Student Owned
Computing in
The College of Engineering
NOTE: With the beginning of the fall 2008 semester, newly admitted College of
Engineering freshman students are expected to own a PC for personal use
from the convenience of their home or dorm. Existing College of
Engineering students and transfer students are encouraged to own and use
a PC. The choice between owning a desktop or a laptop PC is one of
personal preference. A laptop PC offers the mobility to let the student
work from anywhere.
Overview
College of
Engineering students do not need to own a computer. The college
provides student computing labs (with printers) that are accessible 24
hours a day, 365 days a year (except when the University is closed at
Christmas and New Year's). The lab computers have all the software
required for College of Engineering classes and can be used to perform
all required tasks.
Many students
prefer to have their own computers so that they can complete at least
some of their work from their homes or dorms. Even though a home system
won't have all of the necessary technical application software, it can
be very useful for writing reports, doing research on the Internet, or
communicating with faculty and other students. Students may also run
Engineering applications via our MosaicAnywhere remote
desktop server pool.
Computer Support
At this time
(Spring '07) there is no formal
support for Student Owned Computers in the College of
Engineering or at UNC Charlotte.
Some ad hoc support for generic operational questions is available from
Engineering Computing/MOSAIC and the campus Student
Computing web pages. In general, however, the owner is responsible for
their
computer and any issues that arise.
Should I buy a
desktop computer or a laptop computer?
For a variety
of reasons, this
is a matter of personal
choice. A desktop computer is usually a less expensive and more
powerful option,
but some students prefer the mobility of a lapto, particularly in view
of the widespread availability of wireless networking available on
campus. One reason some
students choose a laptop is for the possibility of using it to take
notes during class. However, this is difficult in College of
Engineering
classes since there is frequent use of equations and diagrams. A
notepad computer can solve this problem. Please understand that for
most classes students may not be allowed to bring computers to exams.
NOTE:
As of February 2007
- Not all
UNC Charlotte web sites are compliant with Microsoft IE 7.0
- Not All applications are compliant with
Microsoft VISTA OS.
Engineering
Computing will continue to assess the VISTA OS.
Bringing a
Computer
to UNC
Charlotte
| Desktop/Laptop
Configurations |
We
recommend that any machine purchased use
VISTA operating system, have a dual core processor or better,
have at least 2 GB RAM, have at least a 100 GB
internal
drive, include a CD RW/DVD reader, have 3 or more USB 2.0 ports to
support memory sticks. Desktop systems should have at least a
19
in LCD monitor. Laptop systems should include
wireless
network capability. |
| What to Purchase |
The
College currently has a mixture of Dell and Sun Solaris (Unix)
workstations in our labs and offices. The College currently does not
support Macintosh computers, and we do not recommend Unix systems for
typical home use. While we have no reason to recommend for or against
any specific brand of PC, we have had good experience with Dells. Dell
also offers special discounts on laptops and desktops to UNC Charlotte
students
through the links at the bottom of http://www.labs.uncc.edu/basics/compguide.html.
|
| Where to Purchase |
Desktop
and laptop computers may be purchased from
many "brick-and-mortar" stores and various sites on the internet.
Common sense should prevail when choosing a point of purchase. |
| Loaner Laptops |
The
Atkins Library on campus offers laptops for
temporary loan
at the Circulation desk. More information is available here. |
| Warranty |
Given
that the purchase of a computer is costly and
as stated above there are no support mechanisms on campus, a good
warranty
is a definitely a plus. Many vendors offer next day, on-site service
and
often have "accidental damage" coverage packages as well as plans that
can cover a full 4-year period. |
| Financial Aid |
Many
financial aid programs allow the inclusion
of a computer purchase in their funding. At UNC Charlotte, it may be
included in
the "Miscellaneous
expenses"
portion of the estimated budget when calculating the need for student
financial aid according to the Office of
Student Financial Aid. |
| Good Computing
Practices |
Backup
your data, and keep all your CD media
that comes with your machine and any software that you install. If your
hard drive
crashes, you may
lose everything on it, and you may have to re-install your operating
system and any previously installed programs.
Don't
download/install software you don't know.
Avoid
opening attachments in email if you don't
know
the sender
Install a
virus detection package, and keep it up to
date. At UNC Charlotte you will be able to use the Campus license
for Norton's Symantec Antivirus software (see "Software" below)
Subscribe
to automatic Windows Updates to keep your
OS up to date.
Enable
the Windows Firewall.
Install
the OpenAFS client to access your Mosaic files.
|
Campus
Rules and Recommendations
The
Student Computing web page at http://www.labs.uncc.edu/basics/antivirus.html
has links to the University Policies on computing along with how to
protect yourself from identity theft and recommendations about good
email habits. Look under "Guilt-
Free Computing" at the bottom of the page. The page also has
information about how to protect your computer from viruses.
Software
Basic Software
We Recommend |
Some
type of antivirus
software.
Norton's Symantec AntiVirus is available free to UNC Charlotte students
(click
here)
.
Some type
of office productivity
suite (word processor, presentation, spreadsheet, etc). Microsoft
Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) is the most commonly used package. OpenOffice
is an open-source Microsoft-compatible office suite and is a no-cost
alternative to purchasing Microsoft Office. It is available at http://www.openoffice.org/.
Whatever is selected should be fully compatible with MS
Office, however.
|
| Useful Software |
| Spybot Search & Destroy |
Freeware
anti-spyware utility. See our article
here. |
| Ad-Aware SE Personal |
Freeware
anti-spyware/anti-adware utility. See our article here. |
| WinSCP |
Open-source
secure file transfer (FTP) and SCP utility. Useful for transferring
files between your computer and your UNC Charlotte accounts through an
encrypted connection. Available at http://winscp.net/eng/index.php. |
| PuTTY |
Open-source
telnet and secure shell (ssh) client. Useful for command-line
connections to Engineering Computing's Unix server. Encrypts your
connection for privacy. Available at
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/. |
| OpenAFS Client |
Open-source
client that allows you to access files in your Engineering Computing
account from anywhere that you have a good connection to the internet.
Requires installation of Kerberos for Windows. See our article
here. |
| Kerboros for Windows |
Encrypts
your password when using OpenAFS to access files in your Engineering
Computing account and interacts with our password authentication
server. Required in order to use OpenAFS. See our article
here. |
| Adobe Reader |
Adobe Reader is a freeware utility from Adobe for
the Windows platform that can read PDF files. It is available
at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. |
| Mozilla Thunderbird |
Mozilla
Thunderbird is a free, cross-platform e-mail and news client available
at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/. |
|
|
|
| Purchasing Software |
Software
at discount prices is available from an on-line educational software
distributor through the UNC Charlotte Bookstore.
Click on the software link in the left margin. |
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