Information For

New Student Computer Requirements

Your minimum and recommended specifications, based on your major, are listed below. Please use these to decide on what laptop you should bring to Norwich for your studies. 

Below you will find the computer requirements for various programs. These are the minimum and recommended specifications that students should use to make the decision on what laptop they should bring to Norwich for their studies. You are highly encouraged to purchase a four-year service plan that includes accidental damage, as there are limited repair facilities in Vermont.

Select your school (majors by school listed below) if listed for specific computer requirements; otherwise, select General Requirements. Norwich recommends purchasing from Dell or Apple Education.

David Crawford School of Engineering Majors:

  • Civil Engineering
  • Construction Management
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Interdisciplinary Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

School of Architecture and Art Majors:

  • Architectural Studies
  • Design Arts

Senator Patrick Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing Majors:

  • Computer Science & Information Systems
  • Computer Security and Information Assurance

View The Latest Computer Requirements - ITS

How to check if your computer meets requirements

Look at the logo that appears when your computer starts up. If you see a Windows logo, you're running Windows; if you see an Apple logo, you're running macOS. 

  1. Windows

    1. Select the Start menu
    2. Select Settings
    3. Select System
    4. Select About
    5. Under Windows specifications, you can see the version and edition of Windows 
    6. Under Device specifications, you can see the system type, which indicates if your device is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.
  2. Mac

    1. Click the Apple menu
    2. Select About This Mac
    3. You can see the version of macOS you're running

Use the Task Manager, Control Panel, or Settings.

  1. Windows

    1. Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager
    2. Select the Performance Tab
    3. The processor name and speed will be displayed next to the "CPU"
  2. Mac

    1. Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen
    2. Select About This Mac
    3. The Processor information will be displayed on the Overview tab.

Open the Task Manager and navigate to the Performance tab. You can also open the System Information tool. On a Mac, you can click the Apple icon and select About This Mac.

  1. Windows

    1. Open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right click on the task bar.
    2. Select the Performance tab
    3. Choose the Memory view from the left navigation panel
    4. View your RAM speed and other details
  2. Mac

    1. Click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
    2. Select About This Mac
    3. In the Overview tab, you'll see a list of specs, including the amount of memory currently installed.
  1. Windows

    1. Click the Start menu
    2. Select Settings
    3. Select System
    4. Select Storage
  2. Mac

    1. Open the Apple menu
    2. Select System Settings
    3. Select General
    4. Select Storage