Use of USB devices
It is not permitted (see the Rules of Use) to use any device with ISS equipment, unless explicitly permitted as per this announcement about USB devices.
All PCs in ISS Cluster Rooms have USB ports on the front of the case. These ports may be used for USB devices, providing that the device is "host-powered", i.e. it does not require a separate power supply. See Note 1.
Notes
- USB devices must be host-powered: that is, they draw their power via the USB cable itself. Connecting any mains-powered devices to the power supplies used for ISS equipment is strictly prohibited. This is for reasons of safety, insurance and service integrity.
- Note also that only USB ports on the front of ISS PCs may be used: it is not permitted to use any connections at the back of PCs.
- Windows XP and Vista provide support for many USB devices, and most will work without a problem. Please contact the IT Service Desk if you have questions on these topics. See 4 and 5 below.
- ISS's advice is to use removable devices only as backup and for file transfer. The safest way to work is to copy your file from your removable disk to your ISS filestore (Drive H:, "My Documents") and work on it there. You can then copy it back to your removable disk when you end your session, but keep a copy on H Drive.
Always keep plenty of spare space on filestore devices.
- Some manufacturers provide extra software for their devices which will perform tasks such as encoding the data held. However this requires a "driver" to be installed on any PC on which the pendrive will use, and therefore such pendrives will probably not work on ISS PCs. Reformatting the pendrive using Windows will lose the ability to encode, but will permit greater usage across computers.
- A further complication is the assignation of drive letters: if you cannot "see" your USB pen when you insert it, it may be trying to use a drive which is already in use (e.g. D:, E:, H:, J:, etc.) and therefore unavailable. If you have this problem, please contact the IT Service Desk.