What services does the Technology Support Center provide for personally-owned computers?

Personally-Owned Computer Support Policy

The Technology Support Center's main purpose is to support university-owned computer systems. We also ensure that personally-owned systems are able to access the campus network and provide limited support for personal systems. A list of services we can provide for your computer is complied below:

We WILL...

• Ensure that your resident hall's network port works.
• Troubleshoot and attempt to diagnose and resolve your network connectivity problems.
• Confirm compliance with network connectivity policies.
• Make recommendations regarding software and hardware service upgrades.
• Provide contact information for local computer retailers and service technicians.
   

We will NOT...

• Repair or replace broken computer components.
  • Our resources are reserved for university-owned computers. Instead we can provide contacts for local computer retailers and service providers. At your request, we can also notify our technicians to see if any of them can help you on their own time.

• Take apart your computer.
  • Liability and warranty concerns prevent us from performing tasks outside of normal user maintenance and service. Instead we can attempt to diagnose your problem and make recommendations about how to get it fixed.

• Perform data recovery or data backup.
  • Liability concerns, time, and resource constraints required to perform data services prevent us from being able to back-up or recover your data. Instead we can tell you how you may be able to backup or recover your data, or provide you with retail contacts that may be able to assist you.

• Format or reinstall your operating system.
  • Instead we can answer specific questions about installation and provide you with retail contacts that may be able to assist you.

• Support or troubleshoot routers, gaming consoles, or PDA devices.
  • These are considered non-essential to school and are thus not supported. Instead we can ensure your gaming console, or PDA is properly connected to our network. 

• Remove spyware, malware, or other malignant software.
  • Spyware removal is often extremely time-consuming and can also be a liability. Instead we can recommend spyware removal tools or suggest a format-reinstall to ensure complete spyware removal.

• Troubleshoot a computer that does not boot.
  • Most of the time, computers that do not boot require an operating system re-installation or hardware service. Instead we can provide you with retail contacts that may be able to assist you.

• Provide you with software.
  • Licenses for software on lab computers are property of the university and thus we are unable to supply software to students for free. Instead links for free and discounted software are available.  In some instances, software vendors provide free student versions through their website.  

• Install software for you.
  • Instead we can try to answer questions about the software you are installing.