of Scotland) news.

31. QM:u – student portal • QM:u is the student portal. • You can access it from: http://u.qmu.ac.uk • It is also the internet ‘home’ page when you are on campus. • The portal is used for online student matriculation. • You can use the portal to check and amend your personal details. • It is also used to publish exam results. • Access to QM:u is available only to matriculated QMU students.

32. Activity 9 • Access QM:u student portal. • Login using your QMU username and password. • Check that your personal details are correct.

33. About WebCT • WebCT is QMU’s virtual learning environment. • Most courses use WebCT to publish lecture notes and other learning materials. • Some courses undertake online assessments via WebCT. • Your LRC induction material is also published on WebCT.

34. Accessing WebCT • WebCT is available online at: http://learn.qmu.ac.uk • It is also available via quick links on the main QMU website and the QM:u student portal. • To login to WebCT, you must be a matriculated QMU student. • You login using your normal QMU username and password.

35. Activity 10 • Accessing WebCT: • Open Internet Explorer. • Go to: http://learn.qmu.ac.uk • Login with your QMU username and password. • Access the LRC induction material.