First Meeting?

[Steve Bory]

I'm a new student here.

When's the next CAOS meeting going to be?

[EvilAndrew]

I don’t know about the first meeting, but one of the first events should be a MSDNAA* Installfest.  This is a great chance to welcome the new CS students and serve a much-needed purpose.  

* = The MSDNAA is a program that allows SIUE CS students to get free Microsoft Developer software for their home/school computers.  It seems that every semester about 20-30 students have significant trouble downloading and installing Visual Studio.

[Steve Bory]

Sounds good.

I know several people that I have talked to in my CS140 class are having trouble with it.  Thankfully, I had no problems myself.

[Bryan]

The officers will be meeting in August to try and set a itenerary for the semester.  We hope to have a set enough schedule that it won't be too much of a problem to get everything we'd like done.  If you have any ideas feel free to post them here.  And, YES Andrew we WILL be doing an MSDNAA installfest.

[Jerry]

EvilAndrew wrote:
I don’t know about the first meeting, but one of the first events should be a MSDNAA* Installfest.  This is a great chance to welcome the new CS students and serve a much-needed purpose.  

We now have a MicroSoft Ambassador who also happens to be a CAOS officers. Maybe we can convince him to organize this.

[Tyler]

What kind of loser would want to be a CAOS officer?

ha.

[R. Andrew Lamonica]

Some of the common Visual Studio .NET 2003 install problems are really easy to fix, but they take time and it is not really the job of the CS Tech. Staff to support people’s home computers.  Some examples of common problems are:

[color=CC0000]How do I get the software?[/color]
Answer 1: Visit the CSD(http://www.cs.siue.edu/csd) site and click on the MSDNAA link at the left.
Answer 2: You must be actively taking a SIUE CS class.  Taking a class next semester does not count.  Having taken one last semester does not count. Taking a class with a different department for CS credit (for example ECE382) does not count.  Taking a CS class at another school does not count.
Answer 3: We take the system down over break.  It should be up the first week of the semester.

[color=CC0000]I went to the ELMS site and it said that I already downloaded the software and cannot get it again.[/color]
Answer 1: If you have tried before then you may need to request and additional install.  There is a form on the website.  I try to answer them within 10 hours on weekdays and within 24 hours on weekends. Be sure to include the reason you need an additional download.  It is really rare that requests are denied and when they are it is almost always because no reason or explanation was given.
Answer 2: If you are a new student and have a really common name (J. Smith for example) it is possible that the system is confusing you with a past student.  Let me know if this sounds like you.

[color=CC0000]I cannot get seem to get a useable file from the ELMS download site.[/color]
Answer 1: Try using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox.
Answer 2: Rename the file you get to .exe and try running it.

[color=CC0000]The installer is not working. [/color]
Answer 1: The installer looks different from normal Microsoft installers.  Try clicking on the number items in order.
Answer 2: You don’t have the correct version of Windows.  You must have an OS like XP Pro., XP Home, XP Tablet, Win2k, Server 2k or Server 2k3. You can get XP Pro from the MSDNAA.
Answer 3: You saved the 500KB downloader to your CD and not the 500MB installer that it downloads.

[color=CC0000]This thing is asking for IIS. What is IIS and where to I get it? [/color]
Answer 1: IIS is a web/ftp/mail server package that comes on some version of Windows. If you are not going to do ASP or ASPX development then you can skip the install IIS step.
Answer 2: You get IIS from your Windows XP CD or your i386 folder. It can be installed using the add/remove programs control panel.  (Make sure you install the FrontPage Extensions but it is best not to install the Mail Server)

[color=CC0000]Step 3 of the install (â€Ã...“Documentationâ€Ã,) is asking for a CD I don’t have. [/color]
Answer 1: You can get the MSDN Library from the MSDNAA it is 3 CDs and take several GB of free hard drive space.
Answer 2: If you are just a beginning programmer you will net need the MSDN Library you can skip this step.  If you really want to learn something about an API that is not covered in your textbook you can visit http://msdn.microsoft.com.  If you continue in CS after the introductory classes, then you can always install the most recent version of the MSDN Library at that time.  The installer on the first MSDN Library CD has an option to integrate with VS.NET 2003 so you are not missing anything by waiting.

[color=CC0000]The install is going really slow or my virus checker is freaking out. [/color]
Answer 1: Unplug your computer from the network and temporarily disable your virus checker/firewall.
Answer 2: Did you look at the requirements for running VS.NET 2k3?  Does your computer meet them?  A 300MHz Celeron probably isn’t worth putting this software on.

[color=CC0000]I have run out of hard drive space. [/color]
Answer 1: Try finding temp files or other non-important stuff to clean off your computer.
Answer 2: Try installing VS.NET and the MSDN on a different drive. (D:,E:,F:)
Answer 3: Don’t install all of VS.NET.  Visual FoxPro, Java.NET, the code examples, and the MSDN Library (to name a few) are not usually needed by CS 140/150 students.

[color=CC0000]I keep getting Viagra advertisements on the screen during the install. ;-) [/color]
Answer: You might want to run some anti-virus/adware software on your computer before installing VS.NET.  If you live on campus you can get Mcafee for free.

[color=CC0000]I installed VS.NET but I need C++ not Visual Basic. [/color]
Answer: You will need to create a different type of project (Win32 Console Application).  The default is Visual Basic but you do not need to select the default.  Ask a CS Tutor or your teacher to show you the steps for making an Empty C++ project and adding a single .cpp file to it.

[color=CC0000]I make a win32 project but it adds a bunch of unneeded files. [/color]
Answer: The computers in the CS Labs are set to make â€Ã...“Emptyâ€Ã, projects by default your home install is not.  You will need select empty project in â€Ã...“project settingsâ€Ã, when first making the project.

[color=00CC00]If anyone can think of any other problems, then please post them.[/color]  (I am making a list). :-D

[Ross Mead]

Can we give a hand to Andrew for the LONGEST POST EVER!!! :-P

[Jerry]

What ever happened to the CS FAQ on the CAOS website?

I recommend reviving it and putting Andrew's post on it.

[Shaun Martin]

so when is the first meeting?  <_<