Technology

Your Computer

This page describes what support Technology provides for student-owned equipment and software, and is broken into four sections:

If you do not yet have a computer, or need to purchase new software, see What to Buy.  Before you travel with your laptop, read our Laptop Travel Tips.

Student-owned hardware/peripherals

For student-owned equipment that meets standard hardware requirements, Technology will assist in diagnosing hardware issues and will recommend a solution or an outside vendor to resolve hardware problems. To protect the hardware warranty, as a general rule Technology does not open up student-owned computer equipment or install hardware components. However, in rare instances and based on professional discretion, if Technology determines that further hardware diagnosis would allow the technician to make an appropriate referral to an outside resource, Technology will ask the owner (student) to sign a release. This release will allow the technician to do further hardware diagnosis in order to make an appropriate referral.

The primary method for assisting students with personally-owned computers is through tips on the Technology Help Desk web site, and Self-Help Clinics, designed to give you direct access to Technology's expertise. At Self-Help Clinics, we instruct students, faculty and staff in small groups, to troubleshoot and resolve software issues.

Simmons hardware standards can be found online; some departments recommend students purchase specific systems and software: please check with your department. Technology refers students who have hardware that does not meet Simmons hardware standards to the hardware manufacturer for technical support.

Technology provides limited support for handheld devices and other peripherals. Technology will provide guidance to students installing peripherals and related software, such as Palm Desktop or scanning software. Technology will provide advice to students having problems with PDAs and other peripherals about where to turn for technical assistance. Some departments, such as Nursing, require students to use PDAs and provide training for PDA applications.

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Operating Systems (OS)

Through campus email announcements and our web site, Technology informs the Simmons College community of critical security releases to Simmons standard operating systems and provides links to updates and to information about common OS issues. Technology provides guidance but does not install OS updates on personally-owned equipment.

If a student owns a personal copy1 of a Simmons standard OS with the most current OS updates, antivirus software, and virus definitions (see viruses section) installed, Technology will:

  • Investigate common OS problems
  • Provide routine troubleshooting steps for diagnostic purposes
  • Provide basic advice to the student experiencing OS trouble

If after routine troubleshooting and diagnosis a student's computer is still out of service, Technology will direct the student to the manufacturer or another technology service provider. Technology provides possible alternate resources for problems with operating systems not supported by Simmons.

Simmons OS standards can be found online (http://my.simmons.edu/services/technology/helpdesk/software/) as part of the list of standard software.

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Software

Simmons categorizes software on personally-owned computers as: standard, academic, accepted, deprecated, or forbidden.

Standard software is the same for personally-owned and Simmons-owned computers: see the list of standard software for Simmons-owned computers on the Technology web site; and Technology Services for You: Examples. Technology provides the following software support for students who own a licensed1 copy of Simmons' standard software:

  • Assist the student with problem diagnosis
  • When technically possible, restore corrupted data, files, and/or documents
  • Restore from backup files stored on the file server
  • Assist the student with locating misplaced data
  • Suggest alternate approaches to improve the way in which the software is used
  • Recommend and offer specific training
  • Offer advice about where to go for additional help

In keeping with our general support principles, Technology provides guidance, but does not install software on student computers. If deemed appropriate, Technology provides guidance to the student on how to reinstall or configure standard software, but does not perform the reinstallation.

Technology supports Simmons web based tools as standard software. Technology maintains the infrastructure for several of these tools (e.g. Simmons eLearning, AARC, WebMail). Technology provides assistance to students having trouble logging in or configuring a web browser to access such tools. When appropriate, Technology will refer students to the office that owns the underlying system. For example, the Registrar's Office maintains the data underlying AARC, and the Libraries administer the online course reserves.

Technology assists students in the universal software functions of academic software. Academic software is assigned by faculty to students for use in class, but is not included in the Simmons standard software list. Examples of universal software functions are: opening, saving, and basic printing.

Because additional support requires knowledge of academic disciplines that Technology does not have, students should contact the department or professor who assigned the program or refer to program help guides. Examples of these programs may be found in the Appendix.

Accepted software is any application that Technology has no reason to believe will cause undue harm to a computer or network resources. Technology assists students in universal functions (e.g. opening, saving, and basic printing) of accepted software, will attempt to restore corrupted files, and provides training in the use of selected accepted software.

There is a class of software that, while not forbidden, Technology urges that students not use; for example such peer-to-peer filesharing software as KaZaA. See http://my.simmons.edu/filesharing/ for information about filesharing. Such deprecated software will not be supported. Technology provides students with guidance on how to remove such programs but will not remove them from student computers.

Forbidden software is any application that, when installed, puts the student or the Simmons community at risk. Technology provides students with guidance on how to remove such programs but will not remove them from student-owned computers. If Technology staff find forbidden software on a student's computer, Technology will not provide support for either hardware or software issues until the student removes it.

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Viruses and other security threats

Viruses, spyware, and other software designed with ill-intent threaten not only students' privacy,2 information, 3 and equipment,4 but also Simmons resources shared by the community such as the network5 and servers6. Technology advises students of best practices for care of their personal data and the functioning of their machines. Because most threats can be avoided by keeping operating systems and virus definitions up to date, Technology provides antivirus software free to students.

In fairness to all of our customers, Technology will assist and advise students who have not installed or kept up-to-date antivirus software and definitions, and kept their OS updated once; after the first incident, Technology will refer students to alternate resources for assistance. If, despite having an updated operating system and antivirus software/definitions, a student?s computer is essentially inoperable or has been denied network access, Technology will help the student clean her/his machine and provide advice about how to avoid future problems.

  1. Proof of license, which can take the form of the original OS or application CD, is required for Technology support. Since the OS or application CD may be required to fix problems, students should have their CD in hand when seeking support.
  2. By distributing your email or files to others.
  3. For example, your documents, like term papers or letters.
  4. These sorts of problems can render entire computers inoperable.
  5. Traffic bottlenecks interfere with printing, Internet browsing, etc.
  6. For example, email, registrar's database, Simmons eLearning, and the file server.