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Information Technology Department

Introduction

The diocesan e-mail service utilizes Microsoft’s “Outlook Web Access” (OWA) program to provide geographically dispersed users access to the Diocese of Charlotte’s internal e-mail system.  With OWA, users can do the following:

Basic e-mail. Address mail using Microsoft Exchange's Global Address Book, send and receive file attachments and hyperlinks, set message priority, request delivery and read receipts, use hierarchical folders and Outlook bar, and group and sort messages in a folder based on standard fields or conversation thread.

Basic calendar and group scheduling. Create one-time or recurring appointments in personal calendar, access day and week views of calendar, view free and busy times of multiple users and resources when scheduling a meeting, and automatically send and respond to meeting requests in e-mail.

Basic public folder access. Access custom table views on public folders or group and sort messages in a folder based on standard fields or conversation thread. To access the full manual in Adobe Acrobat format please click here.

For a graphical view of the log-on screens for the mail server, please click on one of the following links based on the operation system of your computer.

Computer Purchasing

Diocese-Acer Computers Partnership

The Diocese of Charlotte is pleased to announce that we have established special pricing for the entire Diocese through our special partnership with Office Fly Direct for Acer Computers. These prices include huge discounts on desktops, laptops, and servers.

All desktops and laptops come pre-licensed with Microsoft Office 2007 Professional and Etrust anti-virus software. Current pricing including shipping will be:

Desktops - $1,049.99 (includes 2GB memory, 160GB Hard drive, DVDRW, 1GB USB Flash drive)

Laptops - $1,374.99 (includes case, 2GB memory, 120GB Hard drive, DVDRW, 1GB USB Flash drive)

Acer ranks 3^rd among the world's top five branded PC vendors.

• Dedicated Point of Contact: We have access to a dedicated sales team who is familiar with, and focused on addressing our specific needs.

• Web Portal: Through Office Fly Direct, we can utilize their homepage that will also serve as a single source for you to purchase and manage your technology. This page is accessible 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. We will be able to request quotes for the technology that is needed for all our entities.
  
  
• OFD "Loyal Rewards Program": The Diocese and its entities are eligible for the Office Fly Direct "49 + 1 Laptop Program". This program awards loyal customers with their 50th laptop free of charge. This is a cumulative program for laptop purchases over the length of the agreement with the Diocese and its entities.

• 3-Year Acer Advantage Warranty: This is a significant purchase for our schools, parishes, and administrative systems. Acer's warranty coverage helps to protect our investment. Should we have any problems, Acer will provide technical support to keep us up and running.You may access technical support at (800) 816-2237.

This is an exciting and important step for the entire Diocese. We look forward to incorporating this new technology into our offices and classrooms, and to the many benefits it will provide our students, teachers, administration, and offices.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly,

Kevin L. Geter

Director of Information Technology

Diocese of Charlotte

Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools

1123 South Church Street

Charlotte, NC 28203

Tel: (704) 370-3323 
Fax: (704) 370-3398

You are welcome to contact me regarding any purchases. Furthermore, I will be happy to discuss any of this information with you.

Empowering Technology is designed to make operating your computer easier than ever. It provides a simple-to-use interface and versatile configurations to help you efficiently complete everyday computing tasks.

For Laptops:

Acer eNet Management

stay online with smart networking profiles

Acer ePower Management

optimize the battery life of your Acer notebook

Acer ePresentation Management

easily connect to projectors and switch resolutions

Acer eDataSecurity Management

keep your data safe and secure from prying eyes

Acer eLock Management

prevent unauthorized access to your system

Acer eRecovery Management

back up and restore with versatile archive tools

Acer eSettings Management

configure your Acer notebook with simple yet powerful controls

Acer ePerformance Management

maximize the potential of your Acer notebook

For Desktops:

I've lost the "My Documents" shortcut, how do I get it back Windows XP?

If you deleted the My Documents shortcut from the desktop and want it back just perform the following:

1. Double click My Computer
2. Select Folder Options from the Tools menu
3. Select View tab
4. Check 'Show My Documents on the Desktop'
5. Click Apply then OK

• Is the address list available through OWA?

It is. It just doesn’t load to show all of the names. When you are logged on to OWA, you can hit the find button, the type the person’s last name. It will auto complete the address.

• What does “Archiving Mail” do?

Archiving mail is the process Outlook uses to move mail off of the Information Store on our email server (Exchange) down to the local hard drive. This is useful because it allows you to manipulate your mail without having to delete items and not take up space in your mailbox on the server. Otherwise known as a .pst file.

• Is there anyway to speed up the boot process?

You can try defragging the hard disk. If your computer takes a long time at the blue welcome screen, you can disconnect any network drives that are set to reconnect at startup.

• When setting up Outlook, what is the difference between having the default folders set to personal folders or mailbox?

In an exchange environment, having the client set up to personal folders means that it pulls the mail down to the local machine when Outlook starts. If the client is set to mailbox, the all the mail resides on the server and is cached down to the local machine.

• What does “sharing” a printer mean?

That is an option when a printer is connected locally to a computer. If you share the printer, any computer on your network will now be able to print to it.

• What is a “mapped” drive?

A mapped drive or network drive is a folder on a pc that is shared. Having this folder shared, gives you the ability to “map” it to another pc. This acts as a logical drive.

• How can you open a cd/dvd drive when the eject button doesn’t work?

There is a little hole next to the eject button that a paperclip fits into. Using a paperclip, push it into the hole. The drive will open.

•  How come when I delete items from my inbox, my mailbox size doesn’t get any smaller?

When you delete any items in your mailbox, it moves that item to your deleted items folder. You then have to go in there and permanently delete it. Also, to really free up size, make sure you delete all your sent items also. If deletion is not an option, archive.

• How do I run a defrag on the hard drive?

Double click on “my computer” icon. Then right click the hard drive icon. This is usually the “C” drive. Go down to the properties tab at the bottom of the list. Left click once. When the menu opens, go to the tools tab. Go to the middle button and click defragment now. It will analyze the disk. After that is done, click defragment. It will then begin the defrag process. This will optimize the hard disk and keep it running at its best. Defrag once a month.

• How do I keep my temporary Internet Files cleaned off of my hard drive?

You can have Internet Explorer automatically clear your Temporary Internet Cache files every time you close the program.

1.      Go to Tools / Internet Options

2.      Click on the Advanced button

3.      Scroll down almost to the bottom and check Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed

• What are the Internet Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts?

Viewing and exploring Web pages

•  How can I change my Cookie Settings?

To change how the Internet Explorer deals with cookies:

1. Start Internet Explorer
2. Go to Tools / Internet Options
3. Click on the Privacy tab
4. Click on the Advanced button
5. From here you can select your cookie settings.
• How can I change my Internet Explorer Start Page?

To change your start page:

1.      Go to a web page that you want to have as your initial page when you start IE

2.      Select Tools / Internet Options

3.      In the Home page section, simply click on the Use Current button

• How do I automatically Empty Temporary Internet Files from my computer?

To have the Internet Explorer automatically delete files in the Temporary Internet Files folder:

1.      To go Tools / Internet Options

2.      Click on the Advanced tab

3.      Scroll down to the Security section

4.      Check Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed