Reminder: Display orientation for monitors in '97 Lab

Hi, everyone,
A student in one of my instruction sessions kindly shared the following information with me:

To change the monitor orientation, after you've logged in, you can use the keyboard shortcut Control+Alt+any arrow key. Using the UP arrow will return the display orientation to normal.

Elizabeth

Windows Update

Hello!

You may notice that there is a windows update being pushed out today. You may also notice that it locks up the computers so people can't use them and the wheel just spins.  If it just sits there for a while please feel free to do a hard restart by holding the power button in until it shuts down and turn the computer back on. 

Adobe problems

Hello!

We are currently experiencing to Adobe problems where when you try to open an adobe document from the web it says you need to give the certificate permission or something similar, ITS thinks they fixed it.  If you do run into this problem have the patron or yourself go down to the bottom right-hand part of the screen and right click over the Zenworks icon and select refresh.  After that have them retry the adobe document, if that doesn't work, please have me send in a help ticket with that particular computer number.

Thanks!
Heidi

Viewing PDFs in Firefox

We seem to be having a number of issues with Adobe Reader/Acrobat and I've got a few tickets in to ITS about them. There's one though that could potentially cause some issues with our databases. It seems that many, if not all, computers are downloading PDF files instead of allowing them to be viewed in the browser when using Firefox.

I've found a temporary workaround for this but it will be on a user by user basis.

Go to Options in Firefox. This will either be located under the rectangular Firefox button in the upper left of the screen or under the Tools menu in Firefox.

When the window pops up, go to the Applications tab.

Look for either Adobe Acrobat Document and/or Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Document.

Make sure it is set to "Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)".

You can try this fix on your own login as well, if you'd like to try it out before you need to help a student with it.

If this doesn't fix the problem please let Heidi or myself know so we can either try to identify if it's one of the other known problems or something new that needs to be reported.

Aimee

Windows update

Hello!

You may notice that there is a windows update being pushed out today. You may also notice that it locks up the computers so people can't use them and the wheel just spins.  If it just sits there for a while please feel free to do a hard restart by holding the power button in until it shuts down and turn the computer back on.

There is a fix for this if you are having problems or would like to go the extra mile.  You have to log into the computer, go to the ZENWorks Adaptive Agent folder on your desktop and double click "Microsoft windows system update readiness tool v26."  It looks like it does nothing but just sit there a bit and you can shut down right away or just shut down at the end of the day, that should fix the problem.

Thanks!
Heidi

Mouse goes missing

Hello!

We are having that problem again where students are using a computer and the mouse just suddenly disappears.  To fix that all they have to do is push ctrl, alt, and delete at the same time.  The mouse will come back and they can just cancel.

Heidi

Java Updates

ITS sent out an email that there was an update for Java that could affect some browsers accessing certain content (called applets) on some websites. There is a fix for this until ITS can push out another update. If you encounter a student that seems to be having this kind of issue (as always feel free to call me if you're unsure) here are the instructions for fixing it straight from the ITS email:

1. Click on the Start menu and select Control Panel

2. Select Programs and then click on the Java icon
3. Click on the Security tab in the Java Control Panel window
4. Click the “Edit Site List” button
5. Click the Add button, then type the URL of the website you would like to whitelist. Click OK.
6. Click Continue to confirm.

This will "white list" the website and allow access to the content. This is on a per-computer basis though and not a network setting that will follow them around.

Aimee

Internet Explorer Compatibility and Firefox Fix

We're starting to receive reports from some students that the version of Internet Explorer on campus computers is too old to support some websites, especially Google products like Google Docs. Students should be using the campus' officially supported Firefox browser, but many students are experiencing problems with Firefox crashing or not working.

ITS has put out a fix for the Firefox issue that seems to fix the problems in many cases, but very few students know about it and neither do the staff. If students come to you with issues with Firefox (or issues with Internet Explorer because their Firefox doesn't work), you can recommend they try to fix it with the following steps.

1. Open the icon on the desktop for Zen Works Adaptive Agent.
2. Double click on the Firefox Crash Fix.
3. Try opening Firefox again.

It may not be apparent that anything is happening when you click on Firefox Crash Fix, but it's working in the background. This has fixed the problem for most students that are experiencing issues with Firefox.

Getting the color printer to print in color

Hello!

People seem to be having problems getting the color printer to actually print in color.  If this happens, please go to the start menu and then select "devices and printer."  Right click over the reference color printer and select printer properties.  Click on "device settings" and scroll all the way to the bottom to "device type" and change it to "color." Click apply and then ok.

Let me know if you have any questions or if this doesn't fix it.

Thanks!
Heidi

Double Log in Issues

Hello!

Some of you may have noticed that we have been having double log in issues where the screen just keeps asking the person to log in over and over.  When this happens, ask the student to move to another computer, then please turn off the computer and turn it back on, not just restart.  Then please try logging in.  If it this does not fix it please send in a ticket to the helpdesk with me cc'ed

They are going to be doing an update next week that should fix this issue.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!
Heidi

Computer log in and printing issues

Hello,

So, Dave was able to fix all of the computers in the reference room except for #15.  None of the small lab is fixed and most of the periodicals room is not fixed.  The 97 lab should be good.  So, if you have a patron running into the problem of not being able to print or getting logged on, tell them to move to the reference room.

Thank you,
Heidi

Lab Software

Jeanne received a question this morning about the availability of certain software in the labs on campus. We knew the library labs didn't have it, so we sent the student to Carnegie because we were sure it would be in one of the labs over there. After the student walked away, Jeanne had the great idea to check the ITS website.

She found that ITS does, in fact, have a list of software available in different labs that might come in handy if you ever receive a question like this. It is available here.

http://its.noctrl.edu/sites/default/files/labs/LabSoftwareList.htm

Chinese Characters on Computers

In response to a student question yesterday if we had computers on which he could type Chinese characters, I consulted ITS and Norval and have learned (some of you probably already know this) that any recent vintage computer can be configured to do so. (Some of us have been here long enough to remember we used to have a designated computer in the fishbowl, but we didn't know what the current availability was.)

I have now posted a link to my Modern and Classical Languages Research by Subject Guide leading to the LRC (Language Resource Center) web page describing how to configure any computer for international characters. http://noctrl.libguides.com/aecontent.php?pid=37095&sid=274245  Now all we have to do is remember the link is there!

Rosemary