Cooper Carry IT Bible - Laptop & Workstation Startup Tips

LAPTOP & workstation STARTUP TIPS

When you first start using a computer, you will need to do some initial setup. To help you get up to speed quickly, we have prepared the following list of tips. Please follow the steps in the order listed below.

Passwords and MFA – Multifactor Authentication

You will be prompted to change your password upon your first login. After that, you will need to change your password every 120 days. Please refer to this Guide on changing your password.
1. All passwords must meet the following requirements.
  - Must be at least 10 characters in length.
  - Cannot be any of your last 5 passwords.
  - Must contain at least 1 Uppercase, 1 Lowercase, 1 number, and 1 special character.
  - Cannot contain the user’s account name or parts of the user’s full name that exceed 2 consecutive characters.
MFA is an authentication method that uses two pieces of evidence to confirm the identity of the user. In our case, we will use network password and a onetime passcode. Even if you haven't heard of MFA, you're probably already using it in your personal life. Most banking and credit card websites have you enter your user ID and password, and then must enter a code you receive via text or email to access your account.
MFA provides a significant level of protection against account and password compromises which continue to plague us. MFA passcode delivery methods as part of our solution:

Authentication phone app
Text message
Non-Cooper Carry email address

As a reminder, please do not share your username and password with others. Account compromises jeopardize the firm’s data and intellectual property. MFA helps reduce the risk, but we all must do our part to keep our data safe.
Please Review this MFA Doc to help guide you through setting up MFA.

Workstations – Also referred to as “RDP” or “Remote Desktop”.

All production staff will be assigned a high-powered workstation for intensive design work (Modeling, rendering, etc.) To connect to these systems, you will need to be using your assigned Cooper Carry laptop and have the computer name.
IT will create a link for you to use when you need to connect to your workstation and place on the laptop’s desktop, all you will need to do is click the icon.
You should always be aware of your computer name, as it will help when requesting non-standard software, or submitting a helpdesk ticket. You can find your computer name on either your laptop or workstation by typing “view PC info” into the search bar next to the start icon on your computer.
The Remote Connection Guide can be found here.
Make sure you save your work nightly! Don’t leave your workstation on overnight without saving your work! Power outages can cause you to lose any unsaved work, resulting in losses of time and productivity.
Restart your computer at least once a week by using the RED “restart” icon on the desktop. This will allow the computer to receive updates and refresh its memory, eliminating odd errors that can occur if the computer has been on for an extended period.

Microsoft Teams – Used for internal communication, meetings, and phone calls

From the Windows Start menu  type Microsoft Teams and click on the application. Login with your Cooper Carry email & password. Ask your team to invite you to a Channel.
The Digital Practice Channel is a firmwide channel where you can get support with software and design workflows. We will add you prior to your start date, but if you don’t see the Digital Practice channel in your list of teams, please ask during your onboarding.

Phone / Voicemail: Microsoft Teams is used to make / receive phone calls and check your voicemail. In-office desk phones are no longer provided. In Microsoft Teams, locate the toolbar on the left and click on the CALLS tab. You should see a phone dial pad with your direct dial number listed below the dial pad. To set up your voicemail, click the FORWARDING menu near the bottom left corner of the screen and choose MORE SETTINGS

-> CONFIGURE VOICEMAIL.

Outlook – Used for email, calendar, contacts list

From the Windows Start menu  launch Outlook. It will take a minute to initialize your inbox. The software may appear slow or even unresponsive upon first use. This is normal. It will be faster on subsequent uses.

The email Reading Pane is off by default. To turn on, click VIEW à READING PANE à RIGHT.

Many people like Reply messages to open in a separate window. To activate this feature in Outlook, click FILE à OPTIONS à Scroll down until you see the REPLIES AND FORWARDS section. Enable the checkbox for OPEN REPLIES AND FORWARDS IN A NEW WINDOW.
Create your Email Signature. This is required on your workstation and laptop separately; these do not copy over from one computer to another. Please follow the Email Signature Template format available on the Intranet website (my.coopercarry.com). Search for ‘SIGNATURE’ and download the appropriate template file which you can customize then copy/paste into your account. To create the signature, click on FILE à OPTIONS à MAIL à SIGNATURES. Click NEW to create a signature and paste the info from the template into the large box at the bottom. Click SAVE. Click the dropdown lists for NEW MESSAGES and REPLIES / FORWARDS and select your new signature name. Click OK to complete.
Refer to this Guide for assistance creating your email signature.
You can access outlook on the web from any computer or mobile browser at https://outlook.office.com/mail/

Distribution Groups/Lists

Use a contact group (formerly called a “distribution list”) to send an email to multiple people—a project team, a committee, or even just a group of friends—without having to add each name to the To, Cc, or Bcc line individually.
Ask your team if they have any frequently used distribution lists.
There are also distribution lists in the global address book. In Outlook go the Address book on the main ribbon then from the drop down select “All Distribution lists”

Intranet – My Cooper Carry

http://my.coopercarry.com/ is our firms’ internal website. It houses a vast library of information valuable to you; from some our latest projects, branding standards, links to the employee handbook and more. Please reference this site when needing information on operations here at Cooper Carry.

One Drive

We utilize multiple networked repositories for our users. OneDrive is online personal storage that you get when you set up a Microsoft account to use services such as Outlook.com. Use OneDrive to save documents, photos, and other files in the cloud, share them with friends, and even collaborate on content.
Please refer to this document for more information on OneDrive.

Microsoft 365

All fulltime employees have access to Office 365. This product gives access to many Microsoft office applications, these include:
- Word
- Power Point
- Excel
- OneDrive
- Outlook
- And more…
Access M365 at Office.com, login with your Cooper Carry email and password.

Adobe Products – Used for graphic design and photo editing

From the Windows Start menu  type CREATIVE CLOUD and launch the application. You will be prompted to login with your Cooper Carry email & password. This will activate all Adobe software except for Adobe Acrobat.
After you have logged in to Adobe Creative Cloud, launch Adobe Acrobat. A few screens will flash by and the software will activate. Input your email & password, if necessary.

Adobe software can be authorized on two computers at any given time. If you register your account on more than two computers such as your workstation and laptop, you may be asked to sign out of one of the other workstations. Follow the directions on screen if applicable and remove authorization from the computer.

Internet Browser

Four Internet browsers are installed on your workstation: 1) Google Chrome, 2) Microsoft Edge, 3) Firefox, 4) Internet Explorer. We recommend using Google Chrome for the best website compatibility. Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer and is not releasing updates so do not set this as your preferred browser.
Set your preferred browser. Click the Windows Start menu  then type DEFAULT APPS. In the list of defaults, click the icon beneath WEB BROWSER and choose your preference.
If Google Chrome is preferred, launch Chrome. After a minute or two you will see a reddish pill shaped icon at the top right. Click the icon and allow it to install the extension for Adobe Acrobat then repeat to install the Webex extension.

Office Wi-Fi

When working from a Cooper Carry Office, you have access to Wi-Fi, please not that only authorized devices assigned by IT or Digital Practice will be able to connect to Corporate Wi-Fi and those systems will connect automatically.
Streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu, etc., are blocked. Though YouTube and educational tutorials videos are permitted.
Do not live stream from within the office on company hardware without prior consent,
CC _Guest network is enabled for personal devices like a phone or tablet. The password for this network is “ConnectiveDesign”.

PDF Files

By default, Microsoft Edge is the default PDF viewer. Most users will want to change this. To do so, open Windows File Explorer and navigate to any folder that contains a PDF file. Right- click on the PDF and select PROPERTIES. Click the CHANGE button. Select either Adobe Acrobat DC or Revu (Bluebeam) as your preferred application, then click OK.

Printing

Set your default printer. From the Windows Start menu  type PRINTER and click on

PRINTERS & SCANNERS. Select your preferred printer. Click MANAGE. Click SET AS DEFAULT.

Audio / Video / Conference Rooms

For virtual meetings, always launch Microsoft Teams on your laptop, not in the Remote Desktop window.

Test your camera and microphone on your laptop by initiating a test meeting with a colleague. In Outlook, click on the HOME tab, switch to your calendar by clicking the calendar icon at the bottom left corner of your screen, then click the MEET NOW button in the Teams Meeting panel of the tool ribbon to start a Teams Meeting. If your Audio / Video does not work, contact the IT department for help adjusting your Remote Desktop settings.
Each office has multiple conference/collaboration spaces available. The smaller studio spaces are first come first serve, while the larger rooms need to be reserved via outlook. Follow this guide to reserve a conference room.
Each conf/collab space only requires you to plug in a single USB-C cable into your laptop to display/mirror onto the screen in the room.

Non-standard software applications

We have a LOT of software installed on your machine but often, some people need software that is not deployed firmwide. Please check to make sure you have what you need. If not, please communicate so we can install the application(s) for you.

As always, the Information Technology and Digital Practice groups are here to provide assistance so please reach out and email helpdesk@coopercarry.com or use the HELP DESK TICKET icon on your computer desktop if you need help.

Sincerely,

The Information Technology and Digital Practice Groups

IT: Gary, Vince, Brad, Jarett, John, Marco, Rick, Yusuf, and Major DP: Andy, Jorge, and Justin