Windows support

SCS Facilities supports hosts running the following Windows operating systems:

Windows XP Pro / SP2 (not XP Home or XP Media Center)
Windows 2000

Facilities support for Windows PCs includes: installation of a baseline software environment, network backups (if explicitly requested), and hardware and software support. Users incur a monthly charge for this support.

Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, is now available to consumers, and SCS Computing Facilities will soon announce its support for Vista in the SCS environment.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 Information

Microsoft has released Service Pack 3 (SP3) for Windows XP. According to Microsoft release KB936929, this Service Pack installs all previously released security updates and hot fixes as well as several new features and component upgrades. Click Here for Details

Windows 2000 End of Life Scheduled

As SCS Computing Facilities begins to phase in support for Windows Vista, support for Windows 2000 is being phased out. Beginning August 1, 2008 SCS Computing Facilities will only offer full support for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista. Details

Hardware support

We provide repair and other services for hosts under SCS Facilities hardware support. For example, we provide a UPS for supported desktop hosts. Contact the SCS HelpDesk if you have hardware problems with any supported host.

If you wish to purchase a PC, see our list of recommended PC configurations. Since not all PC hardware works well within an SCS Linux environment, be sure either to choose appropriate hardware from our list of recommendations or to consult with us before purchasing, if your new machine will run both Windows and Linux. Send purchase requests to <purchase@cs.cmu.edu>.

Software environment & support

Upgrade to the latest release of Microsoft's productivity software, the Office 2007 suite.

To request SCS Facilities staff to install or upgrade a PC operating system (Windows, Linux, or dual boot), use the PC installation/upgrade request form. Additional software is available from SCS and CMU Windows software distribution servers.

By default, hosts on which SCS Facilities staff installs software will be added to the SCS Windows domain, and the SCS domain ID for the primary user will be placed in the local Administrators group on that host. SCS Facilities will deploy critical Windows OS and security patches automatically to most PCs in the SCS Windows Domain. This procedure may, on occasion, force an early-morning reboot of your computer. Backups of Windows hosts are not enabled by default. You must specifically request that SCS Facilities back your computer. Desktops and laptops use different backup systems, so consult our pages on Windows backups and laptop backups for details and limits on the service we can provide.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

If you have a software or hardware problem with a supported host, contact <help@cs.cmu.edu> for assistance. The local Windows FAQ has answers to some common Windows-specific questions.

How to

Request installation or upgrade of a PC operating system
Obtain baseline packages and other Windows software
Map local drives to network resources
Keep your PC secure:
- General information
- Protect yourself against viruses
- What to do if you've been hacked
Request and install an SSL certificate for IIS
How to use PuTTY to connect to a Linux host.