Frequently Asked Questions

If you can’t find a solution here, try searching through our BU Helpdesk Solutions Portal at https://helpdesk.brandonu.ca

1. How do I get my username and password?

Employees will be assigned a username and temporary password. Contact your Dept. if you haven’t received it.)
Students can click here to claim their account.

2. How do I change my password?

View our password help page here: https://www.brandonu.ca/helpdesk/help-with-passwords/

When your password is changed. Your email program or Office365 apps may ask you to confirm your new password the next time you open them.

3. What is my E-mail password and e-mail address?

Your e-mail password is the same as the password that is used to login to your computer account. Your e-mail address is your username@brandonu.ca. (For example if your login name is helpdesk, then your e-mail address is helpdesk@brandonu.ca).

4. Where do I properly save my work?!

The University’s computer system is set up as a network, which means that a server supplies each computer with the files it needs to work. At Brandon university, it also means that the hard drive located in the computer, (the “C: drive”) is not backed up. In other words, any files you save to the “C drive” could be lost if your computer encounters hardware problems. (Students are restricted from being able to save to the C:)
To save your work you can save on external media such as a USB stick or CD, but it is recommended to save to your BU OneDrive account (portal.brandonu.ca) or alternatively to the “N: drive” or T: drive. Each staff member and student is given space on OneDrive to save their personal work. The advantage of this system is that the saved work moves with you as you move to different computers, and is backed up regularly. If you saved to the “C drive”, your work would stay on that one computer only. To choose where to save do File and Save As… command, and choose a different location. So if you want to change the location of your saved work, keep it somewhere where it is backed up!

5. How do I print from my account?

The first step is to press File on the menu bar at the top of the program you want to print from.
Then click on Print.
This brings up a window allowing you to choose from which printer you want to print. (students must use the student queues)
Usually you can just click on the OK button.
If you want to specify settings:
You can choose a different printer from the list, and there are also several other options that allow you to specify which pages you want to print, and how many copies you would like.

6. How does Student Printing work, and what is the cost?

To use the printers, students simply print from the student computers, then go to any of the student print stations and select their username from the list. Enter their password, and select the item to print and click the print button.
Student print costs: $0.10 / side of page
Student print costs for the colour printer: $0.50 / side of page
To add more money to print quota, come to the John E. Robbins Library and use either of the two printer cash-pay stations. You can also add to it using Interac at the Library Circulation desk. Any unused balance will carry over into the next session(s).
for more details see here.

7. How do I shut down the computer?

There are several ways to shut-down your computer. The simplest way is to click on the Windows Start button on the bottom left of your screen and select shutdown. you may also use the following steps:

Press and hold [ctrl]+[alt]+[del]. This will bring up a window with several buttons.
Click the button marked “Shutdown”, this will bring up a window to confirm that you do in fact want to log out.
Click the “Yes” button.
The computer will now shut itself off.

8. Where is wireless access and is there a password?

Yes, view more detailed information here.

There are several wireless networks available on campus. BU_Secure, BU_DPSK, Eduroam, BU_Public. All Staff, Faculty, and students should be using BU_Secure. Eduroam requires an eduroam account from a participating University/institution. The BU_Public network is not secured, is time limited to 90-minutes, and uses a commercial internet package separate from BU’s Campus Network. This may be slower and less convenient for data-intensive tasks, like video calling. This network is not recommended for student or employee use.

Currently wireless is available throughout most of campus with the exception of a few areas. If you find areas with no access, you can report them to us at the helpdesk.

9. How do I install a printer?

Students cannot install additional printers (except the Student Print queues), and must just print to the student print queues using the student computers provided. See here for more details on adding a print queue to your wireless device.

For employees, the steps will vary depending if the printer is directly connected to your machine, or if you need to connect to the printer through the campus network. Most of the departments have at least 1 printer on the campus network. If you are uncertain, ask a colleague or contact the IT Helpdesk.

If the printer is directly connected to your machine:

It should detect the printer when Windows is starting. It may ask you for a software disk such as a CD in order to complete the installation. Follow the steps on the screen. If you no longer have the disk, you may possibly download the proper printer software & driver from the manufacturer website. www.hp.com is the website for hewlett-packard. Make sure you enter the proper model of printer and the correct version of Windows that you are using.

If you are installing through the network:

Make certain you have logged into the computer with your own username and password. A quick method to verify you are connected is to open the “My Computer” icon and see if you have access to your personal N: drive.
You must also have been given permission to connect to the printer or the process will not work. Typically you should have permission to access the main printer in your department.
Click the Windows start button and then choose “Devices & Printers”
Click “add a printer”
Choose add a network printer
Find the correct printer in the list and choose to install it.
The remainder of the process should take place automatically. You may be asked to confirm whether you want to continue, click on Yes if that message appears. If you have any problems with the process or questions that have not been answered, contact the Helpdesk by email or phone.

10. How do I set an away/vacation message?

Outlook

Click “Files” -> “Automatic Replies” -> Fill in the duration the message should apply and type out an away message

Webmail (Outlook 365)

Open your internet browser to the https://www.brandonu.ca website.
On the university website, click on Webmail.
Enter your username and password and authenticate.
While in the Mail app click on the Gear symbol which is located in the upper right area of the screen.
Select “View all Outlook settings”
Select “Mail” -> “Automatic Replies” -> Turn on automatic replies -> Fill in the duration the message should apply and type out an away message

Phone (voicemail)

Direction are located in the HelpDesk portal solutions

11. Can I access my E-mail from home?

Yes.
Webmail/Outlook365 users can access any new e-mail through webmail at https://webmail.brandonu.ca

12. Can I access my files from home?

Students can access their online file storage from home (Microsoft OneDrive) using their email.

Faculty and staff can access OneDrive as well.
But they may aslo need to access N: or T: drives from home. To do so, they’ll need to setup the VPN using the VPN guide and then map the desired drive letters (contact the HelpDesk for drive mapping directions or search the solutions in the HelpDesk portal)

13. Can I access my personal (N:) files over wireless?

Yes.
You can map a network drive in order to access them over wireless. You can check our section on mapping drives for more information.

However, there isn’t any encryption used in the wireless signal over BU_Public. So you should definitely make sure you are only connecting to the secure BU_Secure network when using this method (particularly if you were accessing sensitive information.) The recommended method is still using the network cable plugged into the laptop if you are accessing your files.

14. How Do I book equipment?

To book any equipment you should first check with your department office to see what is available there.
Booking equipment from the HelpDesk requires 48 hours notice. Contact us at helpdesk@brandonu.ca or call 571-8(500)

15. Can I print more than 1 PowerPoint Slide on a page?

Click on the File Menu
Click Print
Click on the drop-down box (under settings) that says “Print Full Page slides”
Select the Handouts option and number of slides per page
Click the print button at the top.

16. How can I recover a file I’ve deleted by mistake?

You will need to submit a request through email to the helpdesk, and we can assist or restore the file for you. However you will need to include the filename and the path to the folder where it was previously saved.

17. Outlook isn’t working!

If outlook works but is not sending messages from your outbox then try to close Outlook entirely, wait 30 seconds and then reopen it.

18. Junk E-mail has messages I want to keep.

When you receive messages into your Junk E-mail folder and want to keep them, you can simply click on them and drag into your inbox. Also you can R-Click on them and choose “add to safe senders list” (or “trust sender”). This will prevent any mail from that address from going into junk e-mail in the future.
If you are having this problem you should read our Guide on “Whitelists.”

19. How can I open newer Office version files?

The best way is to install a newer Office version! Otherwise you can use the online version of the Microsoft Apps (like Word online)

20. What size of attachments can I send?

The safe answer is 10 MB.

You are able to send attachments within campus up to 30 MB. However, if you try to send an attachment over 10 MB to someone off campus where their limit is 10 MB then your message will be undeliverable. eg if MTS limit is 10 MB. To distribute files within campus larger than 30 MB read our guide on “Personal Webspace“.

21. A website won’t display properly in Internet Explorer.

If you are using Internet Explorer, then you need to click the “Compatibility View” option for certain sites to get them display properly. Or you can click menu/tools and compatibility view settings if you can’t see the icon.

(It appears as a torn sheet icon to the right of the website address)

Brandon University