Table of contents
Recommendations
Minimum Hardware Recommendations
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2 GB RAM
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80 GB Hard Drive
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DVD±RW
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Graphics card with 128 MB RAM
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10/100Base-T Network Card
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Cat5 Ethernet Cable
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802.11g Wireless Adapter
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USB Flash Drive (1 GB or larger)
Software Recommendations
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Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate
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Microsoft Office 2007
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McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (provided by Providence College)
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Microsoft Windows Defender (part of Vista, additional download for XP)
The college provides McAfee VirusScan Enterprise to all students free of charge. The college can also provide Microsoft Office or Microsoft Windows to all incoming freshman for $25. While we recommend MS Office for your computer, we suggest waiting on a purchase until you arrive on campus. The discs can be purchased through CompUtopia.
Requirements
All computers connecting to the Providence College network will be required to have anti-virus software installed. The college strongly recommends McAfee VirusScan Enterprise, which is provided to all students free of charge. It is available on a CD that can be picked up at the Help Desk. All computers purchased through CompUtopia will come with McAfee VirusScan Enterprise pre-installed. McAfee, as provided by the college, will never expire and never require you to re-subscribe each year to continue to receive updates.
It is the student's responsibility to keep their anti-virus software up-to-date with the most current virus definitions. It is also the student's responsibility to keep the Windows operating system up-to-date with the current security updates and service packs.
The Help Desk will only support computers running at least Windows XP or MacOS X 10.4 Tiger.
Apple Computers
Many students prefer to bring Apple computers to campus. The Help Desk will support Apple computers, but, as with any computer, can only provide basic software support and support for the network connections. CompUtopia is an authorized Apple repair shop. They will service any Apple computers covered by AppleCare. There is also an Apple Store in the Providence Place Mall located in downtown Providence (about a 15 minute bus ride on RIPTA).
Even though you may have heard that Apple computers do not get viruses, this is a complete myth. Apple computers are susceptible to viruses just like computers running Windows. We require anti-virus software on all computers connected to our network, including Apple computers. We provide anti-virus software free-of-charge to all students, including a version compatible with MacOS X.
Other Information
We strongly urge students to avoid the use of floppy disks. Instead, we highly recommend the use of USB flash drives (also known as Jumpdrives or thumbdrives). These are more portable and less likely to fail.
The only officially endorsed vendor for computers is CompUtopia. All computers from CompUtopia meet or beat our recommended hardware specifications.
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