Here are a few Frequently Asked Questions for the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Information Technology Help Desk.
How do I setup the IUP VPN on my machine?
The help desk has a webpage for setting up the IUP VPN. You can access it here: IUP VPN.
I suddenly lost all of my printers. How can I get them back?
From your desktop, right-click the My Computer icon and click Manage.
On the left side, click Services and Applications. Then click Services.
Maximize the window to fit the screen. Scroll down and find Print Spooler. Double-click it, and near the bottom-middle of the box, click Start.
Click OK and exit out of everything. All your printers should be listed. If the Print Spooler shuts down again after you restart, then you have a serious problem with your XP installation and may need to reload XP.
My computer is running slowly. Why is that happening and how can I get it to run faster?
All computers will slow down over time because of general usage. This is a process known as disk fragmentation. One of the solutions to make the computer run faster is to run the disk defragmenter (See next question).
What is disk defragmentation?
Imagine you have important papers randomly scattered all over your desk. In order to find something, you have to go through the entire pile each time. If you took the time to organize them into files, you could quickly and easily find what you’re looking for.
Computers tend to save changes to a file to the largest continuous space on the hard disk, which can often be in a different place than where other parts of the file are stored. Over time, your hard disk can become “fragmented,” which means that your files are scattered in pieces across your hard disk. Every time you go to access a file, your computer must search the entire hard disk to find all the pieces related to that file.
Excessive fragmentation slows down your computer’s response time, so it’s a good idea to defragment your hard disk regularly.
