Help Desk

• Easy installation of commonly used printers and applications (web browsers, Office, Adobe Reader, VPN software, and more)
• Safe way for IT (and you) to update software on college owned computers.
• Reduces risk to you and the college by managing certain security settings, such as disk encryption and screen lock
• Helps improve software version consistency within departments.
• Enables rapid deployment of critical security patches for software on faculty, staff, and other college-owned computers.
• Improves support and troubleshooting capabilities for IT

An Application called Self Service+ (accessible from the Applications folder or the menu bar at the top) allows users to easily install site-licensed and other commonly used software, in addition to printers and copiers.

Self Service+ also includes a menu bar icon by default. In macOS Tahoe (version 26), you can remove the icon by holding the command key and clicking and dragging the icon off of the menu bar.

You may receive a notification when an application needs to be updated. In some cases, it may be necessary to quit the application first.

Site-licensed and other commonly used software at Reed, including:

• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint)
• Firefox
• Chrome
• Zoom
• Adobe Reader
• Crashplan computer backups
• VPN
• Windows App (formerly called Microsoft Remote Desktop)
• Printers and Copiers
• macOS updates
• Anti-virus and Anti-malware tools (e.g., Crowdstrike)
• Other department specific software

Several system settings in macOS are managed by IT, and not modifiable. They include:

• Computer password required after wake from sleep, or a few minutes of inactivity*
• FileVault disk encryption
• OS updates released by Apple are required to be installed within 15 days by the user. Please visit the Managed Updates page to learn more.
• Critical system updates may be automatically installed
• Only allow installation of apps from the App Store and identified developers
• Hard drives and connected network drives always appear on your desktop

Screensaver settings for specialized computer setups (control booth computers, projection computers in the classroom, etc.) will have alternate screen saver settings as needed.

*You can set up a "hot corner" in System Settings to temporarily disable your screen saver.

EDR software is installed on Reed computers to provide real-time protection from malware and other more severe security threats such as ransomware. Because this tool securely analyzes network traffic, you may encounter a warning similar to the ones below:

     

If prompted, select Allow to continue to allow the tool to perform its functions.

When a malicious process is blocked or quarantined on your computer, you may see the following notifications:
 

If you see these notifications and have questions, please reach out to cus@reed.edu.

IT uses software to encourage and eventually enforce security updates to keep Reed College computers up-to-date and protected from the latest security threats. For more information, please see our Managed Software Updates page.