As of mid-September 2005, most of the WOU domain migration is complete, except for the website files. This will be done in a month or so, but meanwhile any access to the W: drive is more complicated than usual. Since the website files are still on the old domain (“Aviation”), you will need to map the drive with your Aviation password (In other words, what your password was before the migration.)

Here’s how to do this:

If you use a Mac, the old instructions should still work, as long as you remember to use your old password. If you use Windows, you will have to set up a special command file on your machine and run it every time you want to use the W: drive. If you work with multiple computers, you will need to put this file on a floppy disk or USB drive or some other means of portable storage. The file itself is only two lines of text. It must be plain text; do not create it with Microsoft Word unless you know how to save files as plain text. The easiest way to make the file is to open Notepad (Start Menu – All Programs – Accessories – Notepad) and type the following:

NET USE W: \\maverick_nt\wou_website$ /USER:aviation\username
PAUSE

Be careful to type the text exactly, except that instead of “username”, you need to put in your own username. For instance, if your username is jdoe, the first line would be:

NET USE W: \\maverick_nt\wou_website$ /USER:aviation\jdoe

Once you have typed both lines in, save the file onto your desktop as “mapw.bat” (without the quotes, obviously.) Actually, you can use any name, as long as it ends with “.bat”. If Notepad insists on adding “.txt” after the “.bat”, go ahead and save the file anyway, but before you do anything else, right-click the file, choose “Rename” from the context menu that pops up, and delete the “.txt” from the end. If you have done this correctly, the icon for the file will be a blue and white square with a yellow gear inside it. If you want to use the file on multiple computers, drag and drop it from your desktop to the floppy drive or USB drive you want to use it from.

When you are ready to use the W: drive, double-click the file. It will pop up a black window and ask you for your password. Enter in your old password from before the migration. If you do not remember this password, email Ron at webmaster@wou.edu with your full name, V-number, username, and a new password; the password will be changed and you will receive confirmation by email. After entering the password, the window should wait a few seconds and then say “The operation completed successfully.” If you get an error message instead, email it to Ron at webmaster@wou.edu; also copy both lines of your file in the email. (Do NOT send the file as an attachment!) Whether or not you got an error, the window should also say “Press any key to continue . . . ” on the last line. When you press a key, the window should disappear, and if you didn’t get an error, the W: drive will be be available in “My Computer.”

This is only a temporary situation. In a month or so, we will be moving the web files to the new domain (“MASH”) and then the W: drive should come up automatically as it did before. In that process, we will have to re-enter everyone’s access permissions; to ensure the least possible disruption, please email me now and tell me what parts of the website you have access to. (If you are a student, this will need to be confirmed by your faculty or staff supervisor, or the advisor of your club is you work woth a club website.)

None of this will affect public_html websites! Those have already been migrated along with the rest of your H: drive, and you still edit them by chening files in your public_html folder. You still access them on the web at https://wou.edu/~username (where “username” is your username, not the actual word “username”.) However, if your public_html website still doesn’t work, please email me at webmaster@wou.edu and let me know. Include your username if you aren’t emailing from your wou.edu email address.