Though electrical problems caused the PAWS, Panther Access Web Services, to temporarily shut down Sunday, the system is now up and running and students should start retrieving their new e-mail passwords again.

Thanks to updates during the summer, students will no longer have to battle long lines at User Services in the Students Services Building to pick up or reset passwords, said Jim Henderson, director of User Services.

Instead, continuing and new students must reset their e-mail account passwords to access student accounts. The new passwords are retrieved by logging onto PAWS and clicking on the E-mail/WebCT icon. A random password will be assigned, and then students must go to http://www.ezreset.eiu.edu to personalize their password.

“Students don’t have to come and stand in line to reset their e-mails anymore. They can just change it themselves, which will be so much easier. This is using technology to its greatest (capabilities),” Henderson said.

The reset will give users more control over their accounts, allow them more storage space and offer convenience, Henderson said.

Two electrical surges on Sunday shut down the PAWS system, but information was rebooted and accessible by noon Monday. Crews were out to recapture the data lost after the power surge erased from a backup hard drive, Henderson said.

Crews also intalled a backup electrical system to prevent another surge from shutting down PAWS. The system was supposed to be installed before students returned to school, but the project was behind schedule, Henderson said.

“It was one of those things we should have gotten to, but didn’t. We’re paying for it now,” he said. “We were running behind schedule.”

However, now that the backup system is in place, Henderson hopes people will reset their accounts as soon as possible to take advantage of the benefits.

Students will be able to manage their e-mail and computer lab log-on passwords and have more room on their accounts after User Services’ seven-year-old equipment was replaced.

The upgrade involved the installation of faster, larger servers to store and process accounts and new software that will allow students to change their own passwords on-line and increase e-mail reliability, a press release said.

“This is a real improvement in the university’s students e-mail system in terms of both convenience and security,” Henderson said in a press release.

“It will empower students by giving them control of and easier access to their own accounts. It will speed up system response times, and it will mean larger quotas for their e-mail storage and personal pages.”

P-Synch, the new software program that allows students to reset their own passwords, works by prompting students to write a series of personal security questions to which only they know the answers.

The upgrades also included installation of two new Sunfire V880 servers that can handle more space and are faster. The new servers cost $84,000 to $100,000 a piece, Henderson said.