Minimum Configuration

Background

In order to provide a good user experience and maintain the integrity of the University's IT resources, the Office of Information Technology defines a minimum configuration for connecting a computer to the campus network.

Configuration considerations fall within these categories:

Operating System
Patches, settings and utility software

This represents the minimum workstation configuration allowed to connect to University services. Any workstation not meeting these minimum requirements will not be allowed on the campus network.

Operating System

Effective Date

Supported Operating Systems

Current

Level 1 - Best effort
Windows 7 (Enterprise and Professional), Windows XP Professional, Mac OS X 10.7, Mac OS X 10.6

Level 2 - Limited support
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows XP Home Edition (ResNet only), Windows 7 (Home Premium, Ultimate (ResNet only)), Mac OS X 10.5

Level 3 - Unsupported
Windows 2000, Windows XP x64 Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista (All versions), Mac OS X 10.4, Linux and anything not in Level 1, Level 2, or prohibited by Level 4

Level 4 - Not allowed
DOS, Windows 95/98/ME and older, Windows NT 4 and older, Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, Mac OS 9.x and older, Mac OS X 10.3 and older, any homegrown, beta or pre-release OS, any OS designed primarily to provide server services (ex. Windows 2008 Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server)

More information about operating system requirements can be found here.

Patches, settings and utility software

All computers connected to the campus network must have some basic software and settings.

All vendor-supplied operating system and security patches must be applied. For example, use Microsoft Update for Windows or Software Update for Mac OS to install updates.
Up-to-date anti-virus software and virus definitions must be installed if available. If you are running a Level I or Level II operating system on your computer, you can download current anti-virus software from the Software Download page http://www.uwplatt.edu/go/software.
All file sharing software must be disabled. For example, for Mac OS, turn off file sharing in the File Sharing control panel. For Windows remove the File and Printer sharing component from the Network control panel.
TCP/IP configuration must be retrieved using DHCP.
University-owned computers must also contain specific versions of network client software and Anti-Virus software.

Note: All users connecting and using any systems on the UW-Platteville campus network agree to the Acceptable Use of Computing and Information Technology Resources.

If you have questions, please contact the OIT Help Desk, or the ResNet Office.