Computer and Technology Discounts

Thanks to the University's arrangement with Microsoft, staff can now download and install Microsoft Office for Windows for free - i.e. at no cost - on up to 5 home computers.

ICT recommends using Microsoft Internet Explorer v9+ to access the sites shown here, as certain functionality is not guaranteed using a non-Microsoft web browser.

Please note that under the terms and conditions that you agree to before installing MS Office, you must uninstall the software if/when you no longer work for the University.

• Visit products.office.com and click on the 'Find out if you're eligible' button.
• Enter your full work email address and then click the 'Sign Up' link.
• You are told 'You already have an account' so click 'Continue' and when the login window appears, enter your full University email address and network password then click OK.
• You are either told:

• "Almost There" and then click on 'Start'
• "There's no need to sign up". Click on 'Ok, got it'
• Either way you are now taken to your email account via the Outlook Web Application (OWA).

• Click on the large 'Office 365' button on the top menu. You will see the 'Install Now' button and this confirms that everything is ready.
• You don't need to do anything else until you're ready to download and install Office at home.

At Home

• Login to the Outlook Web Application (OWA) at home via outlook.com/beds.ac.uk, then click on the large 'Office 365' button on the top menu.

• Untick (disable) the two options relating to 'Bing' and 'MSN' (if you see them). Beneath these you see the 'Install Now' button, so click on it to download the installer file.

Installing Office is for home use only. Please don't run the downloaded installer on a University computer.

Windows

• Choose to save the installer file (typically 1Mb+) to your PC's local hard drive and run it from there. The installation requires access to the Internet and will take some time to complete.
• You will need to read and accept the licence agreement before the installation can begin.

Macintosh

Official Microsoft help for installing via Windows and Mac

The current Anti-Virus application in use at the University is Sophos Enterprise.

Users can register for free at home.sophos.com

You will need to create an account and sign in to use the free Sophos employee version which can be used on up to 10 personal devices free of charge.

Please refer to the guide for step by step instructions: Sophos for Home Guide [PDF]

Please note that Staff who are still using the free home version of F-Secure should uninstall the software as updates have ceased and your computer will be vulnerable.

Staff (and students) can purchase Apple hardware with an education discount applied.

Visit store.apple.com and click on 'Select your institution'. Choose 'Eastern' from the list and scroll down and select 'University of Bedfordshire'.

Apple detects your connection to the site, so the applied discount will be slightly more if you use the web site whilst on the University network. If you go to the education link above from home (for example) then a discount is applied but it won't be as much. This reduced discount is also applied if you physically visit an Apple Store and show your Staff ID badge when buying hardware.

O2 are offering University staff an ‘O2 Open’ discount for personal (non-University) contracts.

The discount is 30% off the line rental element of the tariff for you and up to four others (maximum of 5 people allowed).

Choose an ‘O2 Refresh Airtime’ plan that includes the combination of minutes, texts and data you want and then choose a phone and phone plan (not all handsets are available in this offer).

The contracts are for 24 months duration.

Read the O2 documents included and visit o2open.co.uk to register.

O2 FAQ [PDF] - This document contains the most frequently asked questions relating to the 30% discount via the O2 Open scheme.

O2 Plan [PDF] - This brochure gives basic details about the O2 Refresh Airtime Plan.

The University of Bedfordshire has signed up for the Microsoft Home Use Program (MSHUP), which allows staff to buy a licensed copy of selected Microsoft Office desktop PC software to install and use on a home computer at a considerable educational discount.

Software in the MSHUP currently includes:

• Microsoft Office 2013 (MS Windows)
• Microsoft Project 2013 (MS Windows)
• Microsoft Visio 2013 (MS Windows)
• Microsoft Office 2011 (Mac OSX)

Please note that all Office 2013 products bought via the MSHUP only work on Windows 7 or Windows 8. They don't work on earlier versions of Windows.

If you have previously bought and installed Office 2010 via MSHUP

You are legally obligated to uninstall Office 2010 before installing Office 2013 from HUP, as using only 1 license on an individual machine is allowed.

Please note that installing Microsoft Office Outlook 2013 will overwrite any previous Office installations.

What are the terms and conditions?

You must read and agree to the Terms of Use (TOU) provided by the MSHUP online before you buy MS Office applications for home use.

The above supersede any previously stated terms and conditions in relation to buying MS Office and MS Project for home use via the University.

You should also read the FAQ at microsofthup.com

The important points of the FAQ are summarised below:

• Only one copy of MS Office can be purchased via the MSHUP per employee, so either Office Professional Plus 2013 (Windows) and Project 2013 and Visio 2013 (if required) or Office Home & Business 2011 (Mac OSX) but not both
• You may use MSHUP software at home while you remain employed by the University. When you leave, you must uninstall the software
• If the University withdraws from the MSHUP for any reason then you must uninstall the software
• The software can be installed on two computers (e.g. two PCs or two Macs)
• The software can be uninstalled and then installed on a different computer used by you (reassigning the license to a new device), but the license key is only valid for two installations on up to two machines.

How do I buy MSHUP software for home use?

What you purchase is a license to download and install a digital version of MS Office applications. The current price is on the MSHUP web site, and is subject to change by Microsoft. You can order an additional backup DVD, but this will cost extra and takes 2-3 weeks to deliver.

It is important to check before you start that your email junk or spam settings at home are not set to block or junk emails from hup.uk@digitalriver.com. See below to learn why.

Visit hup.microsoft.com

Select Europe and then choose United Kingdom.

Enter your work e-mail address (firstname.surname@beds.ac.uk) and enter the program code, which is 5D2AC3FA0C. This program code is unique to the University and mustn’t be shared with anyone else.

The website will confirm your possible eligibility and then you just need to wait for an email to arrive from hup.uk@digitalriver.com

The Email contains a ‘Buy Now’ link, which you should click when you are at home rather than at work.

Clicking on ‘Buy Now’ takes you to a Microsoft web site where you choose what you want to purchase, how to pay for it, and then elect what version to download.

Please note that for the 2013 applications, the download is initially small. The installation starts with a streaming download process that can take quite a long time to complete, dictated by the speed of your Internet connection.

If you have any questions, please refer to the Microsoft FAQ before contacting the ICT Service Desk on extension 3366 or visiting the ICT service desk.