Help & Tutorials

Second Life is a Multi User Virtual Environment (MUVE). It allows users from all over the world to interact together in a virtual world. To understand Second Life, here are a few analogies to consider:

• Second Life is in part a social network.
• Think of Facebook or Myspace, but in 3D!
• Second Life has the building flexibility of The Sims.
• At any moment around 40,000-60,000 individuals are online.

Inside Second Life are many communities, groups, educational entities, and businesses.

Click on the 'Sign up' tab above or go to https://join.secondlife.com/

You will automatically download the Second Life software as part of the sign up process.

If you are already signed up and just wish to reinstall the software go to http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/

You can find your Second Life Username and Password at https://secondlife.com/my/account/request.php

East Carolina University has no records of avatar names or
passwords used in Second Life.

Your computer may not meet the requirements of Second Life.

The requirements are listed at http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

Checking Internet Connection
If you aren't sure what speed of internet connection you have, you can test it at Speedtest.net. Select "Start Test" at the top once it has loaded. For Second Life we recommend a connection of 512Kbps or better. Dial-up is not supported

Checking Operating System, CPU, RAM, and Graphics
Second Life is a very powerful program. As such, it requires more from your computer than some other programs such as your web browser or music player. Here is a quick way to check and make sure your computer meets the above requirements.

1. Log into Second Life
2. On the menu bar at the top, click on Help, then About
3. Second Life should display a screen similar to the following

Check the CPU, Memory, OS, and Graphics Card against the Second Life Requirements.

Videos in Second Life use one of two different formats: .mov and .mp4.

The easiest solution to play both of these file types is to install Apple Quicktime. Visit http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

1) Click "Download Now"
2) Install Quicktime
3) Restart Second Life.
4) The video should now play.

We have recieved a number of quesitons regarding problems with Second Life freezing when launched, typically at "Initializing VFS". Through our testing, we have found that the following procedure fixes the problem.

Enable Hidden Files & Folders:

1) Open Control Panel
2) Open “Folder Options”
3) Open the “View” tab
4) Check “Show hidden files, folders, and drives”

Press OK and close control panel.

Accessing AppData:

Browse to the path below that corresponds to your operating system:

Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\

Windows Vista - C:\Users\<username>\AppData\

Windows Vista Home Premium - C:\Users\<username>\AppData\

Windows 7 - C:\Users\<username>\AppData\ 

Inside the AppData folder:

1) Open the Local folder and delete the entire Second Life folder.

2) Go back one level to the AppData folder.

3) Open the Roaming folder and delete the entire Second Life folder.

4) Restart your computer. This is important. Do not try starting Second Life again until you have rebooted.

Once you have rebooted, Second Life should run properly.

In Second Life, one of the neat features is that it has a real sun and moon! Every four hours the day changes to night, and night into day. If you want to manually make it a certain time, you can!

1) Select "World" on the menu
2) Scroll down and select "Sun"
3) Choose your time of day.

If you want to quickly set it to Day mode, press Ctrl+Shift+Y (Cmd+Shift+Y on Mac)

While exploring our ECU Islands you will notice music playing. During class and voice chat, you may wish for this music to go away. Here is how to turn off the music temporarily.

 In the top right corner of your screen, find the play/pause button

1. Hover (pause) over it with your mouse
2. Click "More"
3. Find "Parcel Streaming Music" and
4. Press stop at the bottom.