Portable Computers
All Faculty, exempt staff, Pharmacy students, and OTD first year students are issued a portable computer. Student computers are refreshed every two years, faculty and staff every three years.
Click on the appropriate link to view the specifications of the portable computers currently issued to students, faculty, and staff:
Caring For Your Portable Computer:
As with any electronic device, proper care of your portable computer is essential in maintaining reliable and dependable quality performance.
Improper care can result in damage to your computer. If the system is stolen\lost or the repair is greater than the deductible of $325, you will be responsible for the payment of the deductible before another replacement computer can be issued to you. The loss or theft of the computer is a one-time use of the deductible for computer replacement. The second instance of theft\loss of your portable computer will result in actual replacement cost of the same system. (For further clarification, see the SPAHP Student Portable Computer Initiative Policy on the OASA webpage.)
Reasonable and responsible care of your portable computer will help ensure your hardware is in good condition for all the years that you will have this system. Listed below are some tips to assist you in caring for your portable computer.
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Preventing Damage Due to Food and Liquids:
Eating and drinking around your computer is strongly discouraged! Crumbs and liquid can damage the components in and around the keyboard resulting in repair costs that may be very expensive.
If you spill liquid on the keyboard:
- Turn off the computer & remove the battery
- Fully extend the screen (to the full open position)
- Turn the unit upside down on a towel. Let the liquid drain.
- Let the keyboard dry a minimum of three full days before trying to use it again.If the keyboard does not work after it dries, contact the OLAT Service Desk.
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Cleaning and Maintaining Your Portable Computer:
- Screen
Caution: An LCD screen is made of specially coated glass and can be very easily scratched or damaged by abrasive or ammonia-based window cleaners. Use a soft lint-free cloth and water only (distilled is recommended). Apply a little water on the cloth (never directly on the screen), and wipe the screen with the cloth. You can also purchase LCD spray cleaner from any retail store (Office Depot, Best Buy, Circuit City) and follow the directions on the spray bottle on how to clean your LCD screen.
- Keyboard
Clean occasionally to free it of dust and lint trapped under the keys. Blow dirt from under the keys using an aerosol can of air with a narrow, straw-like extension. You can purchase these aerosol cans at any Office Depot, Best Buy, Office Max, Circuit City, or other retail stores that sell computers.
- Exterior
After turning off the notebook and all peripherals, use a damp, lint-free cloth to clean the portable computer and other parts of your system. Do not use abrasive or solvent cleaners because they can damage the finish.
- Vents
Your computer is cooled by air drawn in through the vents on the chassis and blown out through the power supply exhaust fan, so keep the vents free of dust. With the computer turned off and unplugged, brush the dust away from the vents with a damp cloth. Be careful not to drip any water into the vents. Do not attempt to clean dust inside the computer, bring it in to the OLAT Service Desk for maintenance.
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Special Considerations:
- Extreme temperatures
Exposing your notebook to extreme cold or heat may result in a cracked screen and/or damage the internal components. Never leave your unit in a car, or in direct sunlight. If your notebook gets very cold, let it warm to room temperature before turning on -- condensation can cause components to short out
- Weight Restrictions
Although your portable computer unit is encased in a protective cover, piling heavy items on the top may cause the screen to crack. If there is too much weight placed on the screen when you are carrying it with heavy books, the screen may become dented with keyboard impressions, additionally, a logo on the lid of the plastic case may create an impression that will be visible on your screen when your computer is turned on.
- Clearance for proper cooling
The cooling fan allows the units’ processor to remain cool during use. Be sure that the fan is not blocked when the portable computer is in use. This could result in the CPU overheating, causing it to burn out. (It is normal for the fan on portable computers to feel very warm.)
- Transportation
When transporting your portable computer, you must put it a carrying case. It is also highly recommended that you turn the portable computer off whenever you transport it to prevent hardware damage. Do not check this as baggage for airline transport.
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Preventative Maintenance:
The preventative maintenance folder on your desktop contains four of the five tools you need to help keep your computer running efficiently and reduce the risk of virus attacks. The icon for the fifth tool, Symantec AntiVirus, is located in the lower right system tray. To keep your computer healthy do the following on a regular basis:
- Make sure your Symantec AntiVirus definitions are up to date. Contact the OLAT Service Desk at (olat@creighton.edu, 402-280-3037, or 800-325-2830 if the gold shield in the lower right system tray is not present or contains a yellow exclamation point or a red X. You also need to check that your virus definitions are up to date (within a couple of days of the current day). You can do this by double-clicking the the gold shield to open the dialog box.
- Keep your Windows or Microsoft Updates current. Your computer should, by default, be set to automatically download all updates available for your computer. You will receive a pop-up message telling you that there are downloaded updates ready to install. Do this as soon as you can at a convenient time for you. If you want, you can let the updates install while you keep working on your computer.
- Clean viruses, spam, and trojans from your computer with the Spybot - Search and Destroy software that is installed on your computer. Click on the icon to open the program and then:
- Install the Updates
- Immunize your computer
- Run Search & Destroy
- Fix selected problems
- Run Disk Cleanup. Click on the shortcut and when the scan of your hard drive is complete, a dialog box will open. Check the items you want to delete (If you syncronize your My Documents, do not check "Offline Files") and click OK.
- Run the Disk Defragmenter. Click on the shortcut and when the when the dialog box opens, click on the Defragment button. If the drive is badly fragmented, this can take quite awhile. You might want to do it when you have something else to do or over night. You cannot use your computer while the defragmenter is running.
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Data Backup For Students:
- U-Vault
OLAT is proud to offer a new utility for the fully automated, reliable, and secure backup of your computer files. OLAT has worked with U-Vault to offer our students their product and service for a one year fee for $79, rather than the full price of $99. With this, students can fully automate the backup of their computer for up to 10 gigabytes of data. If you would like to try it out, a 30 day trial is available. For more information click on the links located on your desktop.
- SPAHP Backup Utility
- Free backup utility created by OLAT using Microsoft technology.
- Less secure
- Requires manual backups
- Requires some type of external media such as a USB drive, external hard drive, etc.
- Space available for backups depends on the size of the external device
- To use:
- Double-click “My Computer”
- Double-click “Local Disk C: drive”
- Double-click the “Apps” folder
- Copy the “SPAHP Backup Utility Folder” to your external device
- Begin a backup by double-clicking the “Start_Backup” icon inside the SPAHP Backup Utility Folder on your device
- This utility only backs up files from your My Documents (does not include your My Pictures and My Music), desktop, and favorites and is only offered on computers issued after 2008. During backups, please refrain from doing anything else on your computer as it may interfere with the backup process.
- Note: This utility will only run on an external device and OLAT has found devices rated with a higher transfer rate provide better results.
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