Standard Operating Procedures

Title:Operation and Maintenance of Computers
Dept:Agronomy
Locations:G304, G313, G316, G329, B406, B411, B413
Supervisor:David Grant

Computer Operation

1. Sit with monitor and keyboard at a comfortable height. To prevent eyestrain, position the monitor at least 24"
from your eyes.

2. Each of you has a folder or subdirectory on the shared disk named 'Personal Files' which is accessible from all
of our Macintosh and Windows computers. It is important that you save your files only in your folder on that disk.
This makes it easy for you or others to find them later. In addition, only those files on Personal Files are routinely
backed up.

Programs will always offer you a default location for saving files and this location will almost always be wrong.
Often it will be the folder or subdirectory where the program itself is located. You should ALWAYS ignore the
suggested location and choose your own folder on Personal Files.

3. The Macintosh allows filenames of up to 31 characters, and Windows has a similar limit. Don’t hesitate to use
them all! There is no bonus credit for conserving characters, nor will the computer eventually run out if too many
are used. I will guarantee that the more descriptive the filename, the easier it will be for you to find an important
file three years from now when you are frantically trying to complete your thesis.

4. Closing the last window of a program on a Macintosh or Windows computer does not automatically quit the
program. The program is still running and taking up system resources. Please be sure to actually Quit the
program from the File menu when you are through.

This requirement is especially true for Eudora. Once you log into the email server using your
username/password, ALL future use of Eudora on that computer is done under your name, regardless of who is
actually doing the typing. This means, as an extreme example, that someone could send threatening email to the
White House and YOU would appear to be responsible. When you’re through with Eudora you must quit the
program (not just close the last window) and then run KDESTROY. This will erase your username/password
entry on the email server and ensure that the next computer user will have to enter their own info.

Computer and Printer Maintenance

1. When changing toner cartridges in the laser printers, always wait a few minutes for the high temperature parts of
the printer to cool down if it has just finished printing a document. Be sure to always hold the toner cartridges
horizontally - spilled toner is almost impossible to clean up or get out of clothes.

2. A static electricity discharge is the most common way that computers are damaged during internal maintenance.
To help prevent this kind of damage, always be sure you are at the same electrical potential as the computer.
The easiest way to do this is to keep one hand on the power supply while you work inside the computer. If this is
impossible due to the job being performed, you should wear a wrist static dissipation device or, at the very least,
hold your hand on the power supply for 15 seconds before touching anything else inside the computer. This step
should be repeated periodically during the maintenance, especially if you walk away from the computer.