UW Windows Live
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Students can sign up now on the Manage UW Windows Live page!
UW Windows Live Services
The University of Washington is partnering with Microsoft to provide a new suite of services to UW students. This new service suite provides:
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Email and Calendaring
UW Outlook Live provides ad-free email and calendaring with 10 GB of storage and continued use of your @u.washington.edu or @uw.edu email address
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Messenger
Live chat, voice, and video communication on your computer and mobile device 
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SkyDrive
Store, access, and share your files anywhere online with 25 GB of storage 
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Spaces
Online workspace for collaboration 
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Photos
Tag and share photos and make slideshows
Eligibility and Activation of UW Windows Live
- Eligibility
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UW students, alumni, and former students are currently eligible to sign up for UW Windows Live services. Services will be made generally available to faculty and staff in early to mid-2010; early service is available upon request to help@uw.edu. UW Medicine clinical faculty and staff are prohibited from forwarding email to cloud services, including this Windows Live service.
- Activate
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If you are eligible for UW Windows Live services, you can activate your UW Windows Live ID by going to your Manage UW NetID page and clicking on the UW Windows Live link on the left. (The link will only appear for you if you are eligible for the service.)
The activation process is a three-step process:
- StepsActions
- Read and agree to the Appropriate Use Guidelines.
- Create a password for your UW Windows Live ID.
- Choose where you would like your email delivered.
- Verify
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The first time you log in to the UW Windows Live services, you will be required by Microsoft to verify your account and agree to their Terms of Use.
Using UW Windows Live
- Access
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To access your UW Windows Live services after they have been activated, go to http://home.live.com/ and log in with your UW Windows Live ID. Your UW Windows Live ID is <your UW NetID>@uw.edu. There are links on the UW Windows Live page to access all of the Windows Live services such as SkyDrive, Spaces, and Photos.
UW Outlook Live Email
- Access Options
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If you want to access your UW Outlook Live Inbox directly, you can connect to https://www.outlook.com/ and log in with your UW Windows Live ID. If you prefer to use a desktop email program or mobile device to access your email, Microsoft has published a list of supported email programs with links to configuration instructions.
- Change forwarding
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In order to receive incoming email in your UW Outlook Live inbox, you must have your email forwarding set to your UW Outlook Live account. If you chose not to change your email forwarding when you first activated your UW Windows Live account, you can update your email forwarding settings on the Email Forwarding page. To have incoming messages delivered to your UW Outlook Live account, choose the option to deliver incoming UW Email to the UW Outlook Live Inbox for your UW NetID.
- Transferring messages
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Do not forward or bounce messages from your existing UW Email account to your UW Outlook Live email account in order to transfer them as this could result in email from the UW being blocked by Microsoft.
If you need to transfer existing email messages from your UW Email account to a UW Outlook Live account, here are instructions. (Note: MyUW.net users should use these instructions.) The instructions are intended to be used as a self-service tool and UW Technology will not provide assistance with transferring email.
Changing your UW Windows Live Password
Your UW Windows Live password is separate from your UW NetID password. If you have forgotten your UW Windows Live password or would like to change it, you can do so by logging in to the Manage UW Windows Live page. There is an option at the bottom of that page to Change UW Windows Live Password.
Getting Help
- For problems with activating your UW Windows Live service or changing your password, please contact UW Technology at help@u.washington.edu or 206-221-5000.
- For other problems or questions, UW Technology provides limited assistance in the form of these Frequently Asked Questions.
- For questions regarding the use of UW Windows Live, please refer to Microsoft's online help documentation for Windows Live. Microsoft has also published extensive documentation specific to the use of Outlook Live at http://help.outlook.com/, as well as a forum and blog site called Outlook Live Answers at http://outlookliveanswers.com/.
Ending Your UW Windows Live Service
Your UW Windows Live ID cannot be deactivated. You can update your email forwarding so messages are no longer delivered to your UW Outlook Live account by going to the Change UW Email Forwarding page. If you have a need to disable your UW Outlook Live account, please contact UW Technology at help@u.washington.edu or 206-221-5000.
Usage Policies and Guidelines
Regarding the UW's involvement with cloud computing, you should know that:
- Contracts negotiations are in progress with Microsoft to address many important legal, regulatory, and compliance issues and to mitigate risk associated with handling of UW data and intellectual property by an external service provider.
- Contract terms cover many but not all types of institutional data.
- Privacy and appropriate use
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All UW "records" -- which includes all electronic data -- are covered by many federal and state laws and regulations, and by state and UW policies. No matter whether your email or other records are hosted within the UW or externally (in the cloud), you are responsible for complying with official UW policies, standards, and guidelines regarding electronic records.
- Please refer to the University's Data Security Standards for a deeper description of relevant data security standards (including the three categories of "confidential," "restricted," and "public").
- See the Know the Rules section of the Safe and Secure Web page for the relevant laws.
Please refer to our Policy page for detailed information and links to specific UW policy and relevant laws.
- Forbidden uses
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There are two types of data for which cloud-based services cannot be used: health-care (HIPAA-protected) and Export-Controlled. Be sure to read the Appropriate Use page for more details.
