This document outlines our computing facilities, security policy information, some do’s and don’ts, sources of information and how to obtain help and support. Apart from a number of specialised systems, the majority of our desktop computers run Microsoft Windows. We aim to ensure every member of staff and postgraduate student has their own computer. Your DIDE username and password can be used to login to any computer within the department.
New starters
All new starters are assigned two computer user accounts; a departmental DIDE account and an Imperial College (IC) account. The DIDE account is used to log on to computers within the department and to access shared files, folders and printers that are located within the department. It is created by a member of DIDE IT, and uses the same username as your Imperial College account (see below).
The IC account is used when logging on to computers outside of the department (for example, in lecture theatres, the library, and at other campuses). It is also used to access College e-mail and some of the web pages on the College website. The IC account is created automatically by ICT when a person is added on to the HR database as an employee. You must activate your IC account before it can be used, this can be done via the ICT activation website.
Once you have obtained your DIDE and IC accounts, please read the rest of this page to help familiarise yourself with the systems and procedures we have in place.
The Imperial College email service is hosted by ICT at South Kensington and Microsoft Outlook, which is installed on all desktop computers in DIDE, is used to access your inbox. If you are prompted by Outlook for a username and password, you must enter "IC\username" for your username and your IC password.
If you have a personal laptop or home computer, you can install Microsoft Office (including Outlook) provided you sign a “Work at Home License Agreement” and are a full time member of staff (excluding postgraduate students). Instructions on how to configure Outlook to access your Imperial inbox can be found on the Imperial College email page.
You can also access your Imperial College email over the web with an Outlook-style interface via Outlook Web Access. Login with your IC username and password (there is no need to use IC\username).
We have four main mailing lists within IDE. All new starters are automatically added to all four mailing lists:
dide-l@imperial.ac.uk
This mailing list contains members of IDE, as well as some other members of Imperial College. The non-IDE members primarily consist of people from the Divisional Admin team within the School of Public Health, although membership could widen to others in the future. This mailing list has optional membership - members are free to remove themselves from it at any time. Thus, any messages you send to this mailing list may not be seen by everyone in IDE and may also be seen by other people within the College. Future membership may also be extended to other College members at any time if requested.
ide-dl@imperial.ac.uk
This mailing list only contains members of IDE. Non-IDE College members are not permitted to join this list. This mailing list has mandatory membership - members are not allowed to leave this list unless they leave the department. Thus, any messages you send to this mailing list will be seen by everyone in IDE, but not be seen by anyone outside of IDE (unless it is forwarded on by someone).
infdisepi-seminars@imperial.ac.uk
This mailing list contains members of IDE, as well as some other members of Imperial College and also other educational institutions. This mailing list has optional membership - members are free to remove themselves from it at any time. Thus, any messages you send to this mailing list may not be seen by everyone in IDE and may also be seen by other people within the College and other educational institutions. Future membership may also be extended to other College and non-College members at any time if requested. Seminar related messages should be sent to this mailing list.
dide-social@imperial.ac.uk
This mailing list contains members of IDE, as well as some other members of Imperial College past and present. This mailing list has optional membership - members are free to remove themselves from it at any time. Thus, any messages you send to this mailing list may not be seen by everyone in IDE and may also be seen by other people within the College past and present. Future membership may also be extended to other College members past and present at any time if requested.
IDE resources
Depending on which research group you are a member of, you will see a number of network drives mapped in “My Computer”:
Q: Your personal home directory and your My Documents folder.
The default storage limit on the Q: drive is 15GB, which has proven sufficient for most members of staff. However, more space may be available upon request.
The data in your Q: drive, as well as all other data in shared folders on our servers, is backed up every night.
Please use Q: drive for work related files only. Do not store personal images, music, movies or other multimedia files in this location. Use your local hard disk (C: drive) instead.
T: A shared drive for everyone in the department. Use this space to exchange files with other members of staff. The T: drive is not backed up, so do not store any important documents or data here.
M: Shared drive - Molgen group only.
P: Shared drive - Partnership for Child Development only.
S: Shared drive - Schistosomiasis Control Initiative only.
The department uses the College ICTprintservice. Print jobs are sent to a common print queue, and can be printed on any printer in the scheme around the College. Within the department we have six printers that can be used; three on the South Wharf Road side and three on the Praed Street Road side. Access to these printers is controlled via the College security card.
A number of groups have their own office based printers. Access to these printers is via the IDE print server.
For more information please visit see Printing.
Toner and paper
We try to ensure that there is an adequate stock of paper available for the departmental printers. We also try to ensure that there is at least one of each replacement toner cartridge required for the departmental printers. We encourage staff to fill printer trays with paper when they run low, and also to replace toner cartridges when they run out. The process is usually fairly simple, as the toner cartridge can only be inserted one way. If you do decide to replace the cartridge, then please ensure that you inform a member of IDE IT/Admin that you have done so, and give us the code of the toner you replaced so that we may order another one as spare. Please also inform us if the stock of paper runs low.
The College holds a site license for the following software, which can be installed on any College-owned computer:
- Microsoft Office
- Endnote
- Matlab
- Symantec Endpoint Protection
- SPSS
In addition, the department has licenses for the following:
- MathType
- ArcGIS
- SAS
Other products are available for a one-off or annual fee. More information can be found on the Software page.
Security
The screen on your desktop will lock automatically after a set period of time. This is to prevent malicious use of your computer and to reduce the risk of data theft. To unlock you screen you must press Ctrl & Alt & Del simultaneously and re-enter your IDE username and password.
If you forget your password, it can be reset by the following members of staff:
It is possible to access the DIDE network via a broadband connection at home by setting up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection. This creates a point to point encrypted link between your PC and the department. There are a number of conditions of use:
- Your home computer must have Antivirus software installed and the virus definition mus be kept up to date. Symantec Antivirus is available for home use via the College site license
- You must enable automatic Windows updates and ensure your PC has the latest critical updates installed
Failure to comply with these conditions represents a security risk to our network and is likely to result in your access being disabled. More information on setting up the VPN connection can be found through the remote access page.
We undertake regular backups of the data servers, with certain exceptions e.g. T: drive. If you do accidentally delete a file or folder, contact a member of IDE IT as soon as possible and specify the precise folder location and filename to be restored. Please be aware that backups are only snapshots. If you create a file and delete it between backups, it will never have the opportunity to be backed up.
Help and support
If you have a technical problem, it really helps to identify a solution if you provide as much information as possible. When an application generates an error message make a note of it. If you are experiencing network problems, check if other users are experiencing the same thing. Once you have gathered as much information as you can you should then email IDE IT support in the first instance.
General enquiries
For any enquiries related to the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, please contact:
publichealth@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 5777
