Students who are facing financial difficulty and are concerned about the laptop requirement may apply for the Laptop Loan Program, a free of charge service for traditional undergraduate students who qualify. The laptops meet the University’s specifications, and come with applications such as Microsoft Office, anti-­virus software, and Internet connectivity. Application to the Laptop Loan Program may be submitted through this online form.

If a corporation owns the laptop computer students will use for classes and on-campus network access at DU, the University of Denver cannot provide technical support.

This includes hardware/software installations, hardware/software upgrades, operating system configurations, system failures, network configuration/accessibility (both on campus and off campus) and overall system troubleshooting. This is to protect both the University and the outside corporation.

Some corporations lockout non-business uses of the computer or open network access for company technologies. Any attempt by DU to change those configurations could alter the corporate configuration or cause system instabilities.

Most likely, your corporate laptop will not be able to access network resources at DU.

Although the choice of what laptop to purchase or lease is yours, we do have recommendations to make. Our list of recommended laptop manufacturers are Apple and Dell. This list resulted from evaluations conducted by our staff that considered such factors as price, speed, functionality, reliability, service, industry rankings and feedback from other universities requiring laptops. Most importantly, these vendors have been "tried and true" with our students in the DU mobile computing environment.

Maybe, depending on your area of study. Some schools like the Daniels College of Business and the Department of Engineering require Windows only software (PCs), while the School of Art requires Macs. If you opt for a Mac, you may need to run specialized Windows software. Please see our Minimum Specification recommendations for more information.

No, you do not have to purchase a new computer. We will help you get your computer configured; however you may encounter system/software incompatibilities and support issues. Your computer must be loaded with Windows 8.1 or above or Mac OS 10.12 or above.

The Chromebook Operating System can't run many programs that are required for courses at DU.  The Hard Drive size on many Chromebooks is also below the minimum recommended at the University of Denver.  It is strongly recommended to purchase a computer that meets the minimum laptop specifications.

Numerous security problems exist with non-English versions of Windows. In order to protect the network community at the University of Denver , we require that all students have the English version of Windows 8.1 or above installed on their computers. Computers running a version other than the English version of Windows will be denied network access. International students can use Microsoft's "Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI), a set of language specific resource files that can be added to the English version of Windows. When installed, MUI allows the user interface language of the operating system to be changed to one of 33 supported languages. Both the English version of Windows and MUI are available at the DU Bookstore.

The University has purchased Antivirus software for Windows and Macintosh for all student computers and it is available at no charge for download through the Resources tab in login.du.edu.

In order to use the wireless network, you need to have logged in to login.du.edu and have a wireless ethernet adapter capable of the WPA2-Enterprise encryption protocol. You will be asked to authenticate with your DU email address and password. The automated configuration utility can be accessed by connecting to the network "DU WiFi" and launching an Internet browser.  Accessing the Wireless Networks at the University of Denver

It is important to note that wireless network connectivity is not a replacement for traditional wired connectivity. Wireless connections are considerably slower than the wired connections. Many new computers are equipped with integrated 802.11b/g/n wireless devices.

DU offers students use of public black and white laser printers and color laser printers at convenient locations on campus for student use. These printers are managed by wēpa, a third party vendor. Wēpa specializes in cloud-based campus-wide student printing and guest printing services.  Specific services include: 

• Black and white and color printing from your laptop, a lab computer, or a USB drive
• Upload and print through the wēpa website, mobile app, or email to print
• Scanning
• Printing directly from your cloud-based storage (Office 365 for Business, Canvas, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or your personal OneDrive) without a laptop

 If you would like to use a personal printer on our network, please read about connecting devices to the Campus Network.

Laptop insurance is an independent insurance policy that covers theft, fire, power surges, accidental damage, natural disasters, vandalism, earthquake, lightning, keyboard spills, shattered screens and other mishaps. This is really important as mishaps occur! The University is not responsible for loss or damage to your laptop, so we strongly encourage you to obtain laptop coverage. All manufacturers now offer complete accidental care warranties for purchase. Some homeowner 's policies provide laptop coverage. 

It is critical to backup your documents. When your computer experiences technical difficulties, there is always the chance that your documents will be damaged. You are fully responsible for your data backups. If your computer has to be serviced, you may lose valuable data. There are numerous, inexpensive ways to backup your data to external sources including CD-RW, flash (USB) drives, external drives, and online (cloud) backups.

Before you come on campus, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your computer manufacturers support options. If problems occur, we recommend that you contact your hardware manufacturer first, because they are most familiar with your laptop. Being aware of your support options will save you time and money if the need arises.

The IT Computer Help Center at the University of Denver has an extensive technical support network to assist you with your questions and technical issues.

• Original Operating System CD(s) / Original Manufacturer Reinstallation CD(s
• Microsoft Office CD(s) and Certificate of Authenticity (Product Key)
• Laptop Manuals
• Power cords, CD-Rom, network cords/cables
• Warranty Information (Warranty Certificate/Proof of Warranty)
• Copy of Proof of Purchase / Purchase Receipt

• Laptop Carrying Case / Backpack
• Surge Protector
• External storage device (jumpdrive, flash drives, external hard drives)