Vancouver Island University

Student Computer Accounts

Quick Links

• Create a Student Computer account (you will need your student number and registration PIN to do this.)
• Reset your account password (you will need your student number and registration PIN to do this.)
• Step-by-step instructions (PDF) on using the online Account Create/Reset tool.
• Access your U: drive from off-campus
• Access your U: drive from your laptop using WISP or S-WISP (PDF)
• Access your U: drive from a Macintosh computer
• Information about Student Computer account user names and passwords
• Create a web site / Set up a web folder in your account

About Student Computer Accounts

If you are registered in a regular program at VIU, you are entitled to a network computer account on the Discovery domain (part of VIU's network reserved for students), provided you abide by the Use of Information Technology Policy. With an account you get:

• A user name and password that you can use to log on to most computer labs on the Nanaimo Campus. You can also use your username and password to connect to the VIU wireless networks.
• A personal "roaming" profile. A roaming profile is basically your personalized "desktop" and settings. When you make changes to your desktop in a session, these are saved in your profile. The next time you log on to the system in Windows XP (on any computer on the system), your personal profile is downloaded for you.
• 200 MB of private network storage for your files. Because your profile and settings are stored in your account, you actually have about 195MB of storage in your network folder, or U: drive. Always follow good file management practices to avoid losing your work!

You can create your account or reset your account password online. N.B.: you will need your student number and registration PIN to do this.

Your account will remain active for 120 days after you are no longer enrolled as a Vancouver Island University student. At the end of the 120 days your account is disabled. Data is removed from an account 1 year after it has been disabled. If you register in a regular program during that 1 year period, your account will be re-enabled with no loss of data.

Web folders for Student Computer Accounts . A web folder allows students to make HTML files (i.e. web pages), and other web-based media content, available on the World Wide Web. If you do not have a web folder in your computer account, you can create one. If your web directory is not working properly, you can remove it and re-create it.

Access your account from home.

NOTE: Your computer account is not an e-mail account. The University does not provide e-mail accounts for students. If you need an email account, see Email Options for Students.