Sara Ziemendorf

Why should we change a computer when there are personnel changes?

* Day to day use of a computer leaves "fingerprints" upon a system. Every time you visit a web page or open an email, you open the possibility of having pieces of software installed upon your machine to "help" you with other things. These might be useful, or they might be harmful (like spyware or viruses). Your settings change, and while you might not notice them, these changes will be foreign to someone sitting down at your computer for the first time.
* In order to help a new computer user be able to do their job correctly, it is necessary that the "fingerprints" of the previous user be wiped away. This creates an environment where the computer user is able to then customize their system the way that they'd like without the interferance of the previous users influence.
* This also gives the technician a chance to check the computer for problems, to identify possible security problems, and insure correct installation of new programs before the next user starts to use it. It gives the technician a frame of reference for future computers issues with that system.
* Users who leave the job rarely may install destructive programs in a way to "get back" at their former employer. In order to insure that data is secure, a backup at the time of the employee's departure is a good way to insure that no data is lost in the transition, either from neglect or outright revenge.
* It eliminates the excuse "it doesn't work because the previous user screwed it up".
* Sensitve or personal material may need to be removed to protect individual rights, department and administrative business and the institution as a whole. In order to comply with the Federal Education Right and Protections Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portablity and Information Security Program (HIPAA) as well as contractual agreements such as the VISA Cardholder Information Security Program (VISA CISP), such information is considered restricted.

What kind of backup is run?

* Whenever possible, we try to backup the entire hard drive. We have limited disk space, and we can't keep our backups for very long, but we do try to do the most complete backup possible. In some cases, such as hardware failure, there may be hard drive issues that will preclude us from being able to do a complete backup, but we will attempt to do a complete backup.

Do we restore the backup to the computer in question?

* Usually we try to restore the backup to the computer in question, unless the person receiving the computer next does not need it. In that case, we'll sit on the data for a few months until it becomes clear that the data is no longer needed. If the data is important, but it does not need to be restored to the hard drive, we can burn it to a CD or DVD for longer term storage upon request. We generally don't burn things like Windows files or Program Files to the DVD. We do back them up and they are available upon request.
Restore data to the computer Create a CD/DVD with data
Yes, the next person will need the data
X

X (upon request)
No, the next person will not need the data
Data will stay on the backup media for a short time then be destroyed.

X (upon request)

What about programs installed on the old system? Will they need to installed on the new one?

Almost all programs cannot be easily restored from backup. It is generally considered better to install from the original media (floppies or CDs or new downloads) to receive a fresh copy of a program if it is needed. For a list of programs installed on machines by default when we do a clean install, please see this checklist.
New Employees

New employees will have access to all of the programs listed in the checklist for new computer installs. Most of the time, they don't know what sort of programs that will be needed and have no demands for any installs beyond the norm. If a department has a specific request for a specific setup or resource, we will try to help install that. If a new employee will be continuing the work of the prior employee, we will restore the hard drive documents folder, and anything else they feel might be of use, such as old email folders or address books, or bookmarks.
Departing Employees

What is left behind is largely at the discretion of the departing person. We do take care to remove items of a personal nature such as music on the My Music folders, My Pictures, etc. However most of the rest of the My Documents folder is left intact. A departing employee might like to have their email folders, their address book, their favorites or bookmarks saved for future use, or might like them destroyed to keep their data private. It will depend on the preferences of the departing person. In the case that he/she has left no preference, the data will be backed up and held for a few months before being destroyed.
Procedures for SWAP computer disposal

Equipment should be erased of all data before it goes to SWAP for disposal. We generally will just erase the hard drive by formatting the hard drive, however, we do have more complete hard drive erasure programs that can write the hard drive over with zeros instead of data, which is a more through manner of data disposal. The hard drive can also be disassembled and destroyed, upon request.

Computers we send to swap are "mined' for valuable parts. We recycle hard drives (post erasure), CD drives, RAM and some controller cards for use in other systems. The machines we send to swap are generally just a power supply, a mobo, a processor, floppy/zip drives and cables.

If a department wants to retain those parts themselves for their own future use, they can, but we will provide them to them at no cost in the event of a failure.