Best Practices for Maintaining Your Windows Machine While Working Remotely

Background

The following are a list of guidelines to help keep your Windows PC updated, secure, and operating optimally while working remotely. In addition, nearly all Windows PCs that staff at Dartmouth use are joined to our domain environment, providing access to resources and services, including shared files (OurFiles) and licenses for both the Windows OS and Microsoft Office, but only when connected to the domain network environment. The recommendations below will help to reduce the likelihood of losing access to these resources. 

Best Practices

1. Regular Network Connection (VPN or On-Prem)

  • Connect to the campus network regularly (via VPN or physically on-site) to allow:
    • Windows reactivation or validation every ~30 days.
    • Office 365 license refresh every ~30 days (up to 180 days offline before grace).
    • Group Policy updates.
    • Software updates.
    • Access to internal resources, such as OurFiles and campus-based printers.
  • You can check the status of your Windows activation via Settings > System > Activation. There you will find your Activation State and Subscription status. Both should show "Active." 
  • Avoid going completely offline (i.e. not connected to the Dartmouth network) for longer than these activation periods. We recommend doing this at least once every 30 days, but ideally weekly for licensing and system health.

2. Periodically Keep Devices Powered On Overnight

  • We generally advised that you keep your devices powered on overnight at least once a week so that:
    • Scheduled Windows maintenance tasks (disk cleanup, defrag, updates) run.
    • Automatic Office license refresh and Windows activation calls can complete.
  • If power-saving is important, please let us know and we can work with you to configure your machine's ability to "wake for scheduled tasks."

3. Run Windows Update Regularly

  • You should:
    • Manually check for Windows Updates if not connected to VPN for a while.
    • Keep updates current to avoid licensing and security issues.
  • Your machine may be configured for automatic updates already, but we have found that some machine-specific updates will not happen without direct action on your part. For this reason, open and run the Dell Command Update application regularly for these additional updates. We can assist you with this, so please feel free to open a ticket with ITC.
  • If there are updates that constantly show but do not seem to get installed, please let us know.

4. Keep Office Updated and Activated

  • Office 365 will generally keep itself up-to-date, but you can check on this for yourself. Open Word or another Office application. Click on File > More... > Account. Then find Update Options > Update Now.  It may take a little time for the update to check and complete. You can also compare the Version and Build information in the section About Word with the version information found at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/current-channel. This is the same page that will open if you click Update Options > View Updates.
  • Your Office 365 license is provided through your Dartmouth affiliation. Staying connected to the Dartmouth network (via VPN or on-premise) regularly enables ongoing license check-ins.
  • You can check the status of your Office activation fairly easily. Within any Office app, go to File > More... > Account. You should find your license status shown on the right-hand side under the Product Information section of the window.

5. Log Out and Back In Occasionally

  • Periodic shutdowns or restarts after being connected to the Dartmouth network for a period of time can help complete pending updates or scripts.
  • Logging out and back in can trigger group policy and licensing refreshes.
  • We suggest that you login, connect to the VPN or campus network, logout, then log back in again.

6. Proper Shutdown Procedures

  • If you are planning to travel or are likely to remain offline for an extended period, shutdown your computer, rather than simply closing the lid for sleep/hibernate mode.
  • Ensure the computer has completed the shutdown procedure completely before closing the lid.

7. Report Any Licensing or Update Issues Quickly

  • If you encounter any errors, warnings, or notices about failed or incomplete updates, please open a ticket with ITC via the Service Portal (services.dartmouth.edu). 
  • Proactive support will help us to catch widespread issues early.
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