Keeping Appointments Private in Outlook

If you are an Exchange client who shares an Outlook calendar with other staff members, there’s a way to keep your child’s recital, furniture delivery, and other personal appointments private.  To make an appointment private within Outlook, right-click on the individual appointment and select private. If an appointment is part of a series, right-click and select “Edit Series” then click on the icon of the lock to make the series private.

Lightweight laptop solutions at an affordable price

For faculty and staff who consider the weight and price of a laptop before making a purchase, there are several solutions on and near the horizon.

In August, Dell plans to release the E Ultraportable Notebook that is a tiny 8.9” in diameter, weighs just 2.2 pounds, and starts at $299. Although details on system components have not been released yet, since it will carry the Dell name, parts should be able to be replaced easily by OET’s Dell-certified technicians while under warranty.

Lightweight laptops such as the Dell E Ultraportable offer increased portability for less, balancing cost with available system components. Configuration choices for RAM, processor speed, hard drive capacity, optical (DVD) drive, and warranty length are usually limited but within normal ranges. These laptops may be perfect for someone who only wants use minimal processing power (e.g., to surf the web or to do word processing).

Other popular mini notebooks include the ASUS Eee PC that offer several configurations from $199 to about $399 and the HP Mini-Note which runs from $500 to $750. These laptops offer configurations with various operating systems including Vista Business, which is supported by OET, and Linux and Windows XP Home, which are not supported by OET.

If you are thinking about purchasing a laptop, OET will be happy to assist in configuring the one that’s right for you. Just write to oet-help@udel.edu.

Move Accomplished

OET file and mail services are now at home in the Computing Center operations room on Chapel Street. Call 8162 if you experience problems resulting from this move. Remember that webmail.oet.udel.edu is a backup if your Outlook client is acting up.

OET SERVICES UNAVAILABLE

OET file and mail services serving CHEP will be unavailable starting at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, July 26.  We anticipate that  service should be restored by 2:00 p.m. Watch this space for announcements.

This will affect your “H: drive” however you access it (uno.oet.udel.edu) and your Exchange mail (which you read using Outlook, Entourage, or webmail.oet.udel.edu).  If you read mail using http://mail.udel.edu, your mail will be unaffected. It is unlikely that your mail correspondents will receive non-delivery or delayed-delivery reports for mail they send you during this period.

These will be unaffected: web sites, login to desktop computers in CHEP offices, Child Plus, the ERC catalog, lab accounts and printing in 006-007 PRN, 190 GRM, 203i WHL.

This scheduled down time is for the purpose of moving our servers to the equipment room at Chapel Street, where IT will house them in a better-protected physical and electrical environment than we have enjoyed up to now. The payoff should be better continuity of service in the future for CHEP computer users.

Applying Microsoft Updates

Microsoft updates are released by Microsoft the second Tuesday of each month and shortly thereafter pushed to Windows computers on the OET network. It is absolutely essential for the security of your computers that these updates be applied promptly. The number of updates varies from month to month as does the time that it takes for these updates to be installed.

When updates are ready for installation, Windows XP users will see a yellow shield with an exclamation point on it in the system tray (right-bottom corner of your desktop), and Vista users will see a similar shield near the shutdown option in the start menu.

Windows users have some leeway as to when updates are applied. If you see that updates are ready to be applied, you can click on the shield to apply the updates which may require a shutdown or restart of your computer. Depending on an update’s critical nature, it will automatically install, possibly during the work day, if not given the opportunity to do so within a certain time frame.

If you want to prevent updates from interrupting your workday, you can apply updates at shutdown by selecting the option to apply updates and shutdown. Updates will then be applied before your computer turns off. Another option is to log off your computer and leave it on overnight, when you either see the yellow shield or receive notification through the shutdown process that updates need to be applied. Updates will be applied and your computer will reboot overnight. When you next log onto your computer, you will receive a message that updates have been successfully applied.

Changing Your Outlook Font Size

There are many display settings in Windows to change the font size on various components.  You might have used some of these and find that your Outlook Inbox is still too small to read.  Outlook has its own settings for “Outlook Views”.  To enlarge the font in your favorite Outlook view:

1. On the View menu, select Arrange By.
2. On the Arange By submenu, select Custom…
3. In the Custom View dialog box, choose Other Settings…
4. The Other Settings window has options for changing the fonts sizes by Column, Row and the AutoPreview pane.

This works the same way in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

Connecting to the “H: Drive” from your Macintosh

You may occasionally need to access some files stored in the OET Windows environment while using your Macintosh.  To do this, you will need to connect to the Windows server share containing your files.  Your Windows share name is normally the same as your department code.  If you’re not sure of the share name, send a note to OET-Help or call x8162 before going ahead.

Connecting to the server:

1. While in the Macintosh Finder, select “Connect to Server…” from the Go menu
2. Enter Server Address: smb://OET;username@uno.oet.udel.edu/sharename – where username is your OET Windows logon name and sharename is your share name mentioned above
3. You will be asked to authenticate before you can make the connection.  Enter your OET Windows password and hit OK
4. A new window will open on the Mac with your “H: Drive” files