Helpful tips on how to create a screen shot

By Brent Cobb | Published: November 15, 2012

Helpful tips on how to create a screen shot

 

Often times when you run into a computer problem it is easier to send a picture of the issue than it is to try and explain it over email or the phone.  Below are some simple instructions on how to do this on Windows, Mac, and iPhone/iPad/iPod.

 

Windows

  1. Press the “Print Screen” button (It might be listed as PrtScn on your keyboard). This button is located on the top right of your keyboard.  This takes a picture of your desktop and saves it to your clipboard.
    1. You can also press “Alt + Print Screen” to take a picture of only your active window.
    2. Next you will need to open the Paint program.
      1. On Windows XP this program can be located by clicking on the Start button, then All Programs, then Accessories, then lastly Paint.
      2. On Windows 7 simple click on the start button and type “Paint”.
      3. Once we have the Paint program open, simply paste into the blank document and your screenshot should appear.
      4. The last step is to save the file just like any other file you would want to save.

Mac

  1. Hold the “Command” and “Shift” and “3”.  This will take a picture of the entire screen and save it to the desktop as a file named “Picture 1.png”
    1. If you would like to take a partial screenshot press the above commands, but replace the “3” with “4” and it will allow you to draw a rectangle of the area you would like to capture.

iPhone/iPad/iPod

  1. Hold down the Home button and the Sleep/wake button.  This will take a picture of the entire screen and saves it as a photo.  It can be found inside of the Photos app under Saved Photos.
    1. This requires firmware 2.0 or later
Posted in Quick Hints & Tips | Leave a comment

Apple iPad and the TechQual+ Survey Project – Assessing IT Service Outcomes for Higher Education

By Brent Cobb | Published: October 25, 2012

Don’t forget to participate in the TechQual+ Survey Project about the quality of the College’s technology services.

The goal of the project is to understand what end users expect from IT organizations and then to allow a systematic exploration of the IT service outcomes in a way that provides for comparisons across other similar institutions. The survey is designed and administered by the TechQual+ service and research project. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Be sure to finish sharing your feedback before the survey closes on Friday, November 9, 2012 at 5 p.m.

Please click the link to participate.

https://survey.techqual.org/dl.aspx?g=23ed48b1-dc6b-4f33-befb-e6d4434e1620

You can enter to win a 16GB Apple iPad by answering questions about IT services at the College of Charleston!

 

After completing the survey on the TechQual website, you will be directed back to the College of Charleston webpage to enter your name and email address if interested in a chance to win. Your individual survey responses will remain anonymous to the College of Charleston.

By responding to the TechQual+ survey, you tell us where improvements are needed. TechQual+ assists leadership in better understanding the technology needs of the College of Charleston community. Responses to the survey will help support project priorities. The survey tool asks questions in the following areas:

  • Connectivity and Access
  • Technology and Collaboration Services
  • Support and Training

It will ask you to provide evaluations regarding minimum expectation levels, desired service levels, and perceived service levels for 13 core commitments.

Your participation will allow the College of Charleston to measure its progress year after year and will allow comparisons to be made between Information Technology at the College and other higher education universities. The information submitted will remain anonymous and is protected by the Higher Education TechQual+ privacy policy

You may also login to MyCharleston to access this survey. You will find a link to the TechQual survey on the Home tab of MyCharleston.

Additional information about TechQual+ can be found at Higher Education TechQual+ Project

If you have questions about the survey, please contact HelpDesk at helpdesk@cofc.edu or 953-3375.

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Scheduled IT Systems Outage July 20-22

By Brent Cobb | Published: June 15, 2012

There will be a major, planned College network and systems application outage the weekend of July 20 – 22.  Please plan now for no Internet access beginning Friday night at 6:00 pm with intermittent Internet access while the new systems are tuned. Network access within the campus will not be affected, however systems that are hosted off-campus such as Eprocure, PeopleAdmin, and Cmail with not be available from within the College network.  In addition, access to College email systems via Gibbes, Outlook Web Access, iPhones, Android phones, and Blackberries from outside the campus network will also be affected by this outage.   Our technology plans for July 20 to July 22 are not yet final; however, we are working hard to minimize the mandatory interruption in service.  Details of the planned outage will continue to be published as they become known.

 

The July 20-22 outage is required by Network Engineering to complete a significant increase in our Internet bandwidth.  This reflects our rapid  growth in the use of the Internet for academic and other purposes.  Required is the replacement of all the current older, over-capacity electronics that connect the College network to the Internet, as well as new connections to the new and larger Internet “pipes.”  Again, the network downtime to make the changeover to the new Internet equipment would be intolerable during the academic year.

 

To minimize campus IT outages, IT will also perform an upgrade to the Bell Building Data Center on Sunday, July 22nd starting at 8:00 a.m. until approximately 2 p.m.  This will require that all equipment in the Data Center be powered off to perform this critical and sensitive electrical work.  This means that all systems will not be available starting at 8:00 a.m. until approximately 2 p.m.   All systems include access to key systems such as:

 

Faculty and Staff email, MyCharleston, Banner Finance, Banner HR/PY, Admissions, AR, Financial Aid, Student, Banner Self Service Finance, Employee, Financial Aid and Academic Services, Banner Relationship Management (BRM), eProcurement, GradesFirst, Cognos, ODS, UC4, Aceware, CAS, BDMS,  ePrint, POSM, DegreeWorks, StarRez, WorkFlow, Touchnet, Academy1, OAKS, Echo360, Explorance, and Axiom, Parking Services, ScanNet, Recruitment Plus, Raiser’s Edge, HelpDesk, Resource 25, GIS, “U” drive files on Data Center storage, College web pages, Cougar Card Services, Cougar Alerts to Faculty/Staff email.

All other systems located in the Bell Building Data Center not listed above will also be affected.

 

Thank you for your cooperation as IT works to refresh and upgrade your mission-critical technology resources.

Please direct questions and comments about the July 20-22 outage to the Helpdesk at helpdesk@cofc.edu or call 953-3375 Option #3.

Posted in Important information, Maintenance | Leave a comment

Updating software on classroom computers. Do you have Changes for next semester?

By Brent Cobb | Published: May 17, 2012

Prior to the beginning of each semester at the College, Information Technology (IT) updates/adds academic-related software applications on the computers in 1) smart classrooms, 2) computer classrooms/labs, 3) meeting/conference rooms, 4) Library Student Computing Center and 5) faculty offices.  This service is designed to support the changing instructional needs of the faculty.

 

Procedure

If you would like to request a change in the applications currently loaded on computers in the above locations or want to install new software, you should:

 

  1. First, backup any existing documents/files you want to save.  The process of   “reimaging or updating/adding new software applications requires that the computer be wiped clean of any existing files/data.  So make a copy of any files you want to keep, before you proceed to the next step!

 

  1. Gather all information about the software i.e.: cds, license information or websites where the software can be downloaded from along with  location of where software is to be installed,  how many computers is the software to be installed on and the semester  the software is needed by.

 

 

  1. When finished, send an email helpdesk@cofc.edu  with the information requested in procedure number 2.

 

  1. Please keep in mind that some software may not be able to be installed do to incompatibility issues with the operating systems or other software that is already installed on the computers.  If this is your particular situation, we will work with you and the vendors for possible solutions.

 

 

Deadlines

To assure adequate time to install software for the beginning of each semester, the deadlines are:

      Semester Needed                          Request Must Be Received by             

Spring                                                  December 1

Summer Sessions                                 May 25

            Fall                                                       July 1

*Note:  Any software request submitted after the above received by dates may impact the timely installation of the requested software.

 

The requesting department is responsible for all licenses and software purchases.

 

We look forward to working with you.  Please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@ccofc.edu

3-3375 with any questions you may have.

 

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May 22nd Downtime

By Brent Cobb | Published: May 16, 2012

Network Engineering will conduct maintenance on the hardware connecting the College to the BATTERY network and the Juniper VPN on May 22, 2012 between 10:30 PM and May 23, 2012 2:00 AM. During this time network connectivity to and from the BATTERY Network, including the MyCharleston (http://my.cofc.edu) web portal, the main College webpage (www.cofc.edu), INB, SSB, Banner Relationship Management (BRM), eProcurement,
GradesFirst, MAP-Works, UC4, BDMS,  POSM, DegreeWorks, StarRez, WorkFlow, Touchnet, Oaks, Academy1, Echo360, Explorance, and Axiom as well Internal and External VPN will be intermittent. This outage does not affect network connectivity to and from the College and the Internet.

 

If you have any questions or need further assistance please contact the Helpdesk.

helpdesk@cofc.edu

953-3375 Option #3

Posted in Important information, Maintenance, New Alerts! | Leave a comment

Planned System Maintenance

By Brent Cobb | Published: May 15, 2012

Attention Faculty, Staff and Students:

The Banner environment, which includes Banner Self Service, Banner INB and MyCharleston, will be down for an upgrade this weekend. This upgrade requires that these applications be unavailable for an extended period of time during the weekend:  Outage times include:

Friday, May 18, 2012 starting at 10:30 p.m. until Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 8:00 a.m.

Saturday, May 19, 2012 starting at 10:30 p.m. until Sunday, May 20, 2012 at noon.

This upgrade will provide new functionality in the Banner and MyCharleston environment.

The following applications will not be available during this time:

-       Banner Finance, HR/PY, Admissions, AR, Financial Aid and Student

-       Banner Self Service Finance, Employee, Financial Aid and Academic Services, Starrez Student Portal

-       MyCharleston, DegreeWorks, POSM, eProcurement, BDMS, WorkFlow, Grades-First, MAP-Works, Axiom

-       Cognos (brief interruption to service on Sunday morning only)

During the outage MyCharleston will not be available; however an alternate web page will be rendered allowing access to systems outside of the Banner environment such as OAKS and Cmail. Thank you very much for your cooperation during this upgrade.

If you have any questions or need further assistance please contact the Helpdesk.

helpdesk@cofc.edu

953-3375 Option #3

 

Posted in Important information, Maintenance, New Alerts! | Leave a comment

Windows 7 Supported by the College of Charleston

By Brent Cobb | Published: May 15, 2012

College of Charleston’s Information Technology department has exciting news! Windows 7 will soon be deployed to faculty, staff, and classroom PCs across campus.

Windows 7 simplifies computer security, making it easier to reduce the risk of damage caused by viruses, spyware, and other malware. Windows 7 also features an improved backup solution to help keep your information safe.

Here are some of the enhancements that you can look forward to seeing.

 

  • Advanced Search feature through the Start menu.
  • Aero Shake to quickly minimize every open window except the one you’re shaking.
  • Redesigned Taskbar to help you manage your most important files and programs.
  • To easily access, you can Pin any application to the taskbar.
  • Aero Peek to take a quick look at other open windows without clicking away from the window you are working in.

 

By moving to Windows 7, the college will ultimately benefit from a fully operational, reliable, and supported operating system.

For more information about Windows 7 and additional training, visit our Windows7 webpage at http://go.cofc.edu/windows7.

Posted in Important information, Windows 7 | Leave a comment

A few tips to help keep your computer clean from malware and spyware

By Brent Cobb | Published: April 18, 2012
  • Do not open emails or email links from unknown senders.
  • Do not download or stream media from suspicious websites.
  • Be careful of links from social networking sites.  If you do not know the person sending you a link, it is safe to assume it has a virus.
  • Do not click on pop-up windows.  They are also a good sign of a website you shouldn’t trust.
  • Make sure your computer is up-to-date.  Even the littler programs like Java and Adobe Flash are important to update.
  • Remember the College of Charleston Helpdesk will NEVER ask you for your username and password over email.
Posted in phishing | Leave a comment

IT Outage Notification Sunday, November 13, 2011

By Teena Ham | Published: November 11, 2011

The following applications will have an interruption (less than 1 hour but could be longer) to normal services on Sunday, November 13, 2011 sometime between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for planned system maintenance:

Banner Relationship Management (BRM), BDMS,  POSM, DegreeWorks, StarRez, WorkFlow,  and Axiom

 

If you are using these applications on Sunday, please save your work frequently to minimize inconvenience. Thank you very much for your cooperation during this planned system maintenance.

 

If you have any questions or need further assistance please contact the Helpdesk.

helpdesk@cofc.edu

953-3375 Option #3

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