Laptop Requirements & Support

Laptop Requirements | Laptop Support

Laptop Requirements

Overview

All University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law students are required to have a laptop for exams and other purposes. This laptop must support wireless connectivity to the School’s network.

iPads, Android-based tablets, Microsoft Surface RT tablets, and Google Chrome laptops are not supported for printing and exam-taking purposes. Tablets with attachable keyboards and Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 are supported. We do not want to discourage tablet use, however you should be aware that a tablet will not replace the need for a laptop.

Questions regarding this policy can be directed to the Law School IT Help Desk at: lawhelp@udc.edu.

The requirements below were last updated in June 2020 and cover the 2020-2021 school year.

Hardware Requirements

Required:

  • 8 GB of memory (RAM)
  • 320 GB hard drive capacity (minimum … larger capacity recommended if you store media, i.e. photos, music, videos)
  • Wireless card with 802.11 a, g, or n capability
  • Intel Processor (Mac requirement only … older PowerPC processors no longer supported)
  • Integrated webcam (can purchase a separate USB webcam if existing computer does not have)

Recommended:

  • External USB hard drive for backups/archiving (strongly recommended)*
  • Ethernet card

* A word about data integrity: You will be creating many time consuming and important documents during your tenure at the School of Law. Consequently, we feel strongly that you have a backup medium on which to save this critical data.

Operating System Requirements

For ALL laptops, you must have a licensed copy of the operating system. We reserve the right to refuse service to laptops with non-licensed or non-activated copies of the operating system. Dual-booted systems are not supported for exams (e.g. Windows-via-Boot Camp on a Mac).

Supported Operating Systems:

  1. Windows 8.1 and above
  2. Mac OS 10.13 (High Sierra) and above
  • IMPORTANT: Windows operating systems prior to 8.1 (including XP, Vista, 7 and 8) and Mac operating systems prior to 10.13 (including OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks), 10.10 (Yosemite), 10.11 (El Capitan), and OS 10.12 (Sierra)) are NOT supported or compatible with required Exam4 software. In addition, tablet computers (e.g. Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Microsoft Surface RT, etc.) are also NOT compatible with Exam4.

Software Requirements

At a minimum, students must have:

  1. Office Productivity software: students are eligible to use Office 365 at no cost while enrolled at UDC Law or may choose to obtain and install their preferred office suite, e.g. LibreOffice, Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, WordPerfect Suite
  2. Antivirus software, e.g. Avast, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Windows Defender
  3. PDF reader software, e.g. Adobe Reader DC, Foxit Reader

The School of Law will supply, at no additional cost, exam software, case management software, and access to various on-line legal research, course management, study aid, and career development resources.

Laptop Support

UDC Law students are required to obtain laptop computers to facilitate their coursework. These laptops are configured for printing and wireless internet access by the Law Library’s IT department during Orientation.

If a UDC Law student is having trouble getting on the internet or sending files to the school’s printers, the student should bring the laptop (with power cord) to the Law Library Circulation Desk and fill out a Request for Service form. The student may be asked to leave his or her laptop for several hours or overnight; the student can ask the person working at the Circulation Desk for an estimate of how long it might take.

If a UDC Law student is having laptop trouble that is not related to the School’s network, the student can ask the School of Law’s IT staff to investigate the problem as a courtesy, but the staff may decline either before or after looking at the laptop. Students are encouraged to purchase an extended service warranty, preferably with next-day or on-site service because the School of Law does not have a loaner laptop program.

Students are encouraged to regularly back up the files on their laptop computers, and are solely responsible for the integrity of their files. If you would like to discuss methods for backing up your computer, please make an appointment with the Network Administrator or Technical Support Specialist by contacting lawhelp@udc.edu.