Before Taking Your Medical Center PC Home

Your work PC is configured to work at the Medical Center. Many PCs will need updates, new software or hardware to work from your home.
Your manager must also alert HIT that the PC is moving off-site.

Please follow the steps below before taking your computer home.

BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR PC HOME

Submit HIT Home Equipment Request Form
Request a VPN account
Request Administrator Rights to your PC
Install the VPN Software
Tips for Packing Up Your PC

AFTER YOU TAKE YOUR PC HOME

Set Up Your PC at Home
Connect to your home network
Connect to the VPN

BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR PC HOME

1. Submit HIT Home Equipment Request Form (and get Approval from HIT)
   • Managers must submit a request send computers home for employees without a home PC via the HIT Home Equipment Request Form. 
   • If possible, it is advised that managers compile a complete list of their requests at one time.
   • HIT aims to provide a timely response of 24 hours depending on demand.  
      

Once your request has been approved by HIT
AND you are ready to take the computer home,
follow these steps:
 

2. Request a VPN account.  

• If you don’t already have a VPN account, please submit the HIT Online Access Request form located at:  https://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/auth/login.cfm?referringurl=/alive/computing/forms/Security/OAR2/AccessRequest.cfm
  1. Select “VPN” from the System and Role drop-down lists
  2. Click the “Add to Cart” button
  3. Click the “Checkout” button
     
     Note:  Upon submission, your manager will need to approve the request. An e-mail will be sent to your manager, notifying them of your request, and asking them for their approval.  We recommend that you let manager know this is coming, so we can get their approval and process your request in a timely manner.
      

3. Obtain Administrator Rights to your PC.
These rights have been granted to you for a period of one week to facilitate adding of a local printer or other changes that may be necessary in using the computer at your home.  

• BEFORE disconnecting your PC to take home and while you are still logged in to our secure network:
  1. Follow on-screen prompts
  2. Load Admin /U
  3. Click Run, and enter
  4. Click Start

4. Install the VPN Software.  

1. Install the VPN Software (BIG-IP Edge Client / F5) before you disconnect your PC to take home, and while you are still logged in to our secure network.  
2. Refer to the link below for instructions on how to install this software https://hit.healthsystem.virginia.edu/policies-procedures/standards/supporting-documents/windows-vpn-instructions/

5. Tips for Packing Up Your PC

1. Take a picture of cable connections
   We recommend that you look at the back of the PC to see how the cables are connected. Taking a picture of how/where the cables are connected, will provide a good visual reference when you get home. 
2. Take your monitor, keyboard, mouse, and all associated cables
   To ensure compatibility with all peripherals, we recommend that you also take your monitor, keyboard, mouse, and all associated cables (excluding the network cable – you can leave that here). However, if you choose to just take the CPU and connect it to your personally owned peripherals, please be aware that your personally owned devices may use connections that are not supported on your Medical Center PC.
   If you do not have wifi at home, take your Ethernet cable home with you.
3. Clean all surfaces with alcohol based wipes
   For your and your family's health, use alcohol based wipes to wipe down the surface of all items (excluding the monitor screen). Before returning your PC back to the Medical Center, please repeat this process and wipe down all surfaces again.
    

AFTER YOU TAKE YOUR PC HOME
 

6. Set Up Your PC at Home.

1. Reconnect all peripherals using the cables you brought home.
2. Power on your PC and log in using the same user ID and password you use at work.
    

7. Connect to Your Home Network.  

• NOTE  - Due to the numerous network providers and configurations available, the HIT Helpdesk will not be able to trouble-shoot networking issues on your home PC.  
• For Network Assistance - please contact your network service provider if you encounter problems connecting to your home network.
   

1. Use an Ethernet cable to physically connect your PC to your network router/modem if you can place your PC near your home network router/modem.
   1. Plug one end of your Ethernet cable into your router/modem and the other end into the RJ45 Ethernet port on the back of your PC
   2. This is the most reliable connection and will simplify connecting to your home network
2. Connect via Wifi 
   If you cannot use an Ethernet cable to connect directly to your home router/modem:
   • Insert the USB Wi-Fi adapter provided to you by HIT into an available USB port on your PC.
   • Connect to your Wi-Fi network by:
     1. Select the Network icon on the taskbar.
        
        The icon that appears depends on your current connection state.
        If you don’t see one of the network icons (or a similar one) shown in the following image, select the Up arrow to see if it appears there.
     2. Choose the Wi-Fi network you want, then select Connect.
     3. Type the network password, and then select Next.
     4. Choose Yes or No, depending on the type of network you're connecting to and if you want your PC to be discoverable by other PCs and devices on the network.

8. Connect to the VPN.
Refer to Step 2 on the link below.
https://hit.healthsystem.virginia.edu/policies-procedures/standards/supporting-documents/windows-vpn-instructions/

• After successfully authenticating to the VPN, you should now be able to use your PC in the same manner that you did at work (full access to Outlook, your F and O drives, and all other applications installed on your PC).

Please continue to contact the HIT Help Desk (434-924-5334) to report issues you encounter on the Medical Center PC you are using at home.