Computer Recommendations and Requirements
Recommendations
Minimum Hardware Recommendations
- 4 GB RAM
- 250 GB Hard Drive
- DVD drive
- Graphics card with 256 MB RAM
- 10/100Base-T Network Card
- Cat5 Ethernet Cable
- 802.11g Wireless Adapter
- USB Flash Drive (2 GB or larger)
We strongly urge students to use USB flash drives (also known as Jumpdrives or thumbdrives) or external hard drives. They are not only a great way to keep a backup copy of your work, but they also allow you to open your documents on any computer on campus.
See our Buying a Computer page for more info on our recommended vendors.
Software Recommendations
Windows-based PC
- Microsoft Windows 7
- Microsoft Office 2010
- McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (provided by Providence College)
- At least 3 years of warranty coverage
The college provides
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (link only available on campus) to all students free of charge. The college can also provide Microsoft Office or Microsoft Windows to all full time undergraduate students for $25. Please see our
Computer Software page for more info.
Apple Mac
- MacOS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
- Microsoft Office 2011
- McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (provided by Providence College
- AppleCare
The college provides
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise (link only available on campus) to all students free of charge. The
college can also provide Microsoft Office or Microsoft Windows to all
full time undergraduate students for $25. Please see our
Computer Software page for more info.
Requirements
All computers connecting to the Providence College network are required to have anti-virus software installed. The college providedes McAfee VirusScan Enterprise to all students free of charge. It can be downloaded on campus from the college's Internal website (only available on campus).
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 their operation systems up-to-date with the current security updates and service packs.
The Helpdesk will only support PC's running Windows XP or newer and Macs running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or newer. For more information on receiving support, please see our ResNet page.