Your role

Owned by Jia Wen Li
Last updated: Dec 09, 2021

In order to enjoy the many benefits of having your own personal computer, you will need to properly maintain your computer and abide by the university policies that cover the Guidelines on use of Waterloo Computing and Network Resources.

These maintenance activities include, for example:

  • Preventing your system from being infected by viruses, and

  • Keeping your software up-to-date and ensuring proper security to prevent unauthorized access.

Maintaining your personal computer

While the Internet is a vast information resource, it is also a source of malware and attacks against the university computing environment.

You will need to maintain your personal computer so that it is protected from malware and cannot be used to infect or attack other computers on campus. This includes:

  • Ensure that you have virus protection software installed and that the virus definition files are current.

  • Ensure that your computer has been updated with the latest fixes (e.g., using Windows Update facility).

  • Make use of personal firewalls (e.g., Windows Firewall) to protect your computer from attacks.

  • Review the security of your personal computer (e.g., user IDs, passwords, access logs, etc.).

Most of these maintenance functions need to be performed using an administrative account on your personal computer.

Note: that failure to perform the necessary maintenance of your personal computer will likely result in a compromised system. Your personal computer could become inoperable, you could lose valuable data and you could be denied access to campus resources.

Policies on the use of computers at the University

As a member of the university, you must ensure that your use of the university facilities does not have a negative impact on the services available to other members of the community. This includes being aware of the Guidelines on use of Waterloo Computing and Network Resources and complying with its specifications:

  • Making sure that you do not consume excessive amounts of network bandwidth.

  • Ensuring that you respect the rights of other users of the campus computing environment (e.g., right to privacy, freedom from harassment).

  • Protecting your personal password and not sharing it with anyone else.

University staff will never ask you for your password. If you are sent an email that requests your password, ignore the email and let the Information Systems & Technology (IST) staff know by sending an email to helpdesk@uwaterloo.ca.

Note: Violations in the above "Use of ... Resources" statement may limit your access to campus resources and you could be subject to academic discipline.