Minimum Computer Requirements
The Piedmont College Department of Information Technology supports computers
that meet these requirements. If a student has a computer that does not meet these requirements, the Department
of Information Technology may not work on that computer. However, assistance in finding a local computer technician will
be provided.
This document can be downloaded on the Downloads page.
Processor and Speed:
PowerPC G4 or G5: 1.33GHz
Pentium 4: 2.0GHz
Pentium Celeron: 2.0 GHz
Intel CoreDuo or Core2Duo: 2.0GHz
Memory:
512 Megabytes of RAM
Hard Drive:
40 Gigabytes
Removable Storage:
3.5" Floppy Drive (see below), CD-R/RW (or other device for saving documents such as a USB Flash Drive)
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows XP
Apple Mac OS X (see below)
Connectivity:
10/100 Network Interface Card (NIC) (also known as an Ethernet or Network card)
a CAT5 or CAT5E patch cable
Floppy Drives
Please note that Floppy Diskettes are unreliable at best and can become corrupted easily. The Department of Information Technology
suggests you purchase a USB Flash Drive, which can be used with any Windows 2000, XP or Mac OS X computer without installing any
software. Having a CD-R/RW drive for burning CDs is also an option.
Many times students will run into the problem of losing their only copy of a paper or a project, or even their senior capstone. To prevent
this from happening to you, save multiple copies of your work. Since saving it on a lab computer is not an option (lab computers will
erase everything you save to the harddrive each time they are rebooted), you should keep a copy on your USB Flash Drive, burn a copy onto a
CD, or email it to yourself. Saving multiple copies of your work is the easiest way to avoid a crisis caused by data corruption or accidental
deletion.
Mac OS X
Piedmont only provides limited desktop support for Apple products.