BIOTA (Biological Informatics, Operations & Technology Advisory Group) is the information technology support group for CSB and EEB Departments, providing computer, research computing and web support.

Information and advice about computing at EEB and CSB is available on the BIOTA website.

For general IT questions or in case of emergency, please email it-help (at)biota [dot] utoronto [dot] ca.

Useful links:

U of T Blackboard resources

List of IT staff

We see it all the time…

USB memory sticks fail.

Your trusty flash drive will fail; it is simply a question of when. You likely will not have any warning. Save your important files on at least two devices at all times. Store your important documents online with a service such as Dropbox or Google Docs. 

Hard drives fail.

The disk inside your computer will fail; it is simply a question of when. Your Windows or Mac computer has built-in backup software. Use it. Keep your entire hard drive backed up so you can recover from a catastrophe. 

Windows computers absolutely need anti-virus software.

This applies to Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Viruses and malware can steal personal information, destroy data, and turn your computer into a criminal Internet zombie. Install an anti-virus program and keep it up to date. Don’t install multiple anti-virus programs - they fight. We recommend a free package from Microsoft called Security Essentials. 

Stuff gets lost/stolen.

If you work with sensitive files such as research, student, or administrative data - and particularly if you use a laptop - we recommend encrypting your hard drive, external drives, and USB sticks. Encryption makes it practically impossible for anyone to access the data without your password. It’s easy to do with a free program called TrueCrypt. 

Any questions? Ask us!

it-help (at)biota [dot] utoronto [dot] ca