• These are done by appointment.   Peak times in the AT department include: August 15 - October 15, January 2 - March 15.  It is difficult to schedule appointments during these weeks.
• Each computer must meet minimum standards:
  • laptop: 128 MB RAM,  10 GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive, floppy drive
  • desktop: 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive, network card
  • the computer needs 800 MB free on the C drive
  • if your computer does not meet this standard:
    • check with the department head to see if the College plans to replace this machine
    • call the Help Desk to add your name to the FTU list. (The College has a few "field tested units" - computers that have been released by other departments and then renovated for use on campus)
• Under our current contracts, we can install the following software:
  • Operating system: Windows XP 
  • Microsoft Office XP
  • Norton AntiVirus software
  • EndNotes

To prepare for upgrading your operating system, the department head should identify a staff member as coordinator for this project.

  The Coordinator would

• call the Help Desk:
• to arrange an appointment to install the following on each office computer.
  • Norton Antivirus software:  Set this to update daily and scan weekly.
  • A simple firewall, e.g. Zone Alarm
• to schedule the office-wide upgrade (at a realistic date in the future)

Each staff member would

• Review all documents stored on your local hard drive.   You must backup important files before the upgrade.  This is a good time to:
  • delete outdated files
  • delete frivolous files:  music files, KaaZa, old email attachments
  • move historical files to a CD-ROM
  • organize your files into folders
  • evaluate your regular backup procedures
• Check amount of free space on your C drive.  We need a minimum of 800MB free to install the upgrade.

The Coordinator notifies the Help Desk when the users are ready to upgrade.   The Help Desk works with the Coordinator to schedule individual appointments with each staff member in order to minimize disruption in the department.

Next, the user makes a current backup of all important files.  The time needed for this varies widely.  An average user needs one hour.   If the user has a collection of music files, the backup can take several hours.   Some departments have most of their files on the shared drive, and so will only need to backup email messages and configurations as detailed on the CHECKLIST.

The Help Desk staff will come to the department to upgrade the desktops; laptops should be delivered to the Lehman Computer Center by the department.