Applications
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Office365 - License Deactivation Warning
Introduction This article outlines why you might be receiving a license deactivation warning for O365 and the steps you can take to resolve it. Applicability This article is intended for use by users of @ualberta.ca Office365. Why you are receiving the deactivation warning If you are a current staff member or student of the UofA you are most likely receiving this warning because you recently changed roles with the UofA and your new role has triggered a license change in O365. If you are no longer a staff member or student of the UofA then you are receiving this notice because you no longer entitled to an Office 365 license from the UofA and your license will be deactivated soon. Resolving the problem If you are a current staff member or student of the UofA you can resolve this problem by signing back into the Office 365 apps using your University of Alberta email address and password: Open a Microsoft App, such as Word or Excel. Windows: sign in/out is located in the top-right corner of the application. Mac: sign in/out is under the first menu of the application (ie for Excel its under the Excel menu). Once you have signed in to Office 365 apps please wait 30 minutes as it can take this long for the license to sync with your application. If your Office 365 apps are still deactivated after 30 minutes, go to the Account section inside one of the Office 365 apps and click the Update license button.
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Virtual Computer Services (VCS) Windows 11 Profile Setup Guide
Introduction For VCS users who are moving to Windows 11, the user profile migration is user driven, and this guide is to assist users in performing the steps necessary to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Applicability This article applies to anyone who uses or administrates VCS, and needs to move profile settings from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Details With Windows 10 support from Microsoft ending in October of 2025, IST is making the upgrade to Windows 11 on VCS to ensure the University continues to get security and performance updates. With shifting to a completely new operating system, this means that a new user profile is used for Windows 11. A user profile is a section of operating system where your personalized settings are stored. Things like what mapped drives and printers you connect to, application specific settings, what wallpaper you set, etc are stored in your user profile. While certain settings can be moved from a Windows 10 profile to a Windows 11 profile, a full copy of the user profile, or accessing a Windows 10 profile from a Windows 11 computer will generally work, but extensive testing has shown that there is a high probability of introducing quirky and hard to fix issues over the long haul. Due to this reason, it is recommended to setup a NEW profile, and re-apply settings, or application configurations. This is a very similar process if you were to get a new PC. Steps: 1. Launch a Windows 11 VM 2. Run the Migration Tool 3. (Optional) Sign into Google Chrome 4. (Optional) Change default browser 5. (Optional) Change default Applications (PDF, Image, etc) 6. (Optional) Set a desktop wallpaper 7. (Optional) Map a Network drive 8. (Optional) Map a Network printer 8. (Optional) Move Start menu to the left side 9. (Optional) Set default printer 10. (Optional) Change to dark mode 11. (Optional) Pin Apps to the Taskbar 13. Advanced Tools & Resources Launch a Windows 11 VM If you've been enabled to use Windows 11, then you'll see it as an option to launch on the VCS web portal. Run the Migration Tool NOTES: Running this migration tool is NOT mandatory, but if you were using Windows 10 within VCS, we recommend running it to bring over your existing settings. Following some of the other items in this guide may still be helpful if you choose not to run this tool. If you were accessing a DARC virtual desktop through VCS, then this migration tool is not compatible with that environment, and this tool should be skipped. The Windows 11 migration tool will reapply some of the most important settings you had in Windows 10 to Windows 11, such as mapped network drives, mapped network printers, MS Edge bookmarks (if applicable), Firefox bookmarks (if applicable), MS Office templates, and custom Office dictionaries. To start the migration tool, click on the Start menu, then type "Win11", you will then see the Win11 Migration item show. Go ahead and click on it. Then click Open As the migration tool runs, if you have a large number of printers attached to your profile, it will take a number of minutes likely to reinstall them all. Once the tool is done, you'll be prompted to logoff to save the profile settings. IMPORTANT: After the tool logs you off, be sure to wait at least 2 minutes before launching Windows 11 VM again. This is to ensure background tasks have completed. Sign into Google Chrome To sign into Google Chrome and synchronize your bookmarks follow the steps below. Open Google Chrome Enter your ccid@ualberta.ca email address. Enter your CCID and password into the University of Alberta authentication page. Complete the login with the multifactor authentication When asked to Turn on sync, click Yes, I'm in. Change Default Browser Windows 11 defaults to Microsoft Edge as the default web browser. If you wish to use a different browser as your default, then you can follow the steps below to change your default. In this case we'll use Google Chrome as an example. When you open a non-default web browser, you'll be notified if it isn't set as the default browser, with a button to set it as the default. After a few moments, you'll see the next screen. Scroll down until you see the two entries HTTP and HTTPS, click on one of them. Select your browser of choice, then click on Set Default. Note: by changing either HTTP or HTTPS settings, it will automatically change the default for the other. This window can now be closed. Change Default Applications (such as PDF, images,etc) *The following instructions can apply to any file type, but this example, we'll be setting the default application for PDF files.* By default PDF files are set to open within Microsoft Edge (can be changed to another browser of choice). The advantages of this is that using a browser to view PDF files is much faster than using a full PDF viewer/editor like Adobe Acrobat. However, if you need to fill out PDF forms, then you may need the functionality of purpose built PDF reader like Foxit PDF Reader, or if you need to create/edit PDF files you may need a full PDF Editor such as Adobe Acrobat Pro. Find any existing PDF file, right click on it, hover over Open With, then select Choose another app. (Note: selecting an app from this screen will work, but only for opening this one file, and the default will not change) Next, choose your preferred PDF application, then click on Always. Which sets it as the default. Set a Desktop Wallpaper Find the picture file (.jpg, .png, etc) right click on it, and select Set as desktop background. Mapping a Network Drive Open File Explorer on the taskbar. Once in File Explorer. Right click on This PC on the left side, then select Map network drive... On the next window, select a drive letter you want to use, then enter the network folder you want to connect to. If you are connecting to an AHS network drive, be sure to click on Connect using different credentials. Note: Please see the Advanced resources section of this KB article for help determining the network folder address to use if you had it in Windows 10 VCS. If you clicked on Connect using different credentials. A new windows comes up asking for your username and password. If you are mapping an AHS drive, be sure to start your username with "healthy\". This tells the computer to use your AHS username instead of your UofA account. And lastly, put a checkmark in Remember my credentials. Then click Ok. Map a Network Printer If you want to add a network printer from the print server, open File Explorer, and browse to \\med-print01 Browse for the printer you want to add, right click on it, and then select Connect. While the printer is being added, you'll see. When that window closes, the printer should be available to print to. Move the Start menu to the left side Right click on the taskbar, then choose Taskbar settings. Next, click on Taskbar Behaviors. Lastly, click on Center, under the Taskbar alignment setting to toggle to the left. Setting a default Printer Click on the Start Menu, then click on Settings. On the left side, click on Bluetooth & devices. Then click on Printers & scanners. Then click on the printer you'd like to use as the default. Lastly, click on Set as default. Change to Dark mode Right click on the desktop, then click on Personalize Then click on Colors Lastly, click on where it says Light, this option will show a drop down menu to change it to Dark. Pin Apps to the Taskbar Start by opening the application you want to pin. The running application will show on the Taskbar, right click on the application's icon, and click on Pin to Taskbar. Advanced Tools & Resources Finding previous mapped drives and printers: Open File Explorer and browse to \\med-vcs-profile\xendesktop Then double click on the folder labelled as your username The following two files contain a history of the mapped drives and printers you've used in the past. Using this info, you have the details of how to map a network drive, or map a network printer.
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Dell Command | Update
Introduction This article will explain the usage of Dell Command | Update (DCU). Dell Command | Update is a standalone application for Dell client systems that simplifies the process of updating software like BIOS, firmware, drivers, and applications. It ensures your system stays current, compatible, and healthy by providing a centralized method for updates. Applicability The target audience of this article is anyone wishing to learn about DCU. DCU runs only on Dell computers. It is installed on most Dell computers, if you have a Dell computer and are unable to find DCU on it please contact the Staff Service Centre. This article is primarily aimed at users whose computers are joined to the following domains: sts.ad.ualberta.ca engineering.ualberta.ca ualibrary.ualberta.ca registrar.ualberta.ca med.ualberta.ca Details DCU runs automatically every Saturday at 9PM and again at 10PM and installs any updates that it finds. If a restart is required it can be deferred for 24 hours up to 3 times. DCU can be run manually in two ways. From the installed application. To run DCU follow these instructions. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, to the left of your spacebar. A window with a search field will open. Begin typing the words Dell Command. In the search results click Dell Command | Update Windows 11 Windows 10 Click the Check button to check for updates. If updates are found you may click View Details to see more about the available updates, or Install to install the updates. Please note that some updates require your computer be restarted to complete the installation. If you must restart please save and close all of your work. While updates are being installed do not change or remove the power source for your computer or attached peripherals. If your computer has a BIOS password set you will not be able to update the BIOS using this method. Please use method 2 if you encounter an error updating the BIOS using this method. From the Software Center Open Software Center by clicking the Software Center icon on your desktop or using the following method: Press the Windows key on your keyboard, to the left of your spacebar. A window with a search field will open. Begin typing the words Software Center. In the search results click Software Center In Software Center click the Applications tab. Click Dell Command | Update - Scan. Click Install or Reinstall. Read the warning on the window that comes up. You may click defer to not run the program at this time, be aware that you may only defer one time. Click Continue to run DCU. DCU will automatically continue in 10 minutes if no action is taken. If DCU is already open on your computer you will see the window below. Click Close Programs to automatically close DCU continue. Click Defer (if available) to defer running DCU. Close DCU manually and click Continue to continue running DCU DCU will run. If an update is installed that requires a restart you will see this window. You have the option to click Restart Now or Minimize the window. Please save and close all of your work at your earliest convenience. While updates are being installed do not change or remove the power source for your computer or attached peripherals. When DCU is finished running you will see this window. FAQ When will Dell Command | Update check for updates? Computers connected to MECM in sts.ad.ualberta.ca are scheduled to run BIOS update scans every Saturday at 9PM. The Dell Command | Update application scans for updates every Saturday at 10PM.