During the past few years, more and more faculty and staff members have started using laptop computers on the Engineering network. While laptops offer both portability and a greater flexibility of use over traditional desktop computers, they are not as easy for departments to administer centrally. Laptop owners need to take more personal responsibility for configuring their computers and keeping them free of viruses and patched against potential security threats.

In order to assist faculty and staff in the configuration of their laptops and the utilization of all available College services, CAEN staff have compiled a list of guidelines for running departmental Windows laptop computers on the Engineering network. The CAEN Technical Note, Best Practices for Running your Windows XP Laptop on the CAEN Network, can be found on the CAEN web site at http://www.engin.umich.edu/caen/departmental/laptops.html. The “Best Practices” guidelines provide assistance with the following topics:

• Protecting your laptop against viruses and security threats
• Registering your laptop with the College's DNS/DHCP network service
• Taking advantage of Exchange email
• Going wireless
• Utilizing Windows network file servers
• Backing up your local files with Connected Network Backup (CNB)
• Purchasing a serviceable laptop

For information regarding CAEN departmental computing, refer to www.engin.umich.edu/caen/departmental.