Office of Information Technology

The problems with using Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and GoWMU have now been resolved so The Office of Information Technology is no longer recommending that the University community not yet upgrade to IE 8. Read more...

The Office of Information Technology recommends that the University community not yet upgrade to Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. At this time, it is known that it does not work correctly with GoWMU and it is not yet vendor approved for other WMU Web-based applications. Read more...

WMU is now offering extensive online computer training for staff and faculty through Lynda.com. The training can be accessed, via an account, from any computer with high speed Internet access any time of the day, seven days a week. Read more...

Symantec Endpoint Protection, an enhanced version of the AntiVirus software used at WMU, is now available for students living off campus (students living on campus receive it automatically as part of WMU's network access program) and faculty and staff members’ home computers running Windows Vista or XP. Read more...

BroncoTech is a new technical self-help resource hosted by the Office of Information Technology Help Desk.

BroncoTech provides self-help that has been certified by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) for accuracy and validity. On the BroncoTech home page you will find icons leading to various OIT certified self-help categories such as e-mail, Internet, anti-virus & security, and more. Simply click on the category that you would like to learn about and you will find easy to follow self-help articles that will guide you through the procedures to make your computing experience at WMU a success.

If you have a University-issued laptop or desktop PC running Microsoft Windows, you may experience a change in the timing of the weekly scan of the Symantec Antivirus software.

Symantec Antivirus is configured on most on-campus PCs to completely scan all your hard drives once a week, usually each Wednesday at noon. Based upon feedback the office of information technology has received from faculty members, we are changing the default time of this scan to 12:01 a.m. on Fridays. If your PC is powered off at this time, the automatic scan will begin the next time your PC is powered up. (note that you can defer a virus scan by up to three hours by clicking the "Pause" button).

Some department's PCs are configured by their own LAN managers. If your PC's scan does not currently occur on Wednesday, you probably are not affected by this change. These changes do not affect Macintosh computer users.

If you have any questions, and are on a department network, please contact your college or network technical support person. Others can contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@wmich.edu or (269) 387-HELP

The Office of Information Technology is conducting a study to improve e-mail at WMU. As part of the study, an online survey was made available. The results of that survey are available below. In addition, representatives from various service providers will make open campus presesentations. Feedback results from each presentation will be made available after each presentation.

For more information about the process, contact Dr. James Gilchrist, vice provost and chief information officer, at james.gilchrist@wmich.edu or (269) 387-3855.

October 1, 2007
Check your Windows anti-virus software

Viruses and other malware are hitting the campus on a daily basis. How you manage your computer can have a wide-spread effect on others connecting to the network. WMU has a site license for Symantec Anti-Virus and all computers connecting to the WMU network should have it installed, with current virus definitions and real-time protection turned on. Please check your computer now to ensure that you have the current version and are less vulnerable to attack. For instructions on checking your computer, and downloading and installing the current version, please see www.wmich.edu/oit/news/anti-virus.html.

A new version of Symantec AntiVirus has been made available for download. This version addresses several vulnerabilities and is considered a critical update. All Windows computer users attaching to the WMU network should check to see if this update affects them. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/virus-update.html

Daylight Saving Time started three weeks early this year. If you installed the proper patches on your computer, it reset itself automatically on the correct day. If you did not, and you manually adjusted your computer's time, it may have automatically adjusted for Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, April 1. You should perform Windows updates to install the proper patches now so your computer will automatically adjust to standard time in November.

Check out what WMU is doing to help you with spam e-mail and see what steps you can take to eliminate even more unsolicited messages. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/news-fs-spam.html.

Check out what WMU is doing to help you with spam e-mail and see what steps you can take to eliminate even more unsolicited messages. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/news-stu-spam.html.

If WMU is close, the Help Desk and computer labs* will also be closed. Network problems during a closure should be reported to (269) 387-HELP.

* If a closure occurs in the week before finals, OIT will try to have at least one (UCC or BCC) computer lab open.

February 8, 2007
OIT gives a greenlight to installing IE7, but read the caveat

The Help Desk is conducting testing to see what will or will not work with IE7. An announcement will be made when it is felt that it is safe to upgrade.

When was the last time you emptied your trash? No, Not your garbage but the Trash folder in your ECS (Electronic Communications Services e-mail icon in GoWMU) e-mail account. E-mail that has been trashed, that you thought you deleted, is still consuming ECS e-mail quota.

Every day, beginning Monday, November 20, 2006, your Trash folder will be automatically emptied of any messages that are 14 days or older. This procedure will affect all IMAP and Webmail e-mail users whose Trash folder is stored on the ECS servers.

To learn more about efficient management of your ECS e-mail quota, check out the BroncoTech self-help for Managing Your E-communication Services E-mail Quota.

If you have any questions about this new procedure, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 387-HELP (4357) or by e-mail to helpdesk@wmich.edu.



		WMU > OIT Previous Spotlights August, 2009 The problems with using Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and GoWMU have now been resolved so The Office of Information Technology is no longer recommending that the University community not yet upgrade to IE 8. Read more... June, 2009 Search WMU location changing. Read more... May, 2009 The Office of Information Technology recommends that the University community not yet upgrade to Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. At this time, it is known that it does not work correctly with GoWMU and it is not yet vendor approved for other WMU Web-based applications. Read more... March, 2009 Keep your computer safe! Read more... December 1, 2008 WMU is now offering extensive online computer training for staff and faculty through Lynda.com. The training can be accessed, via an account, from any computer with high speed Internet access any time of the day, seven days a week. Read more... November 26, 2008 Gforms is being retired as of May 1, 2009. Read more... November 11, 2008 New Bronco NetID self service links created. Read more.. August 26, 2008 Symantec Endpoint Protection, an enhanced version of the AntiVirus software used at WMU, is now available for students living off campus (students living on campus receive it automatically as part of WMU's network access program) and faculty and staff members’ home computers running Windows Vista or XP. Read more... August 26, 2008 OIT releases BroncoTech, new self-help program BroncoTech is a new technical self-help resource hosted by the Office of Information Technology Help Desk. BroncoTech provides self-help that has been certified by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) for accuracy and validity. On the BroncoTech home page you will find icons leading to various OIT certified self-help categories such as e-mail, Internet, anti-virus & security, and more. Simply click on the category that you would like to learn about and you will find easy to follow self-help articles that will guide you through the procedures to make your computing experience at WMU a success. Go to the BroncoTech site. May 6, 2008 Weekly Windows anti-virus scan moves to Friday If you have a University-issued laptop or desktop PC running Microsoft Windows, you may experience a change in the timing of the weekly scan of the Symantec Antivirus software. Symantec Antivirus is configured on most on-campus PCs to completely scan all your hard drives once a week, usually each Wednesday at noon. Based upon feedback the office of information technology has received from faculty members, we are changing the default time of this scan to 12:01 a.m. on Fridays. If your PC is powered off at this time, the automatic scan will begin the next time your PC is powered up. (note that you can defer a virus scan by up to three hours by clicking the "Pause" button). Some department's PCs are configured by their own LAN managers. If your PC's scan does not currently occur on Wednesday, you probably are not affected by this change. These changes do not affect Macintosh computer users. If you have any questions, and are on a department network, please contact your college or network technical support person. Others can contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@wmich.edu or (269) 387-HELP February 19, 2008 Study to improve WMU e-mail The Office of Information Technology is conducting a study to improve e-mail at WMU. As part of the study, an online survey was made available. The results of that survey are available below. In addition, representatives from various service providers will make open campus presesentations. Feedback results from each presentation will be made available after each presentation. E-mail survey results MeritMail feedback results For more information about the process, contact Dr. James Gilchrist, vice provost and chief information officer, at james.gilchrist@wmich.edu or (269) 387-3855. October 1, 2007 Check your Windows anti-virus software Viruses and other malware are hitting the campus on a daily basis. How you manage your computer can have a wide-spread effect on others connecting to the network. WMU has a site license for Symantec Anti-Virus and all computers connecting to the WMU network should have it installed, with current virus definitions and real-time protection turned on. Please check your computer now to ensure that you have the current version and are less vulnerable to attack. For instructions on checking your computer, and downloading and installing the current version, please see www.wmich.edu/oit/news/anti-virus.html. April 10, 2007 Critical Windows antivirus update available A new version of Symantec AntiVirus has been made available for download. This version addresses several vulnerabilities and is considered a critical update. All Windows computer users attaching to the WMU network should check to see if this update affects them. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/virus-update.html April 2, 2007 Check your computer's time Daylight Saving Time started three weeks early this year. If you installed the proper patches on your computer, it reset itself automatically on the correct day. If you did not, and you manually adjusted your computer's time, it may have automatically adjusted for Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, April 1. You should perform Windows updates to install the proper patches now so your computer will automatically adjust to standard time in November. March 21, 2007 Still getting too much faculty/staff spam e-mail? Check out what WMU is doing to help you with spam e-mail and see what steps you can take to eliminate even more unsolicited messages. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/news-fs-spam.html. March 7, 2007 Still getting too much student spam e-mail? Check out what WMU is doing to help you with spam e-mail and see what steps you can take to eliminate even more unsolicited messages. More information at www.wmich.edu/oit/news/news-stu-spam.html. February 8, 2007 School closings and OIT services If WMU is close, the Help Desk and computer labs* will also be closed. Network problems during a closure should be reported to (269) 387-HELP. * If a closure occurs in the week before finals, OIT will try to have at least one (UCC or BCC) computer lab open. February 8, 2007 OIT gives a greenlight to installing IE7, but read the caveat Read more... November 1, 2006 OIT says hold off on upgrading to IE7 at this time The Help Desk is conducting testing to see what will or will not work with IE7. An announcement will be made when it is felt that it is safe to upgrade. October 15, 2006 New procedure to purge trashed e-mail When was the last time you emptied your trash? No, Not your garbage but the Trash folder in your ECS (Electronic Communications Services e-mail icon in GoWMU) e-mail account. E-mail that has been trashed, that you thought you deleted, is still consuming ECS e-mail quota. Every day, beginning Monday, November 20, 2006, your Trash folder will be automatically emptied of any messages that are 14 days or older. This procedure will affect all IMAP and Webmail e-mail users whose Trash folder is stored on the ECS servers. To learn more about efficient management of your ECS e-mail quota, check out the BroncoTech self-help for Managing Your E-communication Services E-mail Quota. If you have any questions about this new procedure, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 387-HELP (4357) or by e-mail to helpdesk@wmich.edu.

Office of Information Technology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49008-5206 Phone (269) 387-5430 \| Contact OIT \| Last Updated: September 22, 2009 Report Copyright Infringements