Category: Tips

Hardware Repair, Help Desk, Mobile Devices, Tips

If You Spill Something, Say Something.

Joel F. W. Price '00

Liquid Spills on Portable Computers Spilling a liquid on your laptop can be a real problem, but accidents happen and there are a few steps you can take to minimize the damage. Most importantly, don’t try to restart the computer if it has shut down. If the computer is still running, perform a forced shutdown by pressing and holding down the power button until the computer shuts off. (Count to ten slowly while you hold down the power button). Next, the battery should be removed. If you have a Dell or almost any other brand of PC this is easy … Continue reading If You Spill Something, Say Something.

Faculty/Staff, Software, Students, Tips

Windows 8 Announcement

Seth

Microsoft released Windows 8 on October 26th, 2012 and most Windows hardware vendors are now shipping systems with Windows 8 installed. ITS Recommendation Information Technology Services (ITS) will support Windows 8 for our clients, including off-campus students, on new systems that ship with Windows 8 pre-installed. ITS strongly recommends that College community members thinking of upgrading to Windows 8 adopt a “wait and see” approach, continuing to use earlier supported versions of Windows (Windows 7 SP1 and Windows XP SP3) until the initial bugs and compatibility issues in Windows 8 are identified and fixed. It is ITS policy to test … Continue reading Windows 8 Announcement

Security, Tips

Online Shopping Tips

Nick

In time for “cyber Monday”, below is a quick video with some great tips (thanks to the folks at Kaspersky anti-virus) to protect your computer (and yourself) while shopping online this holiday season.  Most of the tips have been covered on this blog before but this is a great refresher. Some of the tips include: – keeping your operating system, anti-virus and browsers up to date with the latest patches/updates – using known, reputable online retailers – it’s better to use a credit card rather than a debit card – if you’re using wireless, make sure it’s secure Stay safe … Continue reading Online Shopping Tips

Accounts and Passwords, Security, Tips

Use Your Swarthmore Credentials Only at Swarthmore

Nick

Your Swarthmore “credentials”, the combination of your Swarthmore email address and password, should only be used with Swarthmore College on-line services.  These credentials should never be used for personal accounts at non-Swarthmore websites. Websites are regularly compromised and users email addresses, along with passwords, are subsequently stolen.  A short list of popular websites that were recently compromised follows: eHarmony LinkedIn Last.fm Yahoo Voices The Student Room Formspring Android Forum techradar Philips Sony Entertainment etc… If you use your Swarthmore credentials for a non-Swarthmore account and that website gets hacked, your Swarthmore on-line services would then be readily available to the … Continue reading Use Your Swarthmore Credentials Only at Swarthmore

Security, Software, Tips

Update EVERYTHING!

Nick

… please!! Besides running up to date Anti-virus, one of the best ways to keep your computer from becoming infected (and then losing access to it while it gets re-imaged, etc.) is to keep your Operating System and applications up to date.  Over the past few weeks, most major vendors have updated their software.  If you run applications from any of the following vendors, you should upgrade that software as soon as you possibly can: Microsoft Windows Mac OS/X and iOS Adobe Reader, Flash, Shockwave, etc. Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird Google Chrome Oracle Java Apple Quicktime & Safari Below are … Continue reading Update EVERYTHING!