SFU students, faculty, and staff are welcome to virtually access several computers physically located in either the main floor at W.A.C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby) , and the software on those computers as part of remote services provided by the Library.
See Computer labs: Off campus to access computers in labs located on the Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver SFU campuses outside of the Burnaby Library.
How to connect
1. Install Remote Desktop Connection on your computer
Using a Windows computer
You must have the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) Application available on your own computer. RDC is available in Windows 10 Professional by default (not on Windows 10 Home). All Library laptops available for checkout have the RDC App installed.
Using a Mac computer
Install Microsoft Remote Desktop from the App Store, if it is not already installed on your Mac computer.
Minimum requirements: macOS 10.12 or later (Sierra), 64-bit processor
2. Go the the Computer Lab Dashboard for:
- Graduate Students Computer Lab Dashboard
- Undergraduate Students Computer Lab Dashboard
Do NOT bookmark or save this address as it will change frequently.
3. Check available computers at the W.A.C. Bennett Library (SFU Burnaby)
Click on the BBY Library IC link to see which computers are available in the Bennett Library's virtual lab.
4. Choose an available computer
Make sure the computer you are about to sign into shows as Available for sign in.
Note: You may only sign into Windows PCs. Mac workstations are not currently available.
5. (optional) View the software or applications that are installed on an available computer.
Click on the name of the computer (for example: lib3000-ic04) to see the list of applications installed on that computer.
6. Connect to your chosen computer
Click on the Connect button under the Address column.
7. Click "OK" for the RDP pop up window
Do NOT click on "Save File" -- the downloaded .rdp file will not be re-usable after your current session.
For Windows
For Mac computers
Click "Download" from the "Connect" dialogue box.
Open the .rdp file.
8. Start the connection to the remote computer
For Windows
Click on the Connect button to initiate the connection.
For Mac computers
Open the file with Microsoft Remote Desktop.
9. Sign in with your SFU username and password
Enter your SFU username and password when prompted using this format:
username: adsfu\your computer id
for example: adsfu\jdoe
password: enter your SFU password
For Windows
If you are presented with a pop up box that contains a username you do not wish to use:
- choose More choices
- opt to Use a different account.
For Mac computers
10. Choose to connect
For Windows
For Mac computers
11. Agree to SFU policies
Choose OK to acknowledge that your computing session will adhere to SFU policies.
12. Use the Remote Desktop
You should now be connected!
Save your work to Vault or another space
Remember to save your work frequently. Save your work in SFU Vault or a space of your choice.
Do not save your work to the Library's remote desktop computer. Work saved to the remote desktop computer will be deleted.
Three hour limit and automatic sign off
Warning: Your Remote Desktop Connection session will time out and you will be logged off or signed off automatically after three hours of continuous use to allow other students to sign in.
Inactive sessions automatically sign off after thirty minutes
After 30 minutes of inactivity you will be automatically signed out of your remote desktop session and your unsaved work will be lost.
Sign out
When you finish your work, be sure to sign out
If you do not sign out (or are not automatically signed off), other students will need to wait.
To sign out for Windows and Mac computers
- Click on the Windows button
- Right click on your user name
- Sign out
If you accidentally close the remote desktop window without signing out (for example, you close the remote desktop window), you have up to 30 minutes to connect back to your remote desktop session without losing your unsaved work.