Student Computing Support

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Not sure if your computer is compatible with Windows 7?  Microsoft has a free utility that scans your PC for potential issues with your hardware, devices, and installed programs, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor

Happy 40th Birthday Internet

Today is the 40th birthday of the internet.  On this day in 1969, two letters were transmitted between computers at Stanford and UCLA marking the first time data was sent between two networked computers.

Not surprisingly, the web browser recently turned 15, and a slideshow made by PC World magazine illustrates how far they have come

Windows 7 upgrade problems

Microsoft has had some issues with the student discount version of windows 7 not installing properly when you are upgrading a system from a 32 bit version of vista to a 64 bit version of Windows 7.

They have since clarified the instructions on the download site, but if you had previously downloaded the incorrect installation package, you’ll need to follow the instructions at the link above to get the correct version.

Educational Discount on Software

Microsoft is offering a special price on Windows 7 and Microsoft office for students.

Windows 7 for $29.99.  (Offer Expires Jan 3,2010.)

Microsoft Office 2007 for 59.95

To take advantage of these prices, you must be a current student at have a valid .edu address.

Firefox security plugin

Mozilla has released a program for firefox that checks for out of date add ons so you can update them.

simply go to their site and follow the prompts to upgrade to the latest plug ins for you system.

Facebook applications hacked

As with anything that you install on your computer, you need to be careful of what you install.  There are several facebook applications that have apparently been hacked and if you install them they will try to install spyware on your computer.

If you think you have been affected by something like this, you can bring your laptop to the student computing support desk in the Addlestone library and we can take a look at it for you.

Snow Leopard bug deletes user data

This looks to be a rare issue, but people who upgraded from OS 10.5 to 10.6 may be affected by this.  It revolves around a guest user account.  If you have one on your computer, don’t use it to log in because if you do all files in your document, pictures, and music folder can be deleted.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/173497/snow_leopard_bug_deletes_all_user_data.html

Office 2007 Available in the Student Computing Lab at Addlestone Library

Student Computing Support recently installed Office 2007 on the lab computers in the Addlestone Library. Being a Mac user, the transition has been a little difficult for me. In an effort to help patrons, I went looking for some helpful quick reference guides and found a wonderful selection of printable quick reference sheets at CustomGuide via Tech Republic.

CustomGuide makes the reference sheets for a variety of programs and platforms (Mac/PC).  They have quick reference guides for the new Office Suite, Adobe Products (CS3), operating systems and Internet browsers.  I highly recommend them.

Here’s the Quick Reference Guides they developed for Office 2007:

• CustomGuide’s Office 2007 Quick Reference (pdf)
• CustomGuide’s Word 2007 Quick Reference (pdf)
• CustomGuide’s PowerPoint 2007 Quick Reference Guide (pdf)
• CustomGuide’s Outlook 2007 Quick Reference (pdf)

OSX Snow Leopard

Apple has released version 10.6 of their operating system code named ‘Snow Leopard.’

Of the early news published about it, most people are doing fine, but it appears that many HP printers do not yet have drivers for this version of the operating system, so be aware that if you upgrade, you may not be able to print until drivers are available.

• More information on Snow Leopard
• List of supported HP printers
• HP Instructions for All-in-one printers

Updated 9/22

Apple has released updated printer drivers for Snow leopard.

HP & Compaq Computer blue screen

The latest set of windows updates included an update that will cause all HP computers to blue screen shortly after boot up.  The HP web site has instructions for how to fix this issue.