First:

• You must be connected to the network fully (e.g. using the University Wireless Service (previously known as Lapwing), or an office, College or home connection).
• Make sure that you have your credentials (eduroam identifier and Network access token (username and password)) from the UCS Tokens service: https://tokens.uis.cam.ac.uk

Download the tool:

• Windows 10
• MacOS
• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" (openSuSE is similar)

The eduroam CAT sets the configuration automatically to leave it in the state it would be in if you had gone through the steps manually. It does not leave anything else (e.g. utility, autoupdating application) on your system.

More details information can be found here:http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/wireless/eduroam/localusers

What are the rules regarding printing?...

To make printing work as smoothly as possible, it has been necessary to set up and adhere to certain basic rules. These rules are not made to annoy users, but they are needed to fulfil the needs of as many users as possible. Thus it is required for each user to make some compromises for the greater good. It should also be noted, that to be able to print without charge is a significant benefit for the users of this Department.

Besides of the printing quota, it is recommended to print sparingly. While printing in the Department you are expected to be aware of following principles:

• Do not print anything that is not necessary. It is not worthwhile to print a new version of your document for each correction that you have made.
• Printing should be in two-sided by default, print one-sided only if you must.
• Using printers to print multiple copies of your documents is forbidden. You should use the copying machines at level 3.
• During rush hours (from Monday to Friday) it is not recommended to print more than 50 pages at a time. When there is need to print large documents, print them in smaller sections. This applies to essays, theses and to internet/PDF documents as well. Long printing jobs will slow down the printing queue and other users will have to wait unnecessarily for your printing job to get completed. It is recommended to print large documents during weekends or night time.
• Any printing not associated with university studies or projects is forbidden, especially printing related to personal, charitable or commercial purposes. It is NOT allowed to print your family album by using the Department colour printer.
• Please think before you print, collect all of your printouts and DO NOT print pdf files direct from the web browser (save to your local machine then print).
• Acetates - Please exercise caution when using acetates in the departmental printers. Acetates can easily melt in the fuser unit of the printers, if this happens a new fuser unit is required normally costing over £150. 
• Please look after the printers and try to keep the printer areas free from clutter. If the printer jams while you are using it please try to clear it if possible. If not please contact IT support for assistance.

Completely Removing the DS-Print Service

During troubleshooting, it may be necessary to remove the DS-Print Service from the workstation. Removal is achieved in four steps.

1. Remove Credentials 
Open 'Credential Manager' found in 'Control Panel -> User Accounts', select 'Windows Credentials' then remove the credential named 'print.ds.cam.ac.uk'.

2. Uninstall PaperCut MF Client
Open 'Programs and Features' found in 'Control Panel -> Programs', select 'PaperCut MF Client' then select 'Uninstall'.

3. Remove Printers
Open 'Devices and Printers' found in 'Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound', select the printer to remove then select 'Remove device'.

4. Remove Print Client user identifier 
Using 'File Explorer' enter '%userprofile%' in the address bar. This will open the user's home directory. Locate and delete 'pc-client.PROPERTIES' file.

How to Know/change my computer name ...

Each computer in the Department has a unique name and is registered with Jackdaw (University Computing Services Database) in the form of mycomputername.phar.cam.ac.uk

1. Go to the Start menu and Right-click on the My Computer icon. Select Properties.
2. Click the Computer Name tab.
   IMPORTANT: You should NOT change the computer name to whatever you like and your machine should be part of Phar domain and NOT any workgroup. Taking the machine off the domain will most likely lock you out of the computer and any files you've saved on it.
3. Click the Change button.
4. Your computer's "Computer name" must be unique. If another computer on the Department network has the same name, you will not be able to access network printers or shared file space.
5. Under Member of, please choose Domain and enter Phar as the domain name.
6. Click More and type “phar.cam.ac.uk” under Primary DNS suffix of this computer
7. When finished, Click OK, Click OK, then OK again to finish.
8. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

How to get access to Electronics Journals ...

All Computers in the Department are connected to the University Library Electronic Journals database which includes ScienceDirect titles BUT you need a password if you want access resources via to ATHENS (Access Management system providing authenticated access to numerous web-based services)

ATHENS passwords are administered and issued in person from Reader Services staff at:

• University Library, Reading Room
• Scientific Periodicals Library (City Centre)
• Medical Library (Addenbrooke's Site)
• Betty and Gordon Moore Library (West Cambridge)

If you are unable to visit one of the above libraries and would like to obtain a password by post, please print out and complete an Application and Declaration Form and send it to your selected library. They are unable to issue passwords by e-mail or telephone. Personal ATHENS accounts MUST be set up from within the University network.

How to recover a deleted file ...

1. If your drive is making strange noises or reports a CRC read IO error, DO NOT PROCEED. This indicates a hardware failure so your data is not going to be recoverable using "undelete" style data recovery software.
2. As soon as you realize your data has been deleted, stop using the computer! The less activity the better to avoid dangerous disk-swap activity.
3. Check the Recycle Bin first
4. Find and download data recovery software on another computer.
5. Save the recovery tool to a flash drive and run it directly from there.
6. Save the extracted data back onto the flash drive for added safety.

1. NTFS-reader: NTFS Boot Disk provides access to your NTFS drives in an MS-DOS environment (long filenames are supported). NTFS Reader for DOS will allow you to browse and recover all kinds of deleted files.

   Although it looks rudimentary, the DOS ishness is actually a real boon since Windows isn't running and mucking up your data with disk swapping. NTFS provides good data browsing and preview functionality and runs straight from a boot disk (which you should make on another computer).http://www.ntfs.com/

2. File Recovery: PC Inspector File Recovery is a data recovery program with support for FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems. It recovers files with the original time and date stamp, and can optionally restore them to a network drive and can recover many files, even when a header entry is no longer available. On FAT systems, the program finds partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged. PC Inspector File Recovery offers an easy to use interface that will scan your drive and automatically make files that can be recovered available from a "Deleted" folder in an Explorer Style navigation tree.

   To be able to use PC Inspector File Recovery you need a working Windows System. Never install the current version on the drive from which you intend to recover data! The program must be installed and run on a second, independent drive.

   http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm

3. Restoration: is an easy to use and straight forward tool to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows. Upon start, you can scan for all files that may be recovered and also limit the results by entering a search term or extension.

   In addition, Restoration also provides an option to wipe the found files beyond simple recovery. And as such it is not only a data-recovery tool but also a security cleanup application. You can use it to totally delete your files so that no recovery is possible.

   The program is very small and completely stand-alone; it does not require installation and can also run from a Floppy disk. Restoration works with FAT and NTFS as well as digital cameras cards.

   http://www.majorgeeks.com/Restoration_d4474.html

Why Do I Need to Backup My Files?...

Don't fall into the old paradigm of "it will never happen to me." While there is certainly a chance that you will never have a need for the backups you make of your files, if something does happen to your computer you will certainly be glad that you have them. And you do not have to backup your entire computer, although this is certainly something that many people do, but only the files that are of the most importance to you.

Data recovery is a very complex and time consuming and not guaranteed, every month the Pharmacology Computer Officer is dealing with a number of incidence regarding data loss which could have been prevented by the user.

Some things are easily replaced, and there is no need to backup these sorts of things, but those irreplaceable documents or files that are yours and yours alone should be saved in a place where they cannot be damaged. That way, no matter what happens to your computer, you can have security in the fact that all of your files are available in backup.

How to organise your data files ...

(Do Not save any data into the desktop)

Most of the time the files that you need to backup are your data files. If you lose the hard disk, you can install the program files and other software from the original CDs or image but your data files are the most valuable and they need to be restored from your own backups.

If you organise the data files properly, it will make the task of backing them up much easier, also it will make it a lot easier for the Computer Office to recover them in case of hard disk failure. So here are a few tips on how to organise your data files.

Ideally, all your data files should be kept under a single folder (such as "My Documents" or "Data" under Documents and Setting\yourloginname on a PC and Users\ yourloginname on a Mac) organised into sub folders by subject or type of application. This makes it easy to back up all the data with a single click or a drag.

• By subject:
  C:\ Documents and Setting\yourloginname\ My Documents
  C:\My Documents\Projects
  C:\My Documents\Images
  C:\My Documents\Reports
  C:\My Documents\Grants
  C:\My Documents\Memos
  C:\My Documents\Personal …etc
• By application:
  C:\My Documents\Excel
  C:\My Documents\Word
  C:\My Documents\PowerPoint …

Most applications allow you to change the default data folder. Once you decide on the file organization, change your application settings to automatically save files in the appropriate folder so that you don't have to change the folders every time you save a document.

It is not a good idea to mix your program files and data files in the same folder. So avoid saving your documents into folders such as "C:\Program Files\MSOffice" or "Applications\ MSOffice".

How to change the default working folder for Microsoft Word ...

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the File Locations tab.
2. In the File types list, click Documents.
3. Click Modify.
4. To select an existing folder to display as the default working folder (working folder: The folder in which your documents appear when you open or save them. If you select another folder when opening or saving, that folder becomes the working folder. You can set the startup location of this folder in most Office applications.), locate and click the folder you want in the folder list.

   To create a new folder to display as the default working folder, click Create New Folder, and then type a name for the new folder in the Name box.

How to choose the right Backup Media ...

Matching the capacity of the backup medium to the amount of data you intend to backup is very important, especially as hard disks capacities grow. The more disk or tape swaps required to perform a backup, the less likely it is that you will do it routinely. Ideally, the whole backup will fit on one DVD or disk so that you can leave it to run and do something else. You don't need to back up the whole hard disk every time, so a backup media that can hold most of it will usually suffice.

Optical Backup Media

CD-R have a capacity of about 650 MB & DVD-R about 4 GB, and despite not being reusable some people use them for backup. One big advantage is that the backups are readable by any CD/DVD-ROM drive, but even though the cost of an individual disc is low it can still become a very expensive way to do backups if you need several discs per time.

CD/DVD-RW is a good flexible, reusable, general-purpose medium that is certainly usable for backup. It has disadvantages; the capacity is only average at 650 MB/4 GB, and the CD/DVD-RW disks are essentially proprietary in that only compatible reader software can read them.

USB Keys

USB keys become more popular, the price is more and more affordable and the size is getting bigger and bigger (over 20 GB). They are compatible with all platforms and convenient to transport but they can be lost or stolen easily if you don’t look after them.

Tape as Backup Media

Backups are large, sequential writes ideally suited tape drives, and tape is making a comeback as a backup device. As hard drives keep growing tape is the only medium of a similar capacity that is growing to match them. For the drives, and per-gigabyte basis for the media, it is inexpensive. It is reasonably reliable, simple to set up, and has a lot of support for drives and software. Performance can be less than ideal, especially when random access is needed to specific files on the tape. Usually this only needs to be done when restoring data.

Using Removable Drives for Backup

External Hard Disk such as Maxtor drive or various portable hard drives, have a large enough capacity to be suitable for backups. These drives have a reasonable performance (about twice the speed of a CD/DVD drive) and good reliability.

The price per gigabyte of hard disks is compares favorably to Media and they give a very high performance, random-access capability, standard interfaces and exchangeability, and excellent reliability.

Network Backup

For networked PCs, copying data over the network from one PC to another is a viable alternative to using removable drives. By duplicating each PC's information it is possible to protect each individual PC without the expense of tape drives or removable storage. Disadvantage is that viruses can travel over a network, and if all the PCs are in one building there is no off-site storage.

Online backup

Online backup is another excellent method for the backing up of your files. This allows you to store your files online, where there are no need for disks or CD/DVDs, and you can simply download your files back onto your computer whenever you want.

Lately online storage like Box.net and Xdrive (free 5GB), DivShare, Crashplan, and Dropboks have become popular. Add hosted file service for sending large data files called YoubackItUp to this ever growing list of solutions.

Similar to YouSendIt and senduit, YouBackItUp holds your uploaded files for up to 20 days, and provides a link for downloading. This free ad supported service can be used for sending large files that they cannot receive over email. You can also use this service as a temporary backup solution if you are switching computers and have to transfer large files to different locations.

How to backup your personal files on Windows 10..

Microsoft Windows XP has some very nice and simple CD writing utilities built directly into the Explorer windows. If you have a CD writer installed in your computer system, then backing up your personal files, such as word processing documents, and images taken with your digital camera, is not only incredibly easy, but also takes both little time and effort.

The easiest backup procedure for your personal files begins with a blank CD, and takes five minutes of your time.

To begin while in Windows, you will of course need to place a blank CD-R disc in your CD writer's drive (Or a DVD disc). A few seconds later, you will be presented with a small dialog box giving you several options of what you wish to do with the blank disc.

Select the first option, "Open a writeable CD folder" and presto. You now should have a window on your desktop that is waiting to be filled with backup copies of all of your important personal files.

To make a backup of any file, simply open another Explorer window in the location of the specific file(s). An example of one such location would be; C:/Backup/Pictures/.

Once you have both folders open (the blank CD folder, and the folder containing your files) simply drag the files you wish to make a backup copy from its original folder to the blank CD folder. Now your system will reserve space on the CD for the specific file, and make a copy of the file to a temporary folder, thus leaving the original file intact and completely unchanged.

The great thing about the drag and drop interface is the fact that you can drag one, two, or hundreds of files and drop them into the CD folder at anytime. This is perfect if you have a great amount of files that you wish to make backup copies of.

Once you have completed selecting the files you wish to backup, you may want to take a few minutes and organise the CD folder's files in folders, or even rename some files. These actions can easily be completed within the CD folder's window in the same manner as they would be completed in any other Explorer folder.

The last steps are to place the files you plan to backup on the actual CD, and giving you a archive copy of your files.

Because, as of right now, your files are still in a temporary folder waiting to be written to the disc. To make sure that the CD is written correctly, it is advised that you close any other running programs on your system.

Now, you are ready to finally make a hard backup of your files. In the left hand side of the CD folder, you will find the text 'Write these files to CD', followed by 'Delete temporary files'. If you wish to begin the CD writing adventure, click the first. If you have decided that you abandon your backup project, simply click on the 'Delete temporary files' and the space on your hard drive used for the temporary files will be freed. Follow the on screen instructions in the CD Writing Wizard window, and in minutes you will have a backup copy of your personal files.

Now that you have seen how easy it is to make backup copies of your personal files, you have no excuse not to make monthly backups of your personal files. One last thing to keep in mind, however is that this method is to make backup copies of your personal files. This method should not be used to backup your system files such as Windows.

How to make a system backup in Windows ...

Unknown to many users, Windows offers a simple and easy to use program made specifically to backup your system files. The program can be found by clicking the "Start" button, and navigating through the following menu items; Programs, Accessories, and System Tools.

The program is entitled Backup, however do not let the lame title fool you, as the software is both simple to use and very powerful. It is very simple to use, because you only have to specify where you would like the backup file to be stored; there are no challenging questions asked. It is very powerful because it enables you to create a single file that is a complete backup of your entire system.

Once you open the program, you will be greeted with a window containing the backup & restore wizard. After reading the window, you may click on the next button, and you will be greeted with two options; Backup files & settings and Restore files & settings.

After you select "Backup files & settings" and click the OK button, you will be greeted with a list of items that you can backup. Because the purpose of this article is to explain to you how to backup your system files, select the option "All information on this computer" and click the next button.

How to successfully make a backup copy of your entire system ...

You will then be asked for a location to store the *.bak file. Since Windows is extremely large, storing the *.bak file on a small disks is not feasible, as it would take several of disks to hold the file.

Instead store the file locally on your hard drive. Once the file has been created, you will be prompted to insert a disk. The software will then write a program to the disk that allow you to boot the system using the disk, and restore your system via the *.bak file.

Please remember that the backup file can be extremely large, and requires you to either place it onto a CD, DVD, or in a well protected folder or partition on your computer system.

How to restore your backup files ...

If you ever have the need to utilize the backup file, simply place the floppy disk in your drive, and turn on the computer. The system will boot from the disk, and ask for the location of the *.bak file. Once you provide the system with the location of the backup file, your system will begin to replace your corrupt system files with your backup files.

How to download Flash videos from YouTube style websites...

The easiest way to download videos from websites such as YouTube or Google Video is to use 4k Video Downloader.

How to download and install VLC Media Player & Perian plug-in.

To download VLC Media Player go to https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ and find the link to your Operating System.

How to convert movie files...

You can use an online tool called media-convert to convert all kinds of Movie / Text / Data / Sound and Image files. To convert your files go to http://media-convert.com/ and do the following:

1. In the File text area either type the path to the file you wish to convert or click 'Browse...' and locate the required file. Media-convert should automatically detect the type of file you have uploaded but it is wise to check it has selected the correct Input Format in the field next to the File field.
2. Choose the Output Format from the drop down menu then click 'OK'
3. Media-convert will then convert you file, please wait while as this could take a few minutes depending on the size of file you upload.
4. When Media-convert has finished converting you file the website will direct you to download the converted file, click on the link.
5. Choose where to download to.

There are a number of free on-line media converters such as:http://www.moyeaswf.com/swf_to_video/?gclid=CMP2-4PslboCFU_MtAodiTUArA

Also you can convert YouTube videos directly by entering the link of your video using this web site http://www.vconversion.com/

Personal admin files

OneDrive (5TB, free)

Dropbox (unlimited, £84/yr)​​​​​​​

Group/shared admin files

Teams or Sharepoint (unlimited, free)

Google Sheets/Docs/Drive (20GB, free)

UIS Institutional File Store (depts have limited free quotas, then £150/TB/yr)

Small (<2TB) active research data that you need to access frequently, desktop-mounted

UIS Institutional File Store (depts have limited free quotas, then £150/TB/yr)

Large active research data (with good safety and resilience/protection)

UIS Research File Share (unlimited, £116/TB/yr)

Large active research data for HPC processing (without resilience/protection)

UIS Research Data Store (unlimited, £54/TB/yr)

Must also be stored safely somewhere else

Inactive data required to support/defend published work

Publish in the university’s data repository (Apollo)

Publish in a discipline-specific repository (e.g. GEO, WormBase, CCDC)

Publish in a cross-discipline repository (e.g. Figshare, OSF, Zenodo)

These resources are normally free, but may be subject to dataset size limits

Inactive data relating to completed work, must be kept, but not required to support a publication

Archive in UIS Research Cold Store (unlimited, £30/TB/yr)

Sensitive data (contains identifiable and clinically-sensitive personal information)

UIS Category 3 Secure Storage (contact your dept IT staff for more info)

I can’t afford to store my research data as recommended above

Research data management must be properly resourced, for scientific, compliance and reputational reasons. Storing unique research data on unmanaged, non-resilient systems is not appropriate.

Try to identify duplicates of files, versions that are no longer required, temporary files etc that can be deleted, and inactive data that can be archived onto Research Cold Store, to reduce costs. 

If you still have insufficient resources, discuss with your PI, or your HoD

My group/department has its own data storage system

To reduce costs, carbon footprint, contracts, complexity and fragmentation, th​​​​​​​e university discourages proliferation of local storage systems - UIS storage offers high quality, performance and security, and should be the default choice.

If local high-volume storage systems are required (e.g. for high-output scientific equipment and processes), they must be located in suitable accommodation with appropriate power and cooling, and high levels of availability, security and resilience:

Mirrored, backed-up, UPS-protected, monitored and maintained, never more than 7yrs old

Stuff that’s on my computer

Never keep unique research data on your computer's internal HD

Use OneDrive

And use strong passwords and consider encrypting your disk

And back up your computer daily to an external HD (at least 2x capacity of your computer HD)

And avoid routinely carrying your laptop and its backup HD together in the same bag

Help and further information

Your departmental IT staff

Cambridge Data Champions

SBS IT Office (it@bio.cam.ac.uk)

UIS Service Desk (servicedesk@uis.cam.ac.uk)

University Library Office of Scholarly Communication

https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/data-storage