CS&E 1111 SETTING UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT
YOU WILL BE COMPLETING 11 LAB ASSIGNMENTS THIS SEMESTER
STRUCTURE OF LAB ASSIGNMENTS: Each lab will consist of two parts – a Pre-lab assignment designed to prepare you for
the lab, and an In-lab assignment, which expands and tests these skills. Any issues regarding your lab attendance and/or
completion of your assignments must be addressed to your instructor (not the Lab Grader).
The Pre-lab assignments for Labs 1-11 can be found on Carmen. Pre-lab assignments may include reading and/or step-by-step
tutorials required as preparation for the in-lab assignment. The pre-lab assignment may also include problems to solve similar to
those done in lecture, but executed on the computer. The pre-lab assignment also contains information pertaining to what
textbook chapters will be required for the in-lab.
Complete your pre-lab assignments before coming to lab. Pre-labs 1-11 1 may be worked on in the CS&E Caldwell 112 labs.
Student consultants are available at specified times to help you with the labs. You may also work at home (pre-labs only) and email yourself back the required files or transfer the files on a memory stick. Make sure to verify file receipt/readability before
your lab session. Pre-lab assignments are due no later than the end of lab class. Your lecturer will let you know the lab
submission for Lab 1.
The In-lab assignments will be handed out at the beginning of your in-lab class period. In-Lab assignments are designed to test
your skills both in the use of the computer tools and your ability to solve problems. You will have 50 minutes to work on the inlab assignment – which are due by midnight the day of your In Lab.... so don’t be late to lab!
In each lab you will be expected to sign the attendance sheet and turn in the “In Lab” instructions to your Lab Consultant or Lab
instructor. Failure to do so may result in no credit being awarded for the lab.
YOU MUST ATTEND THE ENTIRE IN LAB SESSION TO RECEIVE CREDIT FO THE IN LAB PORTION OF YOUR LAB.
DISTRIBUTION OF GRADED MATERIALS: During lab class, your consultants and instructor will be distributing your
graded labs and quizzes. If you have a question about labs, speak with your consultant. If you have a question about an exam
grade, see your Instructor. For consistency between all classes, lab points are assigned to each task based on a standard grading
template. This graded template with the points you’ve earned for each task will be given to you in lab class approximately one
week after your assignment has been submitted.
AVAILABLE HELP: If you require help with your pre-lab assignments you may want to ask a consultant in one of our labs, get
help in the CS&E 2111 tutor room (Dreese 176), or speak with your Instructor. Remember - you should be planning on 9 hours
per week outside of the classroom for a 3-credit class.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE SITTING IN YOUR ASSIGNED SECTION (A, B, C, OR D)
Each class has been subdivided into four sections. Make sure you are sitting in the proper section. Each section has
an assigned Lab Consultant who will be grading your labs and assisting you during closed lab periods.
The names should be posted on a board near your seats – If not, be patient and wait for everyone to settle in. The
grader will provide this information to you usually in the first 10-15 minutes of this lab.
 Assigned Lab Section (A, B, C, D) ______________

Lab Instructor: (Name/e-mail) _____________________________________. Remember this is the person to
contact if you need to discuss your lab/lecture attendance, an error in a lab or homework grade etc.

Lab Consultant: (Name/e-mail): _____________________________________. Remember this is the person who
is responsible for answering your questions in lab and grading your lab assignments.
iF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR LAB CONSULTANT.
DO NOT EMAIL ANY LABS TO YOUR LAB CONSULTANT.
YOU WILL USE CARMEN TO SUBMIT YOUR LAB FILES FOR GRADING PURPOSES.
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LOGON TO THE WINDOWS 7 SYSTEM
Every time you begin working in the lab, you must login to the computer and then logoff when you are ready to
leave. The instructions to login to the lab computers are as follows. Instructions to logoff are at the end of this lab
assignment.



The first screen you will see displays the text Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to
log on (Figure 1). Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys simultaneously
to continue to the next screen.
If your screen is blank, press any key and within a few seconds this
screen should appear. If it does not, raise your hand and one of
Figure 1
the lab assistants will be happy to help you!
The next Window is the Login screen (Figure 2). Click in the User name box
and type in your User Name. This was given out in class or can be obtained
from the lab TA or on the class list posted outside the door of the lab. This
user name is not your OSU e-mail address.
Click in the Password box and type in your Password. Your default
password for this system is the last four digits of your student ID number
followed by the first letter of your first name and then the first letter of
your last name and followed by an exclamation mark (!). Example: John
Smith id#: 012345678. His default password would be 5678js!. Your OSU
ID# can be found on your BuckID or via BuckeyeLink
(http://buckeyelink.osu.edu) -toward the bottom of the page, under
"Personal Information", click "Lookup your OSU ID Number".
Figure 2
If you have successfully logged into the system, the system will prompt you
to change your password. (If your login does not work, view the hints on
the following page).

Figure 3 shows the Change Password window. Type in a new
password in the New Password box and then repeat it in the
Confirm password box. The minimum length is 6 characters and
must contain at least 3 of the following types of characters:
 Lower case letters
 UPPERCASE LETTERS
 Numbers
 Symbols such as !, *, &, _, etc.
Once your new password is accepted, you should be logged into our
Windows 7 system and are ready to continue with this lab. The Windows
desktop should be displayed.
Figure 3
IF YOUR LOGIN DOES NOT WORK:
 Make sure the Caps Lock is off.

Verify your user name outside the lab door. Make sure you are using the correct password including the
exclamation mark (!).

Seek help from the lab consultant or TA (instructor)

If your TA determines that your account is inoperable – make arrangements with him/her for completion of the
lab. Be sure to note down the name/contact info of the TA and lab consultant before leaving.
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USING THE WINDOWS 7 FILE MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Often students save files by just clicking File/Save and then are distressed when they cannot find this file later to reopen. Without giving the computer any specific information, this file may or may not have been stored to the usual
default location set up on many systems; “Documents”. Then even if it’s under the Document’s folder, with so many
other files it may still be hard to find. To efficiently and effectively work in an environment containing many files and
many system directories, it is crucial to organize your files, so that they may be easily retrieved by you or others in
the future. Windows Explorer is the Windows 7 tool for managing files. This tool can be used to create hierarchical
folders (also called directories) and subfolders to organize both application and data files. In this exercise you will
setup new folders/subfolders, and move files into these new directories. If you are unfamiliar with the techniques of
how to copy, delete, or move files – please be sure to review the assigned pre-lab readings including the Windows 7
file management chapter.
NAVIGATE TO Z:\WINDOWS\username\DOCUMENTS FROM COMPUTER
The CSE computer network is a large, complex system, spanning many computers, file servers, printers and other
devices. Each student has been given their own virtual drive (Z:) – a space on the network to store their work that
only is accessible to them. To simplify the complex path of your home directory, a link has been created. This link is
found as follows: Z:\windows\username\documents. Each student will need to substitute their username (login
name to CSE system) for username in this file path. To access this directory from Windows Explorer follow these
steps:

Launch Windows Explorer by clicking on the Start Button on the bottom left corner of the desktop. Select the
Computer button listed on the right side approximately halfway down the list as seen in Figure 17.
Link to Windows Explorer in the
Documents Folder:
Z:\windows\username\documents
Computer Link
to Windows
Explorer
Start Button
Figure 17
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
This will launch the Windows Explorer Computer screen as seen in Figure 18. An alternate technique to open
Windows Explorer to press the Windows button and the
letter E at the same time.

Double click on the Z drive icon from the network section
on the window. You should find the Z drive icon as
shown in the bottom right of the content pane (see
Figure 18). This will bring up a window containing the
contents of the Z:\ drive as seen in Figure 19.

Double click on the Windows folder in the folder
contents pane to navigate to Windows folder.

Next, double click on the folder with your username.

Finally, double click on the folder labeled My Documents.
Figure 18
The process of navigating to directories and subdirectories is outlined in Figure 19. There are also several other
methods to navigate including:
 Typing the directory path directly into the address bar (top left of Explorer window)
 Using the Search box to search for a specific file (top right of Explorer window)
 Clicking on the Navigation pane (left side of Explorer window) to find the desired folder in the Favorites list,
Libraries list or Computer network directory list.
The default Documents folder can also be directly accessed by clicking on Documents from the Start menu (Right Side
toward the top). For more details on file management/navigation refer to the pre-labs reading assignment
SETTING UP FOLDERS AND SUBFOLDERS
Next you will setup several new folders/subfolders to store your lab files for this semester. First you will create a
folder named Labs and create subfolders labeled Lab1 and Lab2 in the Labs folder:

You should now be in the My Documents folder, with the list of already existing files visible in the contents pane.
Note that depending on how you navigate to this folder it may be refered to as ‘My Documents’ or ‘Documents’.
The CandidatesSales Report file that you downloaded from Carmen should appear on the list if you correctly
downloaded it previously.

Right click to bring up a shortcut menu and then select New and then select Folder. Many of the Folder
commands can be found on these menus and submenus. An alternate way to do this in Windows 7 is to click on
the New folder button located just below the menu bar.

Type in the name of your new folder – Labs.

Next, select this new Labs Folder by double clicking on it in the Contents Pane. The Folder path in the address bar
will be updated to reflect this new location. Since no files have yet been added, the folder content will be empty.

Use the same technique to create a new subfolder named Lab 1 within the selected Labs folder.

Create a second new subfolder in the Labs folder named Lab 2.
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Address Bar
with file path
•
•
•
Navigation
Pane
Favorites
Libraries
Computer
Network
Drives
Contents
Pane
Lists all
folders and
files in the
selected
folder
New Folder button
Figure 19
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CREATING A FAVORITES LINK
You may have noticed that going back and forth between folders can be tedious. Oftentimes there are folder
locations that are used over and over again in much that same way you would return to a favorite website. Windows
7 has a section called Favorite Links, located in the upper left pane of the Explorer window Navigation pane, where
you can create links to folders you use often. To create a link to the Lab1 fold in Favorites, complete the following
steps:

Navigate your Explorer window to the level just above the Lab1 folder – in this case the Labs folder

In the Content Pane select the Lab1 folder by clicking on it, and then drag it (holding down the left mouse button)
over to the top left section of the Explorer window’s Navigation pane - labeled Favorites (see arrow on Figure
20). Be sure to drag it above or below an existing link. If dragged to an exisiting link the computer will display
“copy to..” instead of “Create link in Favorites”.

Once the link is setup in Favorites, click on it to navigate to this location. During week 2 of the semester it may
be a time saver to remove the Lab 1 Favorites Link and setup a Lab 2 Favorites link prior to working on the lab. In
this way the files are always easily accessed. A link can be deleted from Favorites by clicking on the link and then
using the Delete key. Also note that the order of the folders under Favorites can be modified by just
dragging/dropping the link to a higher or lower position on the list.
ACCESSING & ORGANIZING WEBSITE ADDRESSES
To enable easy access to Carmen and other web sites needed in this course, use Internet Explorer (IE-8) -Favorites
and Tabs features. Creating a Favorite is a method of storing a web page address so that it can be quickly and easily
accessed without having to remember and type its URLs. Favorites can be setup into a hierarchical list by user
defined topics, or as a link directly on the Favorites Bar. Another way to make webpages easily available all the time
is to use the Homepage Tab feature. This feature automatically opens these alternative homepages when the
browser is launched, allowing the user to access these pages by selecting its corresponding homepage tab.
CREATING A “FAVORITES” LINK TO CARMEN
In order to keep the current web page and continue to explore other web pages, you will open a new Explorer tab
within the IE application.


Open Internet Explorer.
Click on the empty tab to the right of the existing tab as seen in the Figure below.
New Tab

A new tab page will open providing information on working with tabs.

Type the URL for the Carmen website in the Address box: carmen.osu.edu.

Click on Favorites Menu and select Add to Favorites button on top of the drop
down menu. Alternately type Ctrl+D to open the Add to Favorites box as seen
in the figure to the right.

The text in the Name box will automatically contain the name of the web page you are currently displaying – in
this case the Carmen website. You may modify this name as desired – it will not affect the actual link.
Page 6
USING THE CARMEN COURSE MANAGEMENT TOOL
You may be familiar with Carmen from other classes. Carmen is OSU’s Internetbased course management tool which provides student access to files needed for
class, a forum for discussion of class-related topics, a means of obtaining current
grades and more. You will be using Carmen for nearly every CSE 2111 lab this
semester and to obtain spreadsheets, solutions for practice
problems and homework files. In the previous section of this
lab you setup both a Favorite link to Carmen and a homepage.
This section will explore the different elements available on
Carmen for this course.
LOGIN TO CARMEN
If not already visible, open the Carmen homepage in your
browser. Then follow the procedure below to login:

The Carmen logo should be visible. Click on the login
circle to launch the login screen as seen in Figure 10.
Figure 10

Enter your OSU email username (example: doe.1) in the username box provided in the upper left-hand side of
the page and then Enter your OSU e-mail password in the password box

Then click the login button (or just press Enter) . This will bring up your Carmen homepage which will be similar
to the illustration in Figure 11. You should be
automatically enrolled into a CS&E 2111 class.
You may also be enrolled as well as any additional
courses you are taking that use Carmen.

If your courses for this semester are not visible,
click on the plus sign adjacent to the current
semester. To select a course click on the course
name. This will open the course homepage.
Figure 11
EXPLORING THE CS&E CARMEN SITE
You should now be on the course homepage as seen in Figure 12. The homepage displays the news and
announcements of the course, which will be changed throughout the semester by the course coordinator (top
section) or your lecturer (bottom section). The homepage also contains links to the Content component and Grades.
Next you will explore the Content component and familiarize yourself with the plethora of materials available for
studying, completing the labs and finding assistance.

Click on the Content link located in the upper left hand corner of the screen just below the Ohio State Logo and
Course heading to launch the Content module.

From the Content page (Figure 13), explore the Links to Course Information to obtain the following information
to record here (when the “security warning” dialog box pops out, select “No”):
o
Hours of operation of our Caldwell 112 computer lab. During these hours the labs are available for students
to complete their lab assignments – consultants are on duty to help answer questions. Lab hours on
Thursdays are between_____________________________.
Page 7
o
Tutoring hours during weeks 2 through 10 of the semester are offered to CSE2111 students. TA’s are
available to help you learn the course materials. Hours and location are posted from this link. Location of
Tutor Room is in Dreese Lab room ______________. Note that hours for the current semester will be posted
during week 2.
Figure 12
Figure 13
LOGGING OFF YOUR COMPUTER
To Logoff from the CS&E system, you must go to the Start Menu and select Logoff (bottom right butto n). When the
dialog box opens asking if you wish to logoff, select OK.
If you do not log off another person can come to the screen and simply wipe away all your files, read your e-mail if
it’s open etc. Just closing the desktop window will disconnect your system but not log you off correctly – this will
result in difficulties logging on the next time.
Always Remember to Logoff your computer before you leave the Lab.
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