Chromebook Guide: FAQ

To start using your Chromebook, open the lid. If the Chromebook is turned on, it will prompt you to log in with your Pipeline username and password. If the screen is black, press the power button to turn on the Chromebook and wait for the login screen to load. Icon links to open your Gmail, Google Chrome, and other applications will appear at the bottom of the home screen. Please remember to log off by clicking the icon on the bottom right and choosing "log out" before returning your Chromebook to the Library Checkout desk. 

You can only login using your SBCC Pipeline username and password. The Chromebook will automatically connect to the SBCC Wi-Fi. Library Chromebooks cannot connect to a different Wi-Fi. Once logged in, you’re instantly on the Web and automatically have access to your Pipeline Google applications, including Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive.

No. Along with deleting the history and removing account login information, all saved data will be removed from the device upon logout.

The library’s Chromebooks can be used for: 

• Browsing the Internet
• Accessing Pipeline and Canvas
• Composing and checking email
• Creating or editing documents, spreadsheets, and slide presentations in Google Drive
• Recording videos for homework using YouTube
• Accessing VMware Horizon for remote access to department lab programs

Chromebooks use a different operating system than Windows or MacOS, called ChromeOS. You cannot install regular programs. BUT, there are plenty of other options. You can also use your Google Drive, including Docs, Sheets, and Slides, or any other online program you can normally access from a web browser.

Kind of. You must use your SBCC email to login to the computer, but once you are connected, you can access or add any other accounts you’d like from the browser just like normal.

Yes and no. Feel free to change layouts, settings, and accessibility options. Nothing you change or add will be seen by anyone else who uses the computer, in fact it will all be deleted once you log out or shut down. Changes made to your Google account preferences will be saved in the "cloud." The next time you use a Chromebook your previous settings will be available.

If you download something like a PDF, Word document, image, video, or audio file, they will all go to the “Files” folder on the computer (you can’t save anything to the desktop). You can find the “Files” folder in the Launcher on the bottom left corner of the screen. You can open or play most file formats from the Files folder, but anything left in there will be deleted when you log off or shut down, so make sure you move anything you need from there to your Google Drive.

Very! As soon as you log out or shut down the computer, it will erase your information from the Chromebook. Any changes you made to your Google accounts or documents are saved on the Google "cloud" servers. If you downloaded any files to the Chromebook, they will be erased when you log off.

There is no optical drive of any sort, but you can access media from cloud storage.

There is an audio input/output jack, 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, 1 HDMI, and 1 SD card slot. 

Students may be required to complete online exams using the Proctorio tool. Chrome OS meets the Proctorio Minimum System Requirements and can be used to take proctored exams.