Faculty and Staff FAQs - Software
What Software programs are available for free to Columbia Medical Center Faculty and Staff?
Columbia Medical Center has licenses for:
as well as other programs. When your affiliation with Columbia ends, you are no
longer covered under the university license and must uninstall any of these programs from your personal computer(s).
Why can't I access the licensed Microsoft Office software?
Not all of the departments at CUMC decided to purchase the license. If you cannot access the software after logging in with your UNI
and password, your department is probably not on the license. Please contact your Department Administrator to confirm.
You may also want to check your department listing in the
Columbia Directory, if it's incorrect you must ask your
Department Administrator to have this changed with Human Resources.
Where can I take classes to learn software programs?
Online courses on various software programs are also available at Columbia's Training and Development site; select the "Skills at Columbia" link towards the bottom of the page and login with your UNI and password.
Where can I purchase SPSS or SAS?
You must first fill out the online form to purchase SPSS
or SAS. 24 hours after you submit the online form for
either program you can pick up your license and any purchased software at the Information Commons help desk on the 2nd floor of the
Library. Please be sure to read all the
licensing and software information for these
programs thoroughly, or you can call the Information Commons at extension
5-Help with specific questions.
Why can't I view streaming video via QuickTime?
Firewalls on your own computer and the CUMC network can block streaming video in QuickTime if the program hasn't been configured
properly. For instructions on changing QuickTime's settings to allow streaming video through these firewalls, please see CNMTL's page at:
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/video/windows_firewall/
Office 2007 FAQs
How can I install Office 2007? CUMC has a site license that covers Medical Center students as well as faculty and staff of most departments. Please see the Software Downloads page or use your UNI and password to log in at the Microsoft download page. Any faculty or staff that are not able to log in should contact their Department Administrator to verify that the department is participating in the site license.
Please note that these are large files and may take a while to download to your computer.
Should I Upgrade to Office 2007?
There are a number of things to take into consideration when upgrading, most importantly the system requirements to verify that your computer will be able to use Office 2007. It's also best to run Windows Update before installing, to make sure that your computer has all of the latest Microsoft patches.
You should allow yourself a little time to get used to the new layout and features, and check for backwards compatibility if you'll be sending Office 2007 files regularly to others that may not be upgrading. There are workarounds to most issues with backwards compatibility at this point, but if you work with an Access database that is used by others as well it is best to consult with your IT support staff prior to upgrading.
How can I open files created with Office 2007 on an older version of Office? Office 2007 creates XML based files by default, which cannot be opened in earlier versions of Office. As a quick work-around, you can use "Save As" option in Office 2007: select the multicolored Office icon in the upper left corner of the program, then "Save As" -> "97-2003" option. If you'd like it to save this way by default, select the Office icon and "Options" in the lower right corner of the window that appears, then "Save" from the list on the left, and change the "Save files in this format" drop down menu to the "97-2003" option.
Windows computers that have not upgraded can install the Microsoft Compatibility pack to allow them to open the XML based files, however any formatting or features that are only available in 2007 will be lost. Please visit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for "compatibility pack".
Macintosh computers can try Microsoft's free converter at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx, please look for the link to the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter. There is also a free document conversion utility available at http://docx-converter.com.
Is there training available for Office 2007? Online training for Office 2007 is can is available on Microsoft's training page: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training. Here you can find tutorials for all of the programs, and take them at your own pace.
What's new in Office 2007?
The primary change with Microsoft's latest release is the Ribbon, graphical user interface that replaces the tool and menu bars:
The "File" menu option from older versions is essentially replaced by the Office button, circled in purple above. Other menu options are now tabs rather than drop down menus. The Ribbon offers available options within the program in an easy to navigate, tabbed browser-like bar, rather than a hierarchical set of options. It is more intuitive for those not already familiar with Office programs, however it will take some getting used to for those who have used past versions of regularly.
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Last updated 7/23/07
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