Troubleshooting Performance Issues with Your User Environment

Your home area on the college network is limited and not quite like your computers at home, this quick guide will help you with some basic troubleshooting.

HERE ARE SOME KEY DIFFERENCES;

  • There’s a total space limit on how much data you can store
  • A limit on the kinds of applications you can run, and how they can get access to other networks through ours
  • Limitations on when, and where [physically] you may be able to log in
  • Where [physically] your data may be stored

… these all exist for a reason; to keep Barton Peveril’s IT systems running smoothly, for as many people as possible.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR USER ENVIRONMENT?

It exists within a set of rules that are not going to change; so it’s a good idea to operate within those rules.

This might seem unfair to begin with, but in any setting other than at home, this is standard practise – any future university or workplace you may find yourself in will almost certainly impose similar restrictions!

Occasionally, something will happen in a lesson that affects your User Environment, here’s a few steps you can take to try to resolve issues.

MAC OS / OSX USERS:

CHECK THAT YOU HAVE NOT RUN OUT OF SPACE.

  • Opening the Plug-in Console.app from Finder -> /Applications/Kanaka/ will tell you how much space you’ve used.
  • If you’re out of space, or nearly out of space, unpredictable and unwanted things can happen to both your files and your user experience when logged in – stay on top of this and you won’t have as many problems!

WINDOWS 10 USERS:

CHECK THAT YOU HAVE NOT RUN OUT OF SPACE.

  • On a PC, move your mouse pointer down to the bottom right of the screen, and hold the mouse pointer over the hard drive icon, some information will pop up telling you how much space you’ve used and how much you have left.

EMPTY THE TRASH

  • Don’t forget to empty your trash to remove unwanted files now and then – remember, it’s just another folder; nothing’s actually deleted until you tell the computer to empty it.

CHECK YOUR DOWNLOADS FOLDER

  • We’re big Chrome users at the College because we use many of Google’s services – it’s possible that you’ve downloaded lots of files over time, but may not have removed the downloaded files once you’re finished with them. Double check you don’t need them, and trash them! Don’t forget, it’s all backed up anyway, so if you do need it, we can get it back for you.
  • *.zip files can definitely go – think of them as temporary holders for things you downloaded from Google Drive / Google Classroom – if there’s a *.zip file in your Downloads folder, it’s very likely that you can get rid of it.

MEDIA AND MOVING IMAGE USERS

  • It’s quite likely that you’ve got video files in your /HOME folder; we know we recommend that everything video goes into the V: drive, or similar video storage folder – but it can be easy to miss one or two!
  • If you do find video files in your home folder; move them to a more suitable area, and remove the versions that are in your home folder, you’d be surprised how much space they can take up!