After a year plagued by worms and viruses, the staff of Computer and Media Services has gone on the offensive to try to keep students’ computers healthy while shortening repair times.

CMS’s plan began right as students came to campus with the PCProtect CD, which was included in students’ moving-in packet. The CD eliminates viruses and worms on a student’s computer, turns on Microsoft Autoupdate so patches are automatically downloaded and installs McAfee antivirus software and a utility that allows CMS to install updates on student’s computers if a new virus pops up.

With PCProtect, CMS hoped to avoid last year’s problems, when students came back to school with infected computers, allowing viruses to spread to the rest of ResNET, SU’s Internet service.

CMS also hopes that with every student connected to ResNET with the same antivirus software, the service will see fewer infections throughout the year.

‘In theory we think we’ve really started to provide a secure environment,’ said Deborah Nosky, manager of IT communications and professional development. ‘So people should have much better response times on e-mail, AIM and the Internet in the evening.’

To get all students to use the same antivirus program, any other antivirus software they had on their computers had to be erased. Although some students had a problem with this, they said it would be worth it if it means ResNET will run smoothly.

‘This year, it was a pain in the ass,’ said Jennie Griffin, a sophomore in the College of Human Services and Health Professions, who lives on South Campus. ‘If it helps, I think it will definitely be worth it.’

So far ResNET is operating much more smoothly than last year, said June Quackenbush, manager of student computing services with CMS. As of Saturday morning, 4,600 of the estimated 7,000 students that expected to use ResNET were registered successfully.

‘These folks that are on the network are on the network safely,’ Quackenbush said. ‘By this time last year, the viruses and worms were totally out of hand, so we had almost the same amount of people connected, but they weren’t able to work.’

In addition to making sure students set up correctly as they get on campus, CMS is also looking to improve its service to students throughout the year, Nosky said.

CMS set up five service centers so students no longer have to bring their computer to the CMS main center in Hinds Hall when they need servicing. The new centers are located in the Brockway, Graham, Kimmel and Lawrinson computer labs on main campus and at the Goldstein Student Center computer lab on South Campus

CMS has also set up a hotline at 443-2667, which they hope will allow students to avoid coming to the centers altogether.

In addition, CMS created three $25 services to expedite repairs of student computers, rather than tailor service to every specific problem.

The first option is FreshStart, where CMS will completely reformat and re-install the computer’s operating system. This will allow students to restore computers to their original state, Nosky said, which will help CMS avoid the lengthy repair times seen last year.

The second and third options are designed to help students restore more of their computer after FreshStart, helping them recover lost files and install Microsoft Office.

‘We were 50, 60 machines behind (last year) with a two-week turnover,’ Nosky said. ‘We realized that was a business we couldn’t be in. I don’t know about you, but I can’t go two weeks without my computer.’

Published on August 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm