Making your computer safe and compliant

To keep your computer safe from viruses, spyware and hacker attacks there are several things you need to have installed. It is also important for your computer to be compliant with the list below in order to make office appointments with the Help Desk staff. Each semester will begin with a grace period (announced via e-mail) that typically spans the first two or three weeks of the semester.

The ITS Help Desk will be happy to assist you with your computer questions and problems over the phone (859-4181). Please refer to our main Help Desk page for our hours.

If your computer is compliant with the list below, you should experience far fewer problems with viruses, spyware and hacker attacks. To be compliant, your computer needs to have...

Windows Vista Home Professional & XP Professional (XP Home edition is supported on a more limited basis)
Macintosh OS 10.3.x and up

1. Firewall enabled (the firewall built-in to your operating system is preferred)
2. Anti-virus software installed and up-to-date (Sophos is free to students, and is recommended, but other brands are OK)
3. Anti-spyware software installed and up-to-date (we recommend Ad-aware and Spybot) not needed for Macintosh
4. Operating system completely up-to-date with the latest patches (including Service Pack 2 for Windows XP users)

Complete documentation -- including how to install all the components listed above

If you are reinstalling your Windows Operating System

During the grace period - appointments are accepted for compliant and non-compliant computers
If your computer is running so poorly that it needs to be looked at, please call us at 859-4181 during our posted hours. If we advise you to bring in your computer, we will help you determine if your computer is compliant. If it is not, you can stay and work through the remediation packet (listed above) or you can take it to your room. We will be available to answer questions as you go through the packet and will assist with stubborn problems. If your computer does not respond to our efforts, you will be advised to take it to a full service repair center and pay to have your problem fixed. A list of local providers appears below.

After the grace period - appointments are accepted only for compliant computers and those with problems not related to compliance (i.e. software problems, configuration problems, e-mail, etc.)
If we find your computer is not compliant and the problem you have is the result of non-compliance, we will still attempt to advise you over the phone but if we are unsuccessful solving your problem within a reasonable amount of time you will not be able to make an appointment with us until your computer is compliant. Once it is compliant, we will be happy to work with you in our office to address your computer problem. Then if we are still unable to solve your problem you will be advised to take your computer to a full service repair center. To bring your computer into compliance after the grace period you may pick up a remediation packet or take your computer to the service center of your choice and pay to have it fixed.

Return to main Help Desk page
Return to main ITS page

Key Resources

Services (phone numbers)