This article is part of the Stata for Students series. If you are new to Stata we strongly recommend reading all the articles in the Stata Basics section.
Students at UW-Madison have several options for using Stata:
- You can log into Winstat from your computer (no matter where you are) and run Stata there
- You can come to the SSCC Computer Labs, especially 4218 Sewell Social Sciences Building, and run Stata on the Lab PCs
- You can download Stata from the Campus Software Library and install it on your own computer
While the Campus Software Library is available to all UW-Madison students, you'll need an SSCC account to use Winstat or the Lab. If your class is using SSCC resources you should have received an account for use during that class. If not, visit the account request page to see if you're eligible for one.
If you use Winstat or the Computer Lab, you'll have access to your SSCC home directory, the U: drive. Files on U: are available from anywhere by logging into Winstat and backed up five times a day. The instructions in Stata for Students will assume you're storing your files on the U: drive. If you are running Stata on your own computer, you can use a folder on your computer's hard drive instead. Just change references to the U: drive to the folder you're using.
Stata on a Mac (or Linux computer) is essentially identical to Stata on Windows. The instructions will assume you're using Windows, but Mac users will need to make very few changes, mostly related to using files. Alternatively, you can log into Winstat from your Mac and run Stata for Windows there.
Next: Managing Stata Files
Last Revised: 6/24/2016