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Computer Network Services

October 26, 2009

The H1N1 flu virus has been spreading rapidly this season and the CNS Department has some recommendations for keeping your public computer equipment clean to help reduce the risk of spreading disease.

Simple things such as wiping down keyboards and mice with disinfectant wipes and offering hand sanitizer to the public could help stop the spread of the flu.  Read on for our tips on keeping your computer equipment clean.

September 16, 2009

On Thursday, September 17th, Polaris will be offline until early after noon.  For the 12 libraries with LibData time management software, please refer to the "Using LibData When Polairis is Offline" document for instructions on how LibData will function.

If you have questions or problems, please call the CNS department at ext 237.

June 11, 2009 Web Hosting Services

At the May FALCONS meeting we discussed website hosting companies for member libraries looking to move their website from the FLLS web server.  There are several hosting companies that we can recommend.  Read on for all the details.

May 11, 2009 Internet Explorer 8

Microsoft released version 8 of Internet Explorer a couple of weeks ago. As of this week, IE8 is now included as a Critical Update when doing Windows Updates.

At this time we are recommending not upgrading to Internet Explorer 8 on any public computer that has either Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit or Microsoft SteadyState security installed.

If you recall, when Internet Explorer 7 was released we made this same call for computers with Shared Computer Toolkit installed.

I’ve created a new program that will need to be run on ALL of your public internet computers with Shared Computer Toolkit or SteadyState security. This program will block Internet Explorer 8 from being included as a Critical Update when you run Windows Updates.

The following link will take you to a web page with instructions on how to install the IE8 block program and also includes a link to the block program itself. Please run this on your public internet computers BEFORE you run your Windows Updates.

http://www.flls.org/cns/documentation/microsoft/ie7blocker.htm

Internet Explorer 8 is ONLY AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS XP. This DOES NOT apply to Windows 2000 computers. Any Gateway 2000 computer from the 2001 Gates Foundation Grant or Dell computer with Windows 2000 should NOT have this blocker program run on them.

Please remember to reboot SteadyState protected computers and choose to save the changes after this blocker program has been run. For computers with Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit installed, remember to run Windows Disk Protection and set to save changes on reboot BEFORE running the blocker program.

You may install Internet Explorer 8 on staff computers if you choose.

If you have any questions, please give us a call.

June 18, 2008 Windows XP Service Pack 3

Over the last couple of weeks, when running Windows Update, you may have noticed that Windows XP now has Service Pack 3 (SP3) available.  I know several libraries have tried to install it or asked about installing it.

The Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit security software which we have installed on most, if not all, Windows XP public Internet Stations is not compatible with Service Pack 3.  That means if you try to install Service Pack 3 it will fail.

This is not really a problem.

While Service Pack 3 does fix some bugs and updates other parts of Windows XP, the computers in the member libraries have been running well to this point and should continue to run well into the future without SP3.  Priority updates to Windows XP are still available and can still be installed when running Windows Update.

During Windows Update choose to do a Custom install rather than Express.  If you are prompted to install SP3, you can ignore it and instead click on the button “Review Other Updates.”  This will allow you to install all of the available High Priority bug and security fixes to your computers.

Service Pack 3 can be installed on any staff or circulation computers which do not have Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit security software installed.

Microsoft has upgraded Shared Computer Toolkit to a new program called Windows SteadyState.  SteadyState is also free and offers the same type of security and protection that Shared Computer Toolkit currently does.  SteadyState is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 3 and will be compatible with Windows Vista in the near future.  The Gates Grant computers coming later this year will have SteadyState installed along with Windows XP and Service Pack 3.

At this time we do not have plans to upgrade all the existing Windows XP computers in the system to SteadyState.  However, if a computer comes in needing to be reinstalled due to a hard drive failure or other problem, we will include SP3 and all necessary updates, including SteadyState.

April 3, 2008 Polaris & Internet Availability

On April second the FLLS offices lost internet connectivity due to an outtage with our Internet Service Provider (ISP) that was beyond our control.  During that time any library trying to connect to Polaris from an ISP other than Clarity Connect would not have been able to do so.

Our web site and email were also offline during that period. 

As of 1:30 PM on Wednesday, April 2nd, all internet connectivity was reestablished.

January 30, 2007 - Annual Report Information

It's Annual Report time and this year there are two technology questions related to internet connections, 5.7 and 5.8 which ask about the type of connection and connection speed. 

Please refer to the following information when filling in these two questions:

Question 5.8 asks about the maximum speed of the connection.  All libraries, except those listed under section "h" of question 5.7 should answer using choice "f" which is 1.6 to 5.0 megabits per second.

October 24, 2007

The Internet Service Provider for Finger Lakes Library System is having network performance issues that have been affecting our offices in Ithaca, NY since at least 10/23. 

This will cause slow performance logging on to our web site as well as the PowerPAC catalog. 

At this time we have no estimated fix time for this issue but will post updates as we know more.

April 20, 2007

Gates Foundation Online Opportunity Grant

The deadline is fast approaching for the libraries that are eligible to participate in the Online Opportunity Grant to run the Tech Atlas computer inventory.  That deadline is May 11, 2007 but I would rather have this completed well before that.  Jan has produce some videos that will walk you through the steps that you will need to perform on each of your Public Access Computers.  For this grant the definition of Public Access Computers is:  Any computer located in your library that the public can use to access programs like Word, games or the Internet.  Staff and the PowerPAC Web catalog computers should not be included in the inventory.  Computers in the children's area that may not have access to the Internet but can access the Internet in a different user profile should also be inventoried.  Each of the videos target a separate part of the inventory process that you will need to perform using the Tech Atlas inventory tool.  To watch the video, click on one of the following links and the video will start to play.

Logging in for the first time and updating your library profile.

Performing the Tech Atlas Inventory.

Editing the inventoried computer profiles.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call us.  We will provide whatever assistance you need including a remote control session to show you how to do it.  Please email when you have completed the inventory.

March 9, 2007

The new Daylight Saving Time rules go into effect this weekend when you will set your clocks ahead one hour.

Please make sure that you run all of your Windows and Microsoft Office updates if you have not already done so this month. 

As an additional step, if you use Microsoft Outlook for  your email, you should run a specific update from Microsoft that will adjust calendar dates as well.  To access the update tool and instructions on how to install it, click here:  Time Zone Data Update

January 26, 2007

Equipment and Networking: What are they and how do we fix them?

The documents from January's System Meeting are now online in PDF format.  We sent out printed packets to all member libraries that were unable to attend the meeting and they should be in your next delivery. 

• Equipment and Networking: What are they and how do we fix them?
• Standard 2 Modem Network configuration chart
• Standard 1 Modem Network configuration chart

October 20, 2006

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 7.  For additional information, please see our release announcement.

February 13, 2006

At the February 9th FALCONS meeting we handed out information about wireless Internet access.  The handout included recommendations and pricing for hardware and considerations including security and usage policies.

You can access the same information online now by the link on the menu or by clicking here.