Staff Computers/Laptops

About Staff Laptops

Requesting laptops

Faculty and academic professional Library employees have the option of requesting a laptop to support their job responsibilities and research.  More information about requesting laptops is available on the Computing Technology Allocation Program (CTAP) page.

Staff Laptop Maintenance Activities

Library employees that have a Library laptop for long-term use are responsible for data and network security on the laptop.  Below are maintenance tasks laptop users should be aware of and actively address.  Employees are welcome to bring laptops to the Help Desk for these maintenance activities.

• Regular operating system and software updates are required.  Regularly apply updates to the operating system (Windows or Mac) and software on the machine.  These programs will notify you when new updates are available.  Failing to run these updates regularly can negatively impact the performance and speed of the device.
• Periodic laptop maintenance and security scans are needed. All laptops must come into IT Workstation & Network Support (IT WNS) for periodic maintenance and security scans; when it is your turn to come in for this checkup, the IT WNS group will send you an e-mail.
• Virus software updates. It is important to keep your virus software up-to-date. Be sure to update the the virus engine and virus “signatures” whenever you are connected to the internet. If you are unsure how to do this, bring your laptop into IT WNS and we will install a shortcut on your desktop so all you have to do is connect to the internet and click on the shortcut to update your virus software.
• Security patch alerts. If your laptop is set up to automatically update operating system patches, whenever Microsoft issues such a patch and your laptop is plugged into the network the laptop will download and install the patch. If you are unsure if your laptop is set to automatically update itself, or you need help in setting it to do so, please contact IT WNS so we can assist you.
  Note: because many patches are very large your laptop may not be able to download patches if connected to the Internet via modem, so it is always a good idea to bring your laptop to work every week and connect it to the Library’s network for several hours. Think of it as recharging the laptop’s security battery.
  • Apply security patches yourself. IT WNS staff can apply security patches to desktop computers remotely and in the off-hours but, because there is no way of knowing when Library laptops are on the network, we cannot do the same with laptops. So you, the primary laptop user, must make sure the laptop operating system is patched. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, you must bring the laptop into IT WNS when alerted.
  • Bring the laptop to IT WNS to apply security patches. If you are not comfortable applying security patches yourself, or are unsure if the patches were properly applied, bring the laptop into IT WNS and we will assist you. As mentioned above, we will alert laptop users when patches need to be applied.