ICT Rules and General Information

Last revision: May 20, 2014
Written by Arno van Amersfoort

  1. It is your own responsibility to regularly backup the files (e.g. documents, data) on your computer.
  2. New computer equipment is in principle always purchased by us unless discussed otherwise. If ignored we reserve the right to decline both supporting it and connecting it to our network
  3. Any OS (e.g. Windows/Linux) installations are always performed by us unless discussed otherwise. If ignored we reserve the right to decline both supporting it and connecting it to our network
  4. We (only) provide computer support for Windows and Mint Linux. Also note that we can only support OS versions in English (or Dutch)!
  5. Do NOT try to "repair" (computer) equipment yourself before consulting us first. In principle any repairs are performed by us.
  6. It is not allowed to remove, change or disable critical (system-)software like the antivirus program or firewall or change the Windows system configuration. It is setup the way it is for your own protection and convenience.
  7. It is NOT allowed to change (tamper with) the preset administrator/root accounts and their respective passwords.
  8. Please contact us before connecting any (new) equipment to our (wired) network. You may NOT (simply) hookup your laptop to our network and use the IP-address of another computer. Instead contact us and we will arrange this for you in the proper way.
  9. In principle we do NOT provide any application support.
  10. We do NOT provide any support for (user) laptops.
  11. Please turn off your computer(s) at night. This saves power and therefor also saves the environment. It is also required to reboot your machine once in a while to keep it up-2-date as some (important) updates only get applied during startup.
  12. It is not allowed to do hacking/cracking/(password) sniffing etc. or any other actions that can cause a violation of privacy or security (of other users).
  13. It is also strongly recommended to use Microsoft Internet Explorer as little as possible because of the high number of security issues that surround it. Instead we recommend the use of Firefox.
  14. Make sure your C:-drive doesn't run out of disk space as it can cause unrecoverable errors to the Windows-installation.
  15. It is strongly recommended NOT to put your user-files (data, documents etc.) on the C:-drive, instead put them on a network-disk (e.g. or on your D:-drive.
  16. Be warned of (free)-software that contains "adware" or "spyware". Also be warned for certain free anti-virus and/or anti-spyware, that is in fact spyware itself. It can cause serious damage to your computer. (Again) only use anti-virus and anti-spyware software offered by us (on the S:\ drive).
  17. Please keep lab-PCs as clean as possible by not installing non-essential software (e.g. filesharing (Torrent) programs) because it is essential for your experiment that your computer is functioning properly.
  18. Always remove software through "Control Panel", "Add/Remove Programs" and never remove the program by (simply) deleting its drive:\Program Files\Program Name directory.
  19. Our ICT facilities (eg. servers, computers, etc.) may NOT be used to store, run or download illegal software or content. Remember that illegal software etc. has a high risk of containing possible trojans, virusses, worms etc.
  20. The university has a strict policy for the use of (il)legal software. Use of illegal software may result in a fine/penalty. Note that there is a lot of free software which may only be used freely by home users. Using such software here requires paid license. A good example is TeamViewer for which we CURRENTLY don't have a license.
  21. Also note that our (file) server facilities are not to be used to e.g. store illegal software, movies, mp3s or anything else than files required for your work. Ignoring this, can result in silent removal of such files or other penalties.
  22. Whenever your computer starts to make excessive noise (because of e.g. broken fans) and/or crashes frequently (eg. shows a "blue screen" or reboots) we strongly recommend to shutdown your computer (to prevent any further damage) and contact us ASAP.
  23. It is not allowed to put your (office/lab) computer on the floor (because of dust and/or water leakage).