Research Staff/Faculty Computer Setup
If the computer is brand new (from the box), skip to step 2.
- Before you bring your computer to Technology Services:
you need to have a back-up of all the data and information you'll need after the setup, because
the setup will overwrite any information you have on your computer. See below how to back-up your data.
- For the Setup:
NOTE: we install and support the latest version of the operating system and the previous version only.
- After the Setup:
we recommend that you back-up your data regularly. See below how and why.
You may want to bring this
checklist with you (pdf file).
How and where to backup data
- if you decide to be responsible for data backup, you need to choose
- which backup program to use (some examples given below)
- file backups: Windows Backup, Veritas Backup Exec, Backup MyPC, Retrospect
- image backups: Drive Image, Acronis True Image, Ghost, Carbon Copy Cloner
- which backup media to use: CD-R/RW, DVD+/-R/RW, Tape, hard drive, etc
- when, how often, etc. to backup: daily, weekly, monthly, alternate sets of backups, etc.
- if you decide to let someone else backup your data, two possible choices (there is a fee for service) are:
Why backup data?
Type of data you might want to backup: personal contacts, email addresses, appointments, calendar,
lectures saved as iTunes, digital images of patients, browser favorites and bookmarks, project or research data,
financial and human resources information. Data loss may be due to:
- physical damage (spills, falls, etc.)
- human error (deleting a file, formatting a drive, etc)
- theft (very important if data are covered by HIPAA, FERPA or IRB)
- malicious software (viruses, trojans, spyware, adware, etc)
- hardware failure (hard drives fail, it's not a question of 'if' but 'when')