Remote Laptop Setup Guide
Overview
The following guide is intended to set up a standard University laptop after it has been delivered to a remote worker.
If any issues arise that cannot be solved using this guide or by following the instructions in the linked articles, please reach out to your TSP at https://support.uidaho.edu.
Before starting this guide it is important to fully unpack and plug in the device to power, it is also necessary to have the ability to connect it to the Internet.
Table of Contents
- Starting Up
- Connecting to the Internet
- Signing into the VPN
- Logging in
- Setting up Outlook
- Setting up Onedrive
- Setting up browser
- About the Camera
- Setting up Zoom
- System Update
- Software Center
- Connecting multiple monitors
- Finding device D-Tag
- Additional Resources
Starting Up
Upon first-time startup, you should see a screen similar to this, hit enter or click on the screen to continue.
After reading the system use notification, this is the login screen that should be presented to you:
-Back to the table of contents.
Connecting to the Internet
To get started it is important to connect to either a wireless network or to connect using the ethernet port on the device.
To connect using WIFI click on the "Internet" menu in the bottom right corner.
Next, select a network and sign in. Following this, the laptop should be able to connect to the VPN.
-Back to the table of contents.
Signing into the VPN
After turning on the laptop, it is important to sign in to the VPN so you can access University of Idaho programs and networks.
If you are unable to sign into the VPN you will be unable to perform a first-time sign in.
Start by clicking on the button at the bottom right corner of the screen.
After clicking the network sign-in button, you will be prompted with a window that says "Ready to Connect", in it should be the address "vpn.uidaho.edu"
Once that address is in the box, click connect.
Another window will appear asking for your NetID and Password, fill in the fields and click OK.
IMPORTANT
Following this, you will get a DUO Prompt on your device that you need to accept before you can continue.
For futher support with DUO, please refer to support.uidaho.edu/TDClient/40/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=264
If it has successfully connected it will take you back to the login screen.
-Back to the table of contents.
Logging in
When logging in, you may see that the user may be set to LocalVandal, it is important to switch over to "Other user" in the bottom left corner of the screen to perform a sign in.
After selecting "Other user", your username will be your NetID (everything before the @uidaho.edu) and your password is the U of I password.
Note:
When you sign in, you may we the screen "Trying to connect to AirVandalGold...", this is normal and can be ignored. EX:
After a successful log-in you should see a windows default background.
If you do not see a background after a successful sign in please contact your TSP.
-Back to the table of contents.
Setting up Outlook
After logging in it is a good idea to sign into Outlook first.
Hit the Windows key, or click on the search menu in the task bar. Type in "Outlook" and click on the app icon.
Next, a window will pop up will appear prompting you for you U of I email, enter it into the box and click "Connect".
Following this, you may get an error that says "Something went wrong", hit the "Retry" button as it may take some time to get connected. If the problem persists, contact your TSP to resolve the issue.
After a successful connection, you will be met with a DUO prompt, accept it. You may get prompted to trust the browser, hit "Trust Browser" to continue.
-Back to the table of contents.
Setting up Onedrive
-Back to the table of contents.
Setting up Browser
Upon reciving a device, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge will be avalable to use as they are pre-installed on the machine. Search for any of them in the takbar as demonstrated with Google Chrome in the picture below.
After selecting the application and allowing it to launch, the uidaho home page will appear, this is the default landing page for browsers on university computers.
The browser is able to be pinned to the taskbar by right-clicking on the browser icon in the taskbar, and selecting "Pin to Taskbar".
-Back to the table of contents.
About the Camera
The Camera on a Lenovo laptop has a shutter for privacy, the following images demonstrate the states of the camera.
This is the camera with the shutter closed, when the red dot is visible the camera is unable to see. To open the shutter, slide the tab that is on the top of the screen bezel.
The following image is the camera when it has the shutter open.
The following image is the camera when it is on and in use, such as in a zoom call or a video recording.
If the camera is having issues after checking that these functions are operable, please reach out and contact your TSP to resolve the issue.
-Back to the table of contents.
Setting up Zoom
To setup Zoom, search for "Zoom" in the taskbar search menu and select the Zoom application.
-Back to the table of contents.
System Update
After signing in to all of the above applications, it is important to check if there are critical updates that need to be performed.
Hit the "Windows" key, or click on the search bar in the task bar and search "System Update". Click on the application icon.
System update will now load and begin to look for updates for your device, this can take some time.
Following this a screen will pop up, hit "Next".
System update will then search for and download avalable updates, this may take some time to complete.
After it has downloaded, a license notice window will popup, click "OK" to continue.
Next, you will see a screen with a few options, the following example has no options to select, as it is up to date, but the proccess is the same for systems that do have updates.
Click between the three tabs "Critical updates", "Recommended updates", and "Optional updates". On each tab check the "Select all" box.
IMPORTANT
In "Optional updates" there is a module called "Elliptic Virtual Lock Sensor service", this program will lead to issues if installed on your device so please remember to un-check it before performing an update.
After this has been completed, click next. Some instructions may appear depending on the update, follow them to successfully update the device. A restart is recomended after the updates are complete.
If there are no updates to perform, click the "X" at the top of the window to exit system update.
-Back to the table of contents.
Software Center
Software Center is an application on university machines that handles updates and allows a user to download software.
For this example, the proccess for downloading OneNote will be demonstrated.
First, click into the search bar and search for "Software Center". Click on the application and wait for it to load.
Once the Application opens, scroll down in the "Applications" tab to OneNote.
Click on the OneNote tile and the the menu load.
Once the menu has loaded click on the "Install" button. It will take several minutes to install OneNote.
After OneNote is installed, close out of Software Center.
Important
After an application is installed, your system should be restarted. Otherwise, the applications will not appear in the search menu and may be unable to launch or function as intended.
-Back to the table of contents.
Connecting multiple monitors
After plugging in and powering on any extra monitors, right click on your desktop background. In the menu click on the "Display settings" button.
A menu will pop up where you can see how your monitors are setup, the following example shows that the monitors 1 & 2 are a mirror of each other, resulting in the same picture on both displays.
By clicking on Identify, it will show the identification on each monitor (1,2,3,ect). Using the identification monitors can be click-dragged to a position that is comfortible.
To split a monitor that is mirrored, or to merge two monitors scroll down to "Multiple displays" and select the option that is relevent to the desired configuration.
To make a monitor the main monitor, click on the monitor you would like to change in the "Rearrange your displays" menu then scroll down the menu to "Make this my main display.", click in the box to apply the change.
-Back to the table of contents.
Finding device D-Tag
An important thing to remember is the location of the D-Tag of your device, this helps in troubleshooting your device should the need occur.
The device tag is a blue and silver tag located on the underside of your device. The 6-digit code precceded with "D" is the D-Tag number.
DO NOT REMOVE THE D-TAG
Example of a D-Tag:
-Back to table of contents.
Additional Resources
-Back to table of contents.