Software & Configuration Overview
W. P. Carey School of Business laptop configuration provides a comprehensive arrangement for unified software and quick problem resolution. Image An image is a copy of a completely configured hard drive for a computer, with the operating system and applications included. The image is stored in a large file, usually spanning several CDs or DVD. Our images are further personalized for your ID via an automated process after installation. All Graduate Business Students must stay up-to-date with the current image. This is to provide you with the latest operating system updates and protection, application updates and any applications that were added for academic needs. You will be notified when new images are available, and you can always stop by the Help Desk in the Ford Graduate Suite for information and assistance. You must back up your data before installing a new image. After installing the new image, you must re-install any personal or custom applications you had previously installed to your machine.
Installed Software
The current laptop configuration has Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Office 2003. ASU has decided to stay with Windows XP and Office 2003. The School of Business will stay in inline with ASU. Laptop will be configured with Windows XP and Office 2003 with access to Office 2007 via Citrix. When ASU moves forward with new versions of Microsoft products, student laptops will be reconfigured at no cost. Visio and Project are also included in the Office install. The laptop configuration includes the following media software: Windows Media player, Flash player and Adobe Reader. To protect and clean a computer from malicious attacks, ASU McAfee anti-virus software, spybots and sypware blaster are installed. There are two programs to utilize the optical drive; PowerDVD, Roxio Creator. SSH (Secure Shell) and the Citrix client are installed to allow connection to different network resources. WinRAR is installed for expanding and compressing files.
Drive / Partition Layout
The laptop hard drive is configured with two partitions. This configuration keep the system files separate from student's personal data files. The C: (System) drive has the system files (windows, office, and other programs). The D: (Data) drive holds students data (My Documents folder, personal outlook files, I.E. favorites, etc.). This configuration allows for quick system recovery in the event the operating system become damaged or corrupted. The C: (System) drive is configured to use approximately 30% of the available hard drive space. The D: (Data) drive will absorb the remaining available hard drive space.
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Operating system
Applications (Office etc.)
| My Documents - Data files (Office documents)
Outlook Personal files
I.E. Favorites
OS Desktop
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Outlook on the laptop is configured to access the ASU Exchange servers. Having an Exchange account gives students the ability to access the GAL (Global Address Book) to lookup a person. Student can also schedule a meeting and send invitations which appear on the calendar. The inbox, calendar and contacts all remain on the server. Outlook can be configured to work offline. Outlook is also configured to have one local Personal folders (pst file) stored on D: drive. This allows a student manage quota space by archiving messages from the server inbox on the local hard drive.
I.E. Favorites
When a website URL is saved in Internet Explorer, the favorites folder is located on the D: (Data) drive. I.E. favorites are separated from the operating system to simplify and prevent loss if the laptop needs to be rebuilt.
My Documents
All Microsoft Office applications default save to the My Documents folder. The My Documents folder in the laptop configuration has been redirected to be located on the D: (Data) drive. Any personal programs installed on the laptop should be configured to save in the My Documents folder.
Desktop
As a convenience to help users protect their data, the Desktop location has been redirected to save on the D: (Data) drive. Although not recommended, users can save files on the Desktop and this data will be on a separate partition from the Operating System.
Configuration Disk
Program laptops are configured using a W. P. Carey customized configuration disk. This configuration disk allows either a full or partial setup. A full setup will erase everything on the laptop hard drive and install the W. P. Carey Laptop Program Software configuration. A partial configuration will erase only the C: (System) drive while the D: (Data) drive remains untouched with individual data. Whether full or partial, the Configuration Disk applies the software setup in single package. This software setup has all the drivers, programs and utilities for each of the specified laptops all combined into the package. The Configuration Disk cannot be applied to different (non-program) laptops because it will erase everything and will not recognize parts. Each student will receive a copy of the Configuration Disk after graduation.
