Disruptive Network Maintenance - Owen Building levels 7 to 14
DTS will replace the Campus Network Edge switches in 3 of the Owen Building comms rooms, which support floors 7 to 14.
The maintenance will start at 7 am and will continue all day. It will result in a significant period of network and IT service outage. The team will work to keep the building open to staff during the maintenance. However, the comms will advise staff and students to work from other locations.
Should the maintenance take longer than expected, any remaining work will be completed on Friday the 10th April.
To minimise the impact on timetabled activity, the building has been booked out in the timetabling system for this maintenance.
For non-timetabled activity, DTS will use the following channels to communicate the planned restrictions to staff and students:
- “We Are Hallam”
- The Building Disruption Channel
- Digital signage
- Emails to key stakeholders
- “IT planned maintenance” staff page
- “IT service issues” student page
If you use Notepad ++ please read this important security incident update
Digital Technology Services has been made aware of a security incident affecting the update mechanism for Notepad++, a third-party text editor that is different from the standard Windows Notepad.
A compromise at Notepad++’s hosting provider (not the software itself) meant that some malicious updates were selectively delivered to targeted users between June 2025 and December 2025. The issue was resolved with the release of version 8.8.9 in December 2025.
Although this was a highly selective and targeted attack, there is still a risk to users who updated Notepad++ during this period.
Who may be affected
You may be affected if:
· You use Notepad++ (not Windows Notepad), and
· You downloaded or updated it between June 2025 and December 2025, and
· The update was installed and run on your device
The standard Windows Notepad is not affected.
What the University has done
If you downloaded this from AppsAnywhere, the University has deployed the latest secure version of Notepad++ to AppsAnywhere. This version includes the fix released in December 2025.
What you need to do:
· Download the latest version of Notepad++ which is available in AppsAnywhere (or if you're using your own device from the Notepad ++ site)
· Turn off any automatic update (auto-update) settings within Notepad++
If you downloaded or updated Notepad++ on your own device between June 2025 and December 2025, we recommend that you:
· Check that your antivirus software is enabled and up to date and then run a full antivirus or anti-malware sca
Need more help?
If you have any concerns or questions, or notice unusual behaviour on your device, please contact the DTS Service Desk.
Blackboard - Students are Unable to Download Overall Feedback Attachment from Gradebook View Button in Group Assignments in Ultra
We've identified an issue where Students are unable to download Overall Feedback Attachment from Gradebook View Button in Group Assignments in Ultra
This issue occurs when the student goes directly to the Gradebook and clicks View under Results. When the student attempts to download the feedback file from the Attempt Feedback section, an error appears.
However, if the student accesses the assignment through the Content Area, opens the submission first, and then downloads the feedback file, it downloads successfully without any issue.
This behaviour has been replicated by Anthology in their internal instances as well and they have confirmed this is a known software defect.
Workaround:
The student can access the assignment through the Content Area, opens the submission first, and then downloads the feedback file, it will download successfully without any issue.
Advice for students with IT software issues
If you experience problems with Sheffield Hallam software, please contact the IT Service Desk at the time of the issue (wherever possible).
The best route to use is chat as this will allow a member of the Service Desk to remote control to the PC in use and:
- Attempt to resolve the issue
- If this isn’t possible, capture important information to allow DTS to investigate further
Investigating the issue is much more difficult when reported later on.
Any urgent queries can be directed to the Service Desk by phone on 0114 225 3333 or online chat at go.shu.ac.uk/chat. For anything else, please visit our portal at itservicedesk.shu.ac.uk. If reporting software issues via the portal please include the following information:
- date & time
- building & room
- workstation name (available from the PC icon at the top left of the desktop) or if it issue was on a personal device
- name of software
- description of the fault or issue
