Need Help?  Contact Help Desk

Email:  helpdesk@manchester.edu
Phone:  260-470-2727 (Fort Wayne), 260-982-5454 (North Manchester)
Web:  https://service.manchester.edu
Location:  Fort Wayne 121 & North Manchester Clark 109

Internet Outage Announced

Our Internet service provider (ISP) informed us that they must perform maintenance on the part of the network that services the Fort Wayne campus.  We anticipate outages on the Fort Wayne campus during their maintenance windows:

• Early tomorrow morning (Tuesday) from midnight to 5:00 a.m.
• Wednesday morning from midnight to 5:00 a.m.
• Thursday morning from midnight to 5:00 a.m.

MU Account Lockouts

With all of the Microsoft apps that you use, you may occasionally find yourself locked out.  We’re working with Microsoft to investigate the cause.  The most likely cause is that you recently changed your password, and one or more apps tries to authenticate using your old credentials.  Three invalid authentication attempts lock your account for thirty (30) minutes for security reasons. 

In most cases we’ve seen, you may briefly still have access to your email if you use Outlook on your desktop, phone or tablet.  If you cannot access an MU resource and suspect your account is locked, please quickly email Help Desk (or phone us at the number(s) above) to request it be unlocked.  Please note, though, that you need to ensure that your apps all use your updated MU credentials, or you may find your account locked again.  You may need to reset your password, too, however non-intuitive that may be.

Beware Auto Save

Microsoft began rolling out a new feature called Auto Save.  In the past, the feature used a temporary location and waited to overwrite the intended file when the user explicitly saved the document.  Now, it overwrites the original frequently when the application saves the document.

While this may seem a great insurance policy, it comes with risks.  First, you may not be able to use the Undo feature to revert your document by stepping through recent changes.  You also may not be able to use the Previous Versions functionality to do the same thing.  Finally, do not fall susceptible to the false sense of security that feature provides.  Despite the Microsoft application perform the Auto Save feature for you, be sure to save the document manually at appropriate intervals as well.

FindTime Update

In the previous newsletter, we announced a new Outlook feature called FindTime that aids in scheduling meetings.  Very similar to the Free/Busy feature already available, FindTime uses a poll (similar to https://doodle.com) to schedule meeting times.  What we failed to realize is that not everyone saw the FindTime icons in the Ribbon in Outlook.  We fixed the issue for some who reported the issue, but if you cannot see the icons (examples are found here:  FindTime), please contact Help Desk for assistance.

Free Microsoft Training Available

Are you looking for some Microsoft application training?  We subscribe to Microsoft’s Imagine Academy, an online training site that covers the breadth of Microsoft’s product line.  Providing basic, intermediate, and advanced training, the site is free to ALL MU employees and students.  Email Help Desk to gain access to the curriculum.  If you know the topic in which you’re interested, let us know that, too, and we’ll enroll you in the appropriate courses.

Academically-discounted Software Available

Through our various consortia, we have access to a site where you can access academically-discounted software such as SPSS.  Available at On the Hub (https://manchester.onthehub.com/WebStore/ProductsByMajorVersionList.aspx?cmi_cs=1&cmi_mnuMain=433748da-f0a6-e811-8109-000d3af41938), the site lists what is available for you to purchase or rent.  Simply log in using your MU credentials.  If you don’t see the software you want available, please let Help Desk know.  We’ll try to get the software added to the web store.  Also, please DO NOT purchase Microsoft Office.  That comes free with your Office 365 account.  Please contact Help Desk if you don’t know how to obtain Microsoft Office.

NOTE:  Students have free access to Office while they’re a student at MU only.  Upon leaving MU, students lose access to free Office and On the Hub.  Seniors may consider purchasing Office before graduation as the free Office license ends with graduation.

Weird Z:\ Drive Issue

We’re tracking a weird issue on MU-owned Windows devices.  If you plug in a thumb drive or other device that requests a drive letter, and you assign it the letter Z, you may find that your H:\ drive (the network location for your files) is no longer accessible on the H:\ drive.  Rather than assign the new device the drive letter Z, please choose another available drive letter.

Printing@MU Tip

Did you print a document in color but intended to print in black-and-white?  Did you print a document single-sided but intended to print double-sided?  You can fix both if you release the jobs at the printer.  Before you release the jobs, modify them the way you intended them and then release them.  The system also tells you how much you saved by making the modifications.

REPRINT:  Windows 10

Microsoft support for Windows 7 ends soon.  We want to transition all MU-owned desktops and laptops to Windows 10 at your convenience.  If you have Windows 7 (or something older), please contact the Help Desk team to request an upgrade.  If Windows is running sluggish, you might consider asking us to rebuild it for you.

There’s no need to panic, but you will need to act.  Microsoft ends Windows 7 support in 16 months.

Contributions Always Welcome

Do you want to know more about a topic or do you know a helpful IT tip?  Please send topics to Help Desk.