Vista Frequently Asked Questions for Students

Important Note: If you're not familiar with the Vista terminology in use throughout this document, then review the page Navigating in Vista -- A Student's Guide. This document describes the navigation features and terminology of the Course Home Page as well as a typical Course Content screen.

Click on a question to link to an answer:

  1. Where can I go for Vista support on campus?
  2. When I go to WebCT, I cannot find any of my classes. Where are they?
  3. Why do I keep getting bumped back to the Login page when I try to log into Vista?
  4. I connect with AOL. Do I have to use the AOL browser for Vista?
  5. Can I Forward my Vista Email to Another Account?
  6. Something called "Content Advisor" is blocking my access to Vista content. How can I fix this?
  7. Why can't I view an Adobe PDF file in Vista?
  8. Why can't I upload or submit an assignment in Vista?
  9. Why can't I open a Chat/Whiteboard session?
  10. Printed output from Vista looks terrible. What's wrong?
  11. Why am I getting a browser message, which says "URL you have entered was not recognized," when I try to get into my Vista account?
  12. Why do I get an error message, which says my "session time out," when I first log in to Vista?

Where can I go for Vista support on campus?

Student support for WebCT Vista is available through the IT Solution Center 367-4810 during normal library hours or via e mail help@fairmontstate.edu

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When I go to WebCT, I cannot find any of my classes. Where are they?

Students will not see their classes listed until after midnight of the first day of the class. Students can find the start date of their class in the online schedule of classes at https://webfors.fairmontstate.edu/schedule.htm

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Why do I keep getting bumped back to the Login page when I try to log into Vista?

This is one of the most common problems that users have with Vista. Your browser may not be properly configured to work with Vista. Run the WebCT browser check, which is available by clicking the link, Check Browser, in the upper-right corner of the Vista Login page. Check Browser displays a report of its results, and you may see adjustments you may need to make to your browser. A pop-up blocker is usually responsible for bumping you back to the login page.

For more information about supported browsers, visit

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I connect with AOL. Do I have to use the AOL browser for Vista?

No. Try this technique:

  1. Connect to the internet with AOL
  2. Launch a private chat in AOL (to keep your AOL client open without disconnecting)
  3. Minimize AOL
  4. Launch a different supported browser (e.g., Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 1.0, or Netscape 7)
  5. Login to Vista in the non-AOL browser

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Can I Forward my Vista Email to Another Account?

No, mail forwarding is not allowed from WebCT Vista at Fairmont State.

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Something called "Content Advisor" is blocking my access to Vista content. How can I fix this?

Content Advisor is a feature in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In the Content Advisor dialog message, you can check the radio button to "Always allow this Web site to be viewed" (Note that you will also have to provide your Content Advisor password. Alternately, you can click Tools --> Internet Options --> Content tab --> Settings to add vista.fairmontstate.edu to the list of approved sites.

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Why can't I view an Adobe PDF file in Vista?

If you are trying to view a PDF file with Internet Explorer in Vista, and it appears that nothing is happening or if you see a window quickly open and then close this is likely caused by a browser setting. A browser setting called "Automatic prompting for file downloads," which is in your Internet Options, needs to be set to Enable. For instructions, see step #5 in Configuring Internet Explorer for Vista.

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Why can't I upload or submit an assignment in Vista?

Why can't I open a Chat/Whiteboard session?

The most common cause for both of these problem is a missing or incorrect Java installation. You must have Sun Microsystems Java.

Verify Your Java Installation

First, it's a good idea to check on what version of Java you have installed. Follow these steps:

  1. If you are running Windows, go to your Control Panel (usually Start --> Settings --> Control Panel)
  2. In the Control Panel, select the icon or function for Add or Remove Programs
  3. In the Add or Remove Programs listing, scroll down the alphabetic list of currently installed programs until you see an entry for Java. The preferred entry should be Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2. (Note that J2SE 5.0 should also work, but it is not yet officially supported).
  4. If you have any other versions of Java, remove them from your installed programs. If you have Java SE v1.4.2 in addition to other versions of Java, this version should now begin to work properly after you've removed the other versions.

Obtain Sun Microsystems Java 2 Runtime Environment

  1. Download Java 2, Standard Edition, v1.4.2 Runtime Environment from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html.
  2. Scroll down to the J2SE v 1.4.2_xx JRE section and select it. Do not choose the SDK version!
  3. You will be directed to a download section for the current version of 1.4.2 (_09 as of this writing).
  4. You will be required to accept a license agreement
  5. Chose the Java 2 version for your operating system platform. Note that there are two versions of the installation program for the Windows platform:
    1. An Offline Installation - this is the complete self-extracting version, and it is best to download this if you have a slow or unstable internet connection.
    2. A "regular" Windows Installation - this version is optimized for a LAN or broadband connection. You'll download a smaller Installation program, which will fetch the remainder of the program over the internet while you are installing.
  6. Follow the online instructions for installation. When you go back into Vista, you might see a security warning for one of the Vista-related Java applets that are about to be downloaded. You must accept these warnings before you can use the Java applet. Select the box for "Always trust...," otherwise you'll see this warning every time that you launch the applet.

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Printed output from Vista looks terrible. What's wrong?

If you try to print your Vista pages directly from your web browser's print feature, you will often get truncated and incomplete output. The proper way to print from within Vista is to use "Create Printable View," which appears as an icon on the action menu in the top-right section of your text window. The Create Printable View icon looks like a small printer.

You can create a printable view of all or selected HTML or text content in a learning module -- provided that the instructor allows this feature. The printable view can then be printed or saved to a file. If you choose the save to a file option, the content is saved as a zip file, which you can save to your local machine.

The Syllabus Exception

If you want to print your syllabus, there is a Printable Version button that you can click on the bottom-left of your syllabus window. This will create a printer-friendly output in a pop-up window, which you can then print with your browser's print feature.

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Why am I getting a browser message, which says "URL you have entered was not recognized," when I try to get into my Vista account?

You will usually see this message if you try to use a bookmark or quick link in your browser, which you have set for your Vista login screen. If you want to set a bookmark, the Institution Listing at http://vista.fairmontstate.edu is your best bet.

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Why do I get an error message, which says my "session time out," when I first log in to Vista?

You'll probably see this frequently on a public terminal on campus. This is usually caused by an improperly cached browser "cookie," which makes Vista think that you are already logged in. If you are getting the "session time out" message, the most straightforward solution is to clear your cookies. To prevent this error from occurring, it is important to always log out correctly from Vista.

Clearing Cookies

If you are using Internet Explorer, you can do this by going to Tools --> Internet Options. On the General tab, look for the "Temporary Internet files" section. Click the "Delete Cookies..." button, and respond "OK" to the Delete Cookies dialog box.

If you are using a Mozilla-based browser, go to Tools --> Options. Click the "Privacy" icon, scroll down to "Cookies" and click the "Clear" button.

If You Keep Getting the Error Message

Following are some additional things that you should look at:

  • Cookies - for IE go to Tools/Internet options/Privacy and move the slider to Medium or lower in order to allow for cookies. If you prefer a higher level, then you should add the Vista server to the allowed web sites. Click the Edit button in the Web sites section on the Privacy tab. Then add the domain vista.fairmontstate.edu and click Allow. Then click OK.
  • Accelerators - disable any accelerators used with your ISP to "load pages faster." These typically work by caching and re-using pages that you have visited before. In doing so, they may not load the most current information on the web page that you are requesting.

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