Category Archives: Base

Notice – OWA Planned Upgrade

via Jason Appah

Just some info on a minor change to Outlook Web App so you all are aware and prepared for when it happens. The log in page will be changed up a bit, now reflecting the more current Outlook style:
OWA upgrade login
The log in form works exactly the same. You may either use your Domain\user or first.last@oregonstate.edu to log in. The changes are merely aesthetic, but may cause some confusion to users. The instructions to getting there are the same as well; exmail.oregonstate.edu -> Exchange Outlook Web App. The HelpDocs page will also be updated when this change is made, and will include screenshots and examples. You may direct users to this if they have questions.

Currently the plan is to push this change out on February 15th, at about 10:00PM.

Policy Change – OSU Secure

On Tuesday, February 3rd at 5pm, a TSS domain-wide policy for OSU_Secure wireless will be deployed. What this does is create a wireless profile for OSU_Secure, sets it as the default profile and makes it available prior to Windows logon. Users will have the option to switch to OSU_Access if needed. OSU Extension has been excluded from this change due to potential issues with older access points. Additionally, Microsoft Surface tablets will be excluded from this change due to issues with wireless drivers that do notproperly support Cisco PEAP authentication.

See the link for documentation and troubleshooting details: OSU_Secure GPO Information

Policy Change – WIMs on Computers

The Bench team is no longer placing the entire WIM on the user’s computer. The reasons for this are as follows:

  • Space – WIM files get excessively huge and take up a considerable amount of hard drive space.
  • SCEP – SCEP has issues and will commonly break/fail/time out when it tries to scan the WIM file.
  • Time – We can save an incredible amount of time by not copying the file over.
  • Access – With our new DISM based capture process, a user needs the beta version of 7z to access the WIM. Since this is not a standard application on the machine, having a WIM on a computer that can’t access it makes no sense.

So what will be in CN Backup?

  • User Profile(s) associated with whom the machine is for.
  • Non-standard folders located on the root of C:\
  • Data Warehouse files when they are identified.

What happens if a computer is placed and there are additional files that are needed?

  • Call the Bench and have them place the file(s) in a location to transfer them to the user.

As a final reminder, we keep all backups for 30 days after the ticket is closed out. Once a month, on average, I go through or stored backups and clean them up.

If for some reason a backup needs to be held onto for an extended period of time, please let a Bench time member know this so that they can tag the backup as “Keep”.  All backups marked this way are then held onto for 9 months, at which time they are reviewed to determine if they need to be kept longer.