West Campus Computer Access Lab - Valencia Community College

Any Valencia student with an active atlas account may use the lab. You may log in at any windows computer with your atlas information or if you wish to use a mac, you must log in at the C.A.L front desk.

Can I access the Internet?

All of our computers have internet access. Our default browser is Internet Explorer for Windows and Safari for Macintosh. We also have Mozilla Firefox on all computers.

Do you have wireless connectivity for my laptop?

Valencia does have a wireless network that you can connect to using your Atlas login information. For the best signal strength, you should look for the "Wi-Fi" signs posted near areas of strong signal strength.

Can I use the lab to do personal work?

Only course-related work/study may be done in the C.A.L between the hours of 10am - 2pm. Personal work may be done anytime outside of these hours.

Can I access My Online Courses?

Since your online courses are internet-based, they are accessible from all computers in the lab. You can access these courses by going to the "Quick Links" tab on the Valencia Community College home page and clicking on "Online Courses". You may also access these courses by logging into your Atlas account and click the link under the "My Courses" tab.

Can I download and listen to music?

Most music is copyrighted and downloading it would be a violation of US copyright law. In order to protect students, we do not permit music downloading. You are free to listen to any music you bring with you.

Do you have headphones?

The C.A.L has many items that are available for checkout. These items include headphones, microphones and graphics tablets. Just ask if you're looking for something specific!

Can I print in color?

We have a laser color printer available for student use. While the cost of black and white pages is only 10 cents, color pages cost 50 cents. You do not need a different copy card to print in color.

Where can I get a copy card?

Copy card machines are located on the first and second floors of the library. You will need a $1 bill in order to purchase the card, but the card will retain that $1 value until you use it completely. There is no need to purchase multiple cards; you can add value to any card by simply inserting the card first and then inserting money. The copy card machine does NOT accept change.

Where can I save my work?

We recommend that you purchase a USB drive (also known as a thumb, flash or keychain drive) to save your work. These drives hold an extraordinary number of files and can be purchased for as little as $10. If you are unable to purchase a USB drive, you may save your work to CD or DVD. However, a CD burned on one computer may not work in another computer. Students have had this problem in the past, and so we recommend that you purchase a USB drive.

What if I only have a floppy disk?

For the time being, there are computers available on the second floor that offer floppy drives, though we really suggest you invest in a USB drive.

How do I burn a CD on a Windows computer?

To burn a Cd using a Windows XP, first you must save or copy all the files you want to burn to the CD drive, either by dragging the files into the CD icon in My Computer or by copying and pasting them into the CD window.

How do I burn a CD on a Macintosh computer?

To burn a CD using a Mac OS X, you must first save your file to either the computers hard drive or another temporary location (CD writing technology does not permit saving directly to the CD from an open application). Then, close all open programs and return to the desktop. Now click the File tab at the top of the screen and go to New Burn Folder. When the New Burn Folder is created, it will allow you to enter the folder name which will be the name of the CD you wish to burn. Double click the newly created foler to open the Burn Folder Window. Then, in a new window, open the folder where the files are that need to be burnt. Drag these files into the burn folder window. When all the files have successfully been copied into the Burn Folder window, click the Burn button in the top right corner of the window. You will now be prompted to enter a blank CD which will automatically begin to burn when you enter it. The screen will prompt you once again when the CD has successfully burned.

Is burning a DVD different than burning a CD?

If your computer has a DVD burner and the appropriate burning software such as Roxio or Nero, then burning a DVD is no different then burning a CD. The only difference is that you need to enter a blank DVD instead of a blank CD into the drive.

All computers within the Computer Access Lab are equipped with DVD and CD burners.

How do I attach something to my email?

The general process for attaching a file to an email is basically the same for all email providers. Here I will explain how to attach a file in an Atlas email:

Log in to your Atlas account and click on the E-mail button (DO NOT go to the email window any other way or your attachment might not work).
In the email window, click on Compose Message.
Type the email address that you wish to send the email to.
Type a subject and message if you need to.
Click on the attach button at the bottom of the window.
A new page will appear, click on the browse button.
Browse to the file on the computer that you wish to attach and double click on it to select it.
Click the Add button to add it to your list of files (Repeat the last two steps if you have more than one file to attach).
Click the attach button to attach it to the email.
Click OK, then click Send.

I want to email a file, but it says it is too large. How can I make it smaller?

You can compress the file by right clicking on it, going to Send to, and then Compressed (zipped) Folder.

I accidentally closed my document without saving. Is there any way to get it back?

If you closed your document, got a messege asking you if you want to save it and you clicked on No, unfortunately then there is no way to retrieve it. If you are using a Microsoft Office program such as Word or Excel and it crashes, then you may be able to retrieve it after exiting the program and re-opening it.

How can I add pictures and audio into my Powerpoint presentation?

The best way to insert a picture into your Powerpoint presentation is to click on the Slide Layout button (if you're using a Windows computer in the Computer Access Lab), or by going to the Format menu and clicking on Slide Layout. In the pane on the right side of the window, choose a content layout that contains a picture placeholder. You should see a placeholder box with six buttons; to insert a picture from a file, click the lower left button, browse to the folder where your picture is saved, and double-click to insert it.

To insert an audio file into your presentation, click the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and click Sound from file. Browse to the folder containing the sound file you wish to add and double-click on it to insert it.

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