Back Technical tips Call us (651) 639-8447         Pulling a load up the hill If you load down your car with six full-sized adults and then take on a 20% grade hill, you're going to put your car under some stress. If your car has spark plugs that need changing . . . you're not likely to make it up the hill at all. Taking a Web-based class is like pulling an uphill load for your computer and its software. If you're trying to pull the load up the hill with old plugs (obsolete software) you're going to bog down. If you're looking for quick work, just visit your local library. They always have state-of-the-art equipment and high speed Internet connections. Because of the hundreds of combinations of hardware, operating systems and software on the market, your instructors probably will not be able to solve technical issues that have to do with your individual system, but we will try. Sometimes struggling through an issue on your own will teach you lasting, system problem-solving skills that will serve you well in the future. Do not post a discussion board question about how to operate your individual software. Be courteous and make attempts to solve the issue on your own, or call technical support.  It is unreasonable to expect your classmates or instructors to teach you how to operate your software or hardware. Here are some suggestions to try when things start to cough and sputter . . .         Things to try first . . .   Check your spam blocking settings ? We will be sending at least two email messages each week. If you are not getting email from our system, it's almost always because your spam filtering software is blocking it. For complete instructions on how to make sure our email gets through Click Here   Be patient ? Parts of your class require a massive amount of resources. Often the problem is simply not allowing adequate time to load. If you are using an older computer, modem, or using AOL, you'll help by allowing plenty of time for things to load. For a quick way to work around this problem, visit your local library and use their state-of-the-art equipment and high speed Internet connections. Clear the underbrush ? In Internet Explorer, go to Tools and Internet Options. Under Temporary Internet Files click on Delete Files. Make sure you click the box that says Delete all offline content. Then click ok. Then go down to History. Click on Clear History and answer Yes. When that is done click Ok. If your browser is something other than Internet Explorer, check the help screens for these functions. Adjust your browser security settings ? Go into Tools and Internet Options. Click on the Security tab. Click on Internet and Custom Level. Reset to Medium and OK. Next click on Local Intranet. Click on Custom Level. Set this to Medium-Low and OK. Click on Trusted Sites. Click on Custom Level. Set this to Low and OK. Click on Restricted Sites. Click on Custom Level. Set this to High. Click Ok. Reboot your computer and Reopen Internet Explorer. Any brand of browser has similar commands. If your browser is not Internet Explorer, use your Help screens to learn to perform these functions.  Power off your computer ? Shut the power off, wait ten seconds and then reboot. Exit all programs ? Exit all programs running in the background, especially any virus checking software. Refresh page ? Use your browser refresh or reload function (View, Refresh on Internet Explorer) liberally. This is particularly true of the announcement page and the lesson access page. Help screens ? Click on Help and make sure you have tried to answer your questions in the help screens. Contact technical support ? Isolate your problem to a specific piece of hardware or software, then locate the phone number for technical support. You will find contact information in most software by clicking on Help and then About. Take a mini software class ? Almost every piece of software has a free online tutorial that will get you up to speed. To access the tutorial database Click Here         Classroom logon issues     Log in screen issues ? Errors that might appear on the log in page can be caused by a time out. If you leave your computer inactive for more than 20 minutes, the security system will log you off automatically. Always make sure you close your browser window and reopen a new browser window before logging in a second time. Just to make sure, it is sometimes wise to power your system off completely. Failure to follow the instructions carefully ? Slow down and follow the instructions very carefully. Start all over from scratch. It is a good idea to reboot your computer and follow instructions carefully. Errors in your email ? If the email address that you are trying to log on with does not match the address in our database exactly, you will not be allowed to enter the classroom. The classroom access database is case sensitive. If you are not sure what email address to use, check any email that we have sent you. The address that we send email to you is the same address as is in the database. Also, make sure that you add the domain gsinet.org to your safe senders list in any spam blocking system you might be using. Click Here         Your browser You will get maximum enjoyment from our classes if you are using a recent version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. No, we don't own stock in Microsoft?it has some features (plug-ins) that many of the other browsers do not have. The technologies involved in delivering robust online class content requires the use of many of these plug-ins. You can download a free version of Internet Explorer Click Here. Adobe PDF files?It is also highly recommended that you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system. Most newer computers come with it pre-installed. To determine if your system has Adobe Acrobat Reader Click Here. If you are unable to open the document, you will have to download and install it. You can obtain a free copy of it by going to:  www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html         Frequent issues   Accepting Cookies Error ? Your browser security settings must be adjusted to enable our system to track your class performance. Go into Tools and Internet Options. Click on the Security tab. Click on Internet and Custom Level. Reset to Medium and OK. Next click on Local Intranet. Click on Custom Level. Set this to Medium-Low and OK. Click on Trusted Sites. Click on Custom Level. Set this to Low and OK. Click on Restricted Sites. Click on Custom Level. Set this to High. Click Ok. Close your Internet Explorer. Reboot your computer and Reopen Internet Explorer.   Audio and Video ? Almost all audio and video issues are related to Internet connection speeds. If you have a slow Internet connection, you may encounter "choppy" performances. On a dial up connection, it can sometimes take up to 30 minutes for a video to load completely. But once it has loaded completely into your buffer, you should be able to enjoy the presentation uninterrupted. We have a technical support page devoted solely to video issues: Click Here Assignment Worksheets ? We have an entire page devoted to handling class assignment worksheets, spreadsheets and other documents. Click Here Downloading issues ? Click Here to hear some tips and hints on making your downloads go smoother. Always make sure you close down your virus checking software before attempting a download. Whenever you are attempting to download, if you are given the option to open the file or save it to your disk, always save it to your disk.  Put the file into a temporary folder. Follow the directions when installing any new software. When it has finished installing, it is always a good idea to reboot your computer before attempting to run new software for the first time. If the software does not function properly, try removing it and installing again. To do this, go to the control panel and select Add/Remove Programs. Remove the software from your system.  Reboot your system and try the download again. If you still have difficulty installing the software, contact the Web site of the author and request technical support from them. Sorry, your instructors cannot give you technical support for third party software products.  AOL issues ? AOL is a part-time Internet connection. They routinely disconnect their customers at will. If you experience a disconnect while you are inside the course, it is likely to cause problems. Some of the issues are unrecoverable errors, which can affect your test scores on quizzes. If AOL disconnects you while you are taking a quiz, you will not be able to record a score and cannot retake the quiz. Complain to AOL, not your classmates or instructors. Remember, you can always visit your local library and take your tests on their high speed Internet connections, if you are an AOL user and this is a problem. Corporate firewalls, spam filters, virus checkers and protection software ? If you are accessing the classroom from your computer at work, you may encounter problems opening up some of the files. Many corporations have installed filters that prevent employees from exposing the corporate network to viruses and other online threats. You may have to download the course material from an off-site computer to get around the issue. You may want to check with your company system administrator; sometimes it is just a simple adjustment. If you simply temporarily disable your virus protection software that will often help. If you have Guard-Dog software or other child filtering software, it must be disabled completely before your classroom will work properly. Also, make sure that you add the domain gsinet.org to your safe senders list in any spam blocking system you might be using. Text viewing problems ? Our course materials are designed to fit most 15" and larger monitor screens. If you have a screen 15" or larger, but are experiencing text running off the screen, try using a different setting. You can change the settings by going to Control Panel and Display and Settings. Then experiment by setting the Screen Area settings to more. That often will solve the problem. Use this area to correct color issues as well. No data error message ?This appears to be a caching problem with some browsers. The fix is very easy, but will require you to make an adjustment to your Internet browser. Select Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Cache -> Set both the Disk & memory cache settings to 0. If this solves the problem, you can reset these fields back to their original settings. If resetting these fields to their original settings causes the problem to reoccur, follow the steps above and set the disk & memory cache settings to half of their original value. Final exam issues ? Several of our educational partners grant college level credits for taking our classes. All Web-based classes offered by most colleges are required to comply with the Department of Defense's Advance Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative, SCORM-compliant courseware elements. These requirements include very strict control over testing and exams. This is required to protect the academic integrity of the course and prevent cheating. These educational institutions routinely enroll fictitious students to test our compliance. The system is configured to assume that if you leave (or even refresh) the page with your browser, that you are looking up the correct answer and therefore trying to run up the score. You might have inadvertently refreshed the page without even knowing it. You will have a time limit for the completion of any exam. If you exceed the time limit, your score will not register. If we can verify that you are not taking the course for college credit, we will try to accommodate your desire to retake the exam. Virus notices ? Some versions of Norton Anti-virus software will return warnings that documents in our class contain a virus. This is a bug in the Norton Anti-virus programs. We have reported the problem to Norton. We encourage you do to so also whenever you encounter an issue. Our documents are all thoroughly checked for viruses prior to being put online. If your anti-virus software will not allow you to open a document, a work-around is to open the low-tech alternative to the document.       Attaching files to the discussion board Attaching a file to a discussion post is very similar to sending a attachment to an email message. First, use your camera software or image editing software to create your image. Give it a name (barbquinn.jpg) Save it to your hard drive (C:/barbquinn.jpg). Avoid posting large files (25K+), as you will clog up the bandwidth of your classmates' systems. This could cause them to need to completely reboot their systems. Not a good way to make friends. If you are posting a photo, use your camera to reduce resolution to no more that 125 pixels and resize the photo to 3" x 5". Next, go to the discussion board. Click on either Post a New Message or Post a Reply. Compose whatever message you want, then check the box "Attach File to this Message". Click on "Browse" and locate your image on your hard drive to your file (C:/barbquinn.jpg). Click on "Upload" and that is all there is to it! Here are some additional hints and tricks to successfully attaching files to your discussion board postings: File Types ? Remember, your instructor and classmates may not have access to the software you used to create the file, so stick with generic file types like Text files .txt?HTML files, .htm?Image files .jpg. Most software  has the capability to save your file in a variety of file types. Check the Help function for the software you are using for further help with file types. Do not post zipped or compressed files. Illegal File Names ?The naming convention for Internet file types is different from that of your computer's operating system. Most important is the file name. A failure will occur if you try to upload a file that contains a space or other illegal characters such as: \ @ / *. + # Image Resolution ? Keep your photos small. Use your camera's software to resize (resample) the photos to no more than 3"x5" or a file size of 25kb. Many of your classmates have dial-up connections, and you are going to get lots of hate mail from them, if you post a photo that is 8"x12" or larger. Take the responsibility of learning how to use your camera's software. Please do not send your photos directly to your instructors, as they cannot post files for you. For security purposes, all file attachments are stripped off by the firewall and to protect your privacy, you are the only person who can post using your name and email address.         Visual Mind download Several of our classes recommend the use of mind mapping as a tool to record notes while learning, organizing information and to stimulate creative thinking. The Visual-Mind 30-day trial download is recommended, but not essential to the completion of your course work. A mind map can be created with a pencil and paper. Visual Mind is a third-party software product that your instructors and classmates cannot provide help in operating or installing.  If you have trouble with downloading or operating Visual Mind, please do not post a help request on the bulletin board. Visual Mind technical support is available by emailing support@visual-mind.com Mac users please note! Visual-Mind does not offer a version of their product for the Mac. Do not try to install it on a Mac computer-it will create headaches. An alternative is Inspiration, also available on a 30-day trial and available in both a Windows or Mac version. Click Here If you would rather do the exercises with paper and pencil. Manual mind maps are almost as effective as their electronic brethren.         Tune up your system If your system is slow and not working the way it should, find any 15-16 year old neighbor kid and give them $30 to download the upgrades to your software and tweak your systems resources. It will be the best $30 that you ever spent.  Most American teenagers can build a computer from scratch with only a pocketknife and some chewing gum, and they love to show off those skills. It is the only area of their lives where they can make us adults look stupid. America's best-kept secret is our 15-16 year-olds. A 14-year-old isn't ready yet and a 17 year-old will want more than $30. We have technical support available who can help. To contact us just click on Staff Information.       Download Hyperlinks Adobe Acrobat Reader Free Download Real-One Media Player Download Internet Explorer Upgrade Center Free Microsoft Office Clone Visual Mind?Mind Mapping Software Inspiration?Mind Mapping Software Coffee Cup?HTML Editor The Software Tutorial Center Tutorial Find Free Photoshop Clone

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