Once you activate your Macintosh account, here are a
few things you should know to get started. If you have any questions, ask the
consultant on duty in one of the student computer labs!
For a complete list of places you can use your activated
Macintosh account, see our Macintosh Locations page.
As of September 2008, you can log in to the Macintoshes
with your link
blue user ID and password. This means that if you change your
Macintosh password, it will change your link blue password as well.
Your link blue user
ID and password are what you use to access your UK email, log into myUK and
download.uky.edu, and connect to Blackboard. User IDs are typically either
your first inital, middle initial, and the first four letters of your last
name and a number or the first two letters of your last name and a three digit
number. For example, Joe B. Freshman's userID might be "jbfres2" or
"jbfr222" depending on when he first enrolled at the university.
If you do not know your user ID, ask a consultant to look it up for
you, or contact the IT
Customer Service Center located in 111
McVey Hall.
In order to log into a Macintosh, you must have
already changed your link blue password from
the default (u$ and the last 6 digits of your UK ID number)
and it must not be expired. If you can log into myUK or your email,
you should be able to log into a lab Macintosh. If you need to update
your password, use the
UK Account Manager.
You should never tell anyone else your password
or share your account! Doing so is against UK
Computing Policy.
If someone else violates a computing policy or breaks a law while
using your account, you may be held responsible and your account
privileges may be revoked. Also, that person will have the ability
to modify or delete your files. Student Computing Services
staff and student consultants will never ask for any of your passwords.
- or -
- Select System Preferences from the Apple logo in the upper left
corner of your screen.
- Click on the Accounts icon.
- Click the "Change Password..." button.
- Enter the following:
- Old Password: your current password
- New Password: your new password
- Verify: your new password again
- When you are done, click the "Change Password" button. You will
see a message that "Your keychain password will be changed to your new account
password." Click OK.
- Note: You do not need to click the padlock in the lower left
corner of the window or enter administrative information to change
your password!
Password Rules:
- Must have at least 6 characters
- Must have at least 1 letter
- Must have at least 1 number
- Must have at least
1 special character, such as !@#$%^&*(), etc.
Your "home directory" is
actually a folder on our server that contains all your files, folders,
and personal preferences. On the Mac, this folder is represented
by a house icon 
.To
get to your home directory, click on the house icon in
the left column of any Finder window, choose Home from the Go menu
in the Finder, or choose Home from
the "Where" drop
down menu when opening or saving a file. To open a Finder window,
double-click on the Macintosh Hard Drive icon on your desktop. To
access the Go menu, click on your desktop and look in the menu
bar at the top of the screen. Several folders
have been created for you already, such as Music, Pictures,
and
Movies.
You
may store
files in these folders or create new ones.
Important Note: Your Library folder
contains important preference and system files. Do not modify or
delete these files unless directed to do so by a Student Computing
Services staff member or
student consultant!
Any files stored in the Desktop folder
will appear on your desktop background, but having too many
icons on your desktop can cause your computer to slow down, so periodically
move extraneous files into other folders.To delete files or folders,
move them to the Trash (in your dock) and click on Empty Trash from
the Finder menu. If you do not empty your Trash, the files will continue
to take up space in your account.
Every new account has 350 MB of space on the server allocated to
it. Some of this space is used by files required to make the lab
software work; the rest is for your use. You may save your files
on the desktop or in your Home directory. The storage limit includes
system files and preferences stored in your Library folder, all items
on your desktop, and any files you have stored in other places in
your account, such as your Documents folder, your iTunes or iPhoto
libraries, or any email attachments you have downloaded with Apple's
Mail program. Your quota does not include any files you have saved
on the Temporary_Storage volumes or your SWEB/Locker account.
The first 350 MB are your to do with as you choose. If you need
extra space for an academic reason, you can ask the student lab consultant
to send in a quota increase request on your behalf. You may also
receive an increase if you take certain computer lab-based classes
that require additional storage space.
To check your quota and disk space usage, open
a Finder window by double-clicking on the Macintosh Hard Drive icon.
On the left, you should see an icon that looks like a house labeled
with your user ID. Click on the house icon to go to your home directory.
At the bottom of this window, you will see information about the
number of items and the remaining space.
To delete files, move them to the Trash (in your
dock) and click on Empty Trash from the Finder menu. If you do not
empty your Trash, the files will continue to take up space in your
account.
Any preferences
you set or files you save in your home directory, including on your
desktop, are stored on the Macintosh server, not on the local machine.
They
will travel with you as you move from one computer to the next. This
eliminates the need to carry disks around since your
files
will always be there whenever you log in. Because corruption can occur
if the same files or preferences are accessed from two different
machines,
users are only allowed to log into one computer at a time.
If you experience problems with specific applications, talk to the
consultant
on duty. The problem may be with the preference files in your account
and not necessarily with the computer you are using. This
is especially
likely if you have experienced the same problem on more than one computer.
You can connect to the files in your account remotely
from any other computer with internet access and the right software.
For instructions on connecting to the Macintosh server, or to any
of our other servers, see our remote connections instructions.