Jake's Tech Talk Networks

Problems with the network, including email, are near or at the top of our list of most common complaints. Before calling in, there's a few things to try.

1) Are you the only one who can't get on? Check with your co-workers to see if they're having similar problems with the net. If you're the only one having the problem, chances are the problem is in your machine. Reboot your computer, go through the disk cleanup steps, and try again.

2) If your co-workers are also having troubles, check with other users outside your office. In a courthouse, for example, find out if the folks in the Auditor's office or Social Services are having troubles as well. If they are, the problem is outside your system.

3) Next, check to see if only Pegasus or only Netscape is failing. If Netscape is running normally, but Pegasus isn't, the problem could be in the Pegasus configuration, or it could be that the email server at NDSU has failed. If only Netscape is having trouble, check on various sites. Our NDSU homepage may be down, but other sites may be accessible. I usually check the Yahoo site (http://www.yahoo.com) to check on access outside of North Dakota. If that works, give us a little time to get our servers running again.

4) Finally, if all the above has failed, it's time to call the helpdesk. We'll be able to tell you if our servers are running normally or not, and help you determine where the problem lies. Be aware, though, that sometimes the problem is at an intermediate site between your computer and the ExtNet system. If this is the case, we can't do anything to help. Our only option is to wait and hope that the system administrators of those sites correct the problem.

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