oit

Program Information

Who qualifies to use the program at UMass?

Because UMass Amherst currently has special membership status, all students currently enrolled full time at the Amherst Campus, as well as full time faculty and staff from all departments, are eligible for free access to the program. The MSDN-AA software may be used for personal use by Students, Faculty, and Staff and for use in the pursuit of Education and Research. It may NOT be used for conducting University business (office machines) or for any other commercial or business use. If you have any questions about appropriate use, please contact us at msdnaa@oit.umass.edu.

What happens when I leave the University?

Students, staff, and faculty members are not required to uninstall software packages obtained through MSDAA upon graduating or leaving the University as long as the usage still meets the requirements of the EULA (personal, research or learning use is acceptable - commercial or business use is not).

How long does a membership in this program last?

The membership will run from July-June annually. UMass currently enjoys free membership through June 2008. (For paying institutions, the cost is $399 (USD) per department per year to join.) The program was designed to run concurrently with the standard academic year.

How long will the software be available for free?

Right now, UMass has free access to the software updates until June 30, 2008. Our free membership may be extended after that date, so please check the website for updates on this status.

What are the benefits of the program?

What record keeping does OIT do and how is it used?

OIT keeps track of who downloads what software from our MDSN-AA Site. We also keep track of names and email addresses we send unique (such as for Windows XP Pro) keys to. This information is saved to allow us to report to Microsoft download patterns (a requirement of the program), but we do not give out the Email addresses recorded to anyone. We do not use the collected Email addresses for any internal or external mailing lists.

How regular will the updates be?

Updates are anticipated on a monthly basis. We will try to get the updates up on the site and available as quickly as we can. Please check the website frequently for updates.

Will the Windows Activation Wizard work with Students installing at home?

Yes. The products available from our MSDN-AA Site are the Full retail versions of the Software. There is nothing that limits their use to a particular location or for a particular time period. Products that use the activation wizard require unique keys that are distributed as requested from the OIT MSDNAA Email account msdnaa@oit.umass.edu. We request that either requests come from valid UMass email accounts, or that the email that was mailed to you when the software was downloaded be forwarded or attached. The keys we send are good for only one installation and activation. The keys can not be used for reinstalling once they have been used.

How do I get an Installation Key?

When you download software from the UMass MSDN-AA Site, you will automaticlly be sent an email with a product ID or key required if one is required for installation. This is why it is important to correctly enter information requested before downloading software. For applications that require unique keys, you will be mailed directions on how to request a key to be sent to you.

How many keys can I get for a product?

We have a limited number of unique keys that Microsoft makes available to us. It is hard to get more (but not impossible at this time). We request that members of the campus community limit their requests to 3 keys per product. Exceptions can be made, but please do not abuse this wonderful resource Microsoft has extended to us. Software downloaded from the site is for members of the campus community only, not friends and family.

How long does it take to be sent a key?

We try to send out keys within 1 to 2 business days. Sometimes we can send out keys over the weekend and on Holidays, but our hours of operation are Mon-Fri 9am - 5pm.

I am Leaving for break, Do I have to uninstall?

No. The software will continue to work off campus. When you leave the University, you do not have to uninstall software installed from the MSDN-AA site as long as your usage still complies with the EULA - in short... No business or commercial use.

Content Information

How do I get the developer tools, platforms and servers?

Why is Microsoft Office Developer not included?

The focus of the MSDN Academic Alliance program is on providing Departments and Faculties with the tools and platforms that support the needs of students who are engaged in specialized research and study with servers, technologies and tools.

With regard to Microsoft Office, specifically, the subscription will deliver the developer materials for Office but not the product itself.

Is the program available in languages other than English?

Not at this time. The program is being launched first in English. Other languages may be added in the future depending on demand.

Is Microsoft Services for Unix included in MSDN-AA?

Yes. Microsoft Services for Unix provides common Unix utilities and programs such as Grep and Perl that run on Windows NT/2000. Clients with these services installed are able to easily access resources on Unix networks.

Do we get access to Beta software the same as MSDN Universal, and if so can we use it like all other MSDN AA software?

Beta products are provided as in MSDN Universal (with possible exceptions in line with the aims of the program). Under the EULA amendment these may be used in the same way as other MSDN AA software.

Technical Questions

Help! I need support!

The software from this site is provided as is. If you run into problems downloading from this site please send an email to msdnaa@oit.umass.edu

Can I use a non-Umass email account when I download software?

No, we were allowing requests placed using non-Umass accounts, but due to the elimination of the OIT account fee, Staff reductions, and requests being made illegally by non-Umass members, we have changed the policy as of October 15th 2003. For products that require unique keys you will be instructed to request a key through means of email.

What is an ISO image and how do I create a bootable CD?

An ISO Image is an image file that most CD Burning software can use to create a bootable CD. Before downloading the image you will want to confirm that your burning software supports burning CDs from ISO Images and refer to the burning software's documentation as to how to do it. Usually the software will have an option in the "file" menu to burn CD from Image. Make sure that your burning software is set to select the image file with a .ISO extension (ROXIO defaults to *.CIF but can be switched to *.ISO). Roxio and Nero can burn from ISO images, but with Nero you must make sure you have the latest version or your installation will fail towards the end of the install process when you try to install from the burned CD.

My download gets to 99% and hangs - what should I do?

Give it more time. What happens is that IE downloads a file first to a temperary location. When it finishes writing to the temporary file (99%) it then writes that file out to the final location that you selected on your hard drive. Depending on the size of the file, this can take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes (remember we are talking large files here). During that final write out time, it might seem that the download is hung (in fact windows might report it as not responding from task manager), but you should be able to see hard drive access light blinking.

I downloaded the self extracting executable... Now what do I do?

When you run the file, it will extract its contents by default into the c:\temp\msdnaa directory. you will then need to find the installer file that is usually called setup.exe and run it.

I Downloaded the ISO... Now what do I do?

You will need to check the instructions for your CD Burning software to find out what the steps are for burning a CD from an ISO file.

We have found that some versions of Nero 5.X have this problem. The fix is to use the latest version of Nero 5.X or another burning package. We have not heard of problems using Roxio or Nero 6.X.

What is the checked build (or debug build)?

The purpose of the checked build of Microsoft Windows is to make identifying and diagnosing operating-system-level problems easier. The checked build differs from the standard build in the following ways:

• Many compiler optimizations (such as stack frame elimination) are disabled in the checked build. Disabling such optimizations makes it easier to understand disassembled machine instructions, and therefore it is easier to trace the cause of problems in system software.
• The checked build enables a large number of debugging checks in the operating system code and system-provided drivers. This helps the checked build identify internal inconsistencies and problems as soon as they occur.

Distribution media containing the checked build are clearly labeled "Debug/Checked Build." The checked build distribution medium contains the checked version of the operating system, plus checked versions of HALs, drivers, file systems, and even many user-mode components.

Because the checked build contains fewer optimizations and more debugging checks than the standard build, the checked build is both larger in size and slower to execute than the free build. As a result, the standard build is used in production environments unless it is necessary to use the checked build to identify serious problems.

I am off campus with a modem, is there somewhere on campus that I can download and burn the ISO images to CD?

You can now download and Burn CDs in the OIT PC Computer Labs. Instructions for how to Burn the CDs using the LAB Machines are available by clicking HERE