Library Services: IT Department

Technology Information for First Year Students

The University of Montana School of Law
Computer Recommendations, Requirements and Support Policies

Buying a computer: Recommendations, Comparisons, and Sources
Buying software: What you need and where to get it
Buying accessories: Supplement your package with the essentials

Buying A Computer

Computer Purchase Recommendations
We strongly recommend that you purchase either the DELL D620 laptop OR the TOSHIBA Tecra M??? or the TOSHIBA Tecra M400 Tablet PC configured according to the minimum options offered when purchased through this site. We offer full support only for these models. In general we recommend computers that meet the following recommendations:

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Only (NOT Home Edition or Media Center Edition) recommended because many older operating systems are: No longer supported by Microsoft, less stable than newer systems, expensive & cumbersome to maintain, do not support recent hardware innovations and conveniences and are not supported by Law School technical staff.
• 1 GB of RAM  (Computers purchased this year should be ready to run the new Vista operating system next year)
• 3 to 4 year on-site, next-day service warranty with "complete care" (insurance) - Students cannot do without a laptop for the 3-4 weeks mail-in service may require. (Note: If you purchase in late July your warranty will continue through your bar exam).
• Ethernet card, 10/100, RJ45 jack
• Required for network access at the law school
• Required for DSL connections at home
• Modem - Necessary only if you want telephone dial-up Internet access (no extra charge)
• Wireless card - Built-in wireless adapter. Wireless access is expanding rapidly at UM. It is currently available throughout the Law School, in the University Center, the Liberal Arts Building and the Mansfield Library.
• CD/CDRW Drive - Effective backup procedures that will safeguard your law school documents require the capacity to write to non-volatile media such as CDs or DVDs. If you anticipate storing unusually large amounts of data you may want to consider upgrading to a drive that will burn DVDs. DVDs offer about six times the storage capacity of a CD.
• Floppy Drives – Not Recommended - Floppy disks are an inherently unreliable medium. Floppy drives are no longer necessary for law students. We recommend purchasing an external USB or 'pen' drive instead of a floppy drive (minimum 512 MB).

Tablet PCs – An Emerging Technology

The UM School of Law is in the process of evaluating the value to students of tablet PCs in the law school environment. Some law school faculty already use tablet PCs in lieu of white boards in classroom instruction. Tablet PCs also have potential for use in conjunction with collaborative classroom technologies that allow faculty to broadcast content to student’s laptop computers. Tablet PCs allow users to use a stylus to write text or draw directly on the screen in their own handwriting in such applications as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Outlook, to highlight text in the color of their choice and to capture handwritten notes to typed text and search handwritten text (using Microsoft OneNote).
Tablet PCs also allow users to share handwritten documents with other PC users regardless of whether they have a Tablet PC. While there are yet no law-specific tablet-based systems available, these will surely come and tablets are already useful for client interviews, depositions, negotiations and closings and especially at trial and in other situations where typing would not be allowed. It is entirely possible that during the three years you are in law school Tablet PCs will become much more important tools than they are today. A Tablet PC still costs more than a comparable conventional computer and at this point they are not required for law students; but most people find them intriguing and increasingly useful. Law students should determine for themselves whether Tablet PC technology is something they wish to invest in at this time.

Taking Exams on Computer

Students who wish to use laptop computers to take exams are required to use SofTest software. The minimum hardware and software requirements for utilizing this software can be found at http://www.examsoft.com/faq. To determine the current minimum requirements, click on the question, "What are the minimum system requirements?" Students are provided instruction in the use of SofTest software before the first exam period. Note that there is no version of SofTest available for Apple computers.

Student Email Accounts
Student Email Accounts are automatically created for all students at The University of Montana School of Law. All Official University of Montana communication will be sent to the student's official University email account and not to their Hotmail, Yahoo or other private email accounts. It is therefore necessary for students to check the email that appears in their student account on a regular basis. Students should know the following about their student email accounts

• Form of Account Names:
  Account names are in the form: "FL000000@mso.umt.edu" Where "F" represents the first initial, "L" represents last initial and "000000" represents a randomly generated six digit number. Thus, Joan Smith's email address might be: "js907502@mso.umt.edu".
• Email Alias:
  Each student account carries an alias that "points to that account". The alias is in the form: firstname.lastname@umontana.edu.
  This means that if a friend writes to you at: "Joan.Smith@umontana.edu" you will receive the message. However, you will also receive the message if the friend writes to you at: "js907502@ mso.umt.edu"
• Logging In:
  It is not possible to log into a student account via a umontana alias. The login name for your University email account is the one that is a combination of letters and numbers. Joan Smith would be successful with the login name: js907502 but would not be able to log into her account with the login name: Joan.Smith
• Finding Your Email Account Name:
  To find your email account name go to your Cyberbear account (http://www.umt.edu/cyberbear). The initial login for Cyberbear is: student ID number (no dashes). The initial password (until you change it) is: your six digit birth date (no forward slashes [ / ] ). Example: 082181. Once you are in Cyberbear go to "Personal Information", then "View Email Accounts". Your email address will be displayed here
• Web Email Access:
  To log into your email account via the World Wide Web, go to http://messaging.umt.edu or go to http://www.umt.edu, click on the Student Email link and enter just your login name (js907502) and then your password at the prompt.

Blackboard
Blackboard is the courseware provided by the University of Montana. Blackboard class pages are available for all Law School classes. Materials placed on reserve for any law school class will appear on the Blackboard web page for that class. When students log in to Blackboard they will see a link to every class they are registered in for the current semester.

• Logging in to Blackboard:
  Students log into Blackboard using their UM Student Email account name: "FL000000". Your initial Blackboard password will be the last six digits of your GRIZ card number (no dashes) , ex: 123456.

Wireless Access
Connecting to the University of Montana Wireless network requires installation of the Cisco VPN client and the UM Wireless profile. If you purchase your system through this web site, this software and other utilities necessary for UM law students will already be installed when you receive your computer.

• Logging in to Wireless Access Points:
  Students log into Wireless Access Points using their UM Student Email account name, ex: "FL000000". Your wireless access password will always be the same as your student email password.

Computer Support Policies
The University of Montana School of Law has a small technical staff. In order to provide the highest level of support to our students, faculty, and staff we restrict support to exclude equipment that is outdated, thus enabling us to focus our efforts on technology used by the majority.

Computer Support at The University of Montana Law School includes full support for DELL D505, D610 and D620 OR Toshiba Tablet PCs purchased in accordance with the minimum options offered when purchased through this page. This includes in house warranty repairs. Support for systems other than these systems is necessarily more limited. Generally, computer support is limited to:

• One laptop computer owned/used by students currently enrolled in the UM School of Law, but not:
• Additional computers owned by UM law students
• Computers owned by friends or relatives of enrolled students
• Computer peripherals such as printers, scanners, iPods, etc.
• PCs running Windows XP Professional operating systems
• WordPerfect Suite 12, WordPerfect Suite X3
• Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Suite
• For pre-Windows XP computers, recovery of data only
• Diagnosis and repair of minor laptop computer hardware problems. This would include such things as:
• Installation of memory upgrades
• Installation of new hard drives
• Installation of new network cards, and modems
• Configuration of existing hardware
• Installation of software so long as original software disks or proof of license are presented.