Right I'm on there. And yes, I really do look like that!

This thread is now officially closed and I'm the winner. 8-)

Hmmm, disgraceful (says he who's spent the last hour on Facebook).

Just knockin' off for the night. I started at 9 am and haven't really stopped all day. But what a productive day. Makes up properly for yesterday's procrastination day nicely. Night all!

As a rule of thumb, only print off/photocopy those which you intend to use (and scribble notes all over).

Re: filing by EndNote. Don't file by author name. If you did, you'd find that you would regularly have to reorganise ALL of your folders to make room for new articles which have to be inserted within he existing files. Instead, you very simply number 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on using the Record Number ascribed by EndNote (which starts at 1 and counts upwards). Even when you delete a reference, the numbering remains the same so EndNote will never change it's numbering system unless you start combining EndNote libraries. On this basis, have one EndNote library that contains all articles on any subject.

You then start with one lever arch file and file them accordingly 1, 2, 3 4 etc until it is full. Then label the file, say, articles 1-50 if that's how many there are, and start a new lever arch file 51- .... . Essentially, you are getting EndNote to do the hard work, so look after it and keep a backup of the library. So if I'm looking for Humperdinck and Diamond (2005), I can either do a search in EndNote on their name(s) or just sort the list alphabetically and read off the record number so you know which lever arch file to look in. You could even print off a record list which lists what articles are contained in each lever arch file in case your computer goes down.

Yes, as they say with hard drives, it's only a matter of time before they fail, so you need a backup.

A USB key probably wouldn't be big enough over the 3 years, so you need an external drive with, in your case, a USB2 connection. Have a think about what you want to back up. For instance, as well as your PhD files, do you have music files or lots of photos. These all require significant drive space so go for a large external drive.

You then periodically (weekly at least) back up to the external. After the first backup, try to find some software that examines both drives of your machine (or just a specified folder) and compares them so that it only backs up new files or files that have changed since the last backup (therefore not touching any files which haven't changed). Makes the whole backup process much much quicker. I use FolderMatch but there are others out there.

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I read somewhere that Wispa had returned from exile, or did I just dream it?

That was unforgivable, but I needed counselling after they changed Opal Fruits to Starburst.

It'd be even funnier if at that moment Vista was to display one of its "catastrophic error" screens. For once, it might be very apt!

Get to know the IT geeks around the department - the ones who can get you things, e.g. installation disks for expensive software, administrator privileges for your office PC so you can install your own programmes, and so on...

Some students come up with over-complicated topic-based filing groups for their "paper" papers. Inevitably, you can't remember where you filed the paper you now desperately need. Instead, use the "Record Number" field in EndNote to number your articles from 1 onwards. EndNote automatically assigns a new entry a new number. Use this to number your papers and then file them in number order. If you go into the Preferences window in EndNote and the "Dislay Fields" tab, you can add the Record Number field to the display screen. Then , when you need a paper you can use EndNote to search for the author/keyword and it will tell you the number. You'll never lose another paper again or have to reorganise your filing system.

Ouch! I haven't had any problems with it other than it clearing my recently used file list.

You didn't ask it to clean the registry as well? An IT geek friend of mine told me to leave the registry well alone. But yes, do a back up before you commence!

Welcome to the board lurkers - the water's lovely and warm!

I'll let the others talk about ethics, I'll talk about saving money.

If you have a stipend you shouldn't be needing overdraft facilities, so you'd be better going for bank whose current account pays the highest interest. There are a few around. I'm with the Halifax and get 6.something per cent on my current account so long as the balance never exceeds £2500 (the rate plummets if you exceed it) and that you pay in £1,000 per month. For those of you, like me, who get paid quarterly this condition might seem a problem, but it isn't. Set up a web saver a long with it (can be done online) and set up a direct debit to pay £1,000 into your web saver from your current account, then set up another DD for 24 hours later to transfer it back. The computer reads it as £1,000 per month deposit and you get the high interest. The additional savings account can then be used to store any amounts over the £2,500 ceiling. Dead easy. I earn about £160 a year in interest this way.

Failing that, have a look at some of the interesting golden hellos out there. Natwest were recently offering a £100 incentive which is more than you'll earn in interest in most current accounts in one year.

Have you tried Moneysavingexpert for this sort of thing? He has some really good advice on banks and lots of other things you can save money on. I get his weekly email.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

There is a programme called CCleaner which is very good at doing the lists of tasks detailed in the other posts (emptying the recycle bin, emptying the temp folder, querying obselete programmes etc). Try googling it but if you run the clean mode, be sure to check the list of what it intends to do before okaying it.

I wouldn't give up before you've even started. As the saying goes, it's better to have tried and failed than not tried at all.

Ask your supervisor and the right IT person about setting you up on the university's VPN (virtual private network) and to enable Remote Desktop. Put in english, you can dial into the university network from home and can use Remote Desktop to operate and view your department PC (which may contain specialist software) from the comfort of your own home. It also gives you a univeristy IP address allowing you to access their online journal subscriptions. Get yourself a mid-market laptop and fast broadband (if such a thing actually exists in the UK) and you'll be well-sorted. Then just into the department when you need books, paper journals, meetings etc. A bit of time management and you can group these activities into one day here and there. Good luck.