Laptop Loaner Program

This program is only for students taking Computer Science classes

General Information (FAQ):

  1. The Computer Science Dept. has laptops that can be loaned to Computer Science Department students for various reasons, typically because the student's personal laptop is being repaired.
  2. For undergraduate CS students, there is a special program for students whose personal laptop does not meet course requirements (for example, it does not have enough memory or processing power).
  3. A typical loan time is 2-3 weeks. Extensions may be requested, however, an extension is only applicable for when repairs on a personal laptop are taking longer than expected.
  4. Your sponsor is typically your faculty advisor or another professor in the CS Dept.
  5. The CS department reserves the right to decline requests for loaner laptop extensions.
  6. Loaner laptops run Windows 11. MacOS and Linux are not offered on a loaner laptop.
  7. Loaner laptops are not available for research purposes.
  8. There are alternatives to a loaner laptop, see “Alternatives” below.

Requesting a loaner laptop:

  1. Send an email to cshelpdesk@virginia.edu whose subject line is below -put in your computing ID and your sponsor's last name
  2. Subject Line: “Laptop Loaner CS-LNR-###-ABCD request for [your ID] sponsor [your sponsor]”
  3. Email body: state how many days or weeks you need the laptop
  4. Your sponsor doesn't have to approve the lending of the laptop, but if they object, the laptop will be taken back.

Picking up a laptop:

  1. An email will be sent to you when the laptop is ready for pickup. The laptop can be picked up from the front office of Rice Hall, Room 527, between the hours of 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday. The front office phone number is (434) 982-2200.
  2. If you need to extend the lending period, reply to the original email to request an extension.
  3. Stay on your original email thread for all communications concerning the laptop.

Returning a laptop:

  1. Laptops MUST be returned to the front office of Rice Hall, Room 527 during normal hours of operation (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Never leave a laptop in a public area of Rice Hall. This is not considered “returned” and your sponsor will be contacted if this is done.
  2. Be sure to attach your computing ID to the returned laptop, and reply to the original email when it has been returned.
  3. Failure to return the laptop will result in the withholding of final grades or other disciplinary measures.

Alternatives:

  1. There are alternatives to a loaner laptop if you have a special assignment. For example, if you have a Mac or Linux laptop and you have an assignment that requires software that only runs on Windows, you can login to the general purpose Windows server, winsrv01.cs.virginia.edu, using your CS domain password (passwords are the same for both linux and windows in the CS Dept). There is more information on this server here: General purpose Windows server.
  2. Conversely, the portal.cs.virginia.edu cluster of linux servers is available for linux computing needs. It uses the same CS userid/password as other servers. You can ssh <userid>@portal.cs.virginia.edu from a terminal window to access this cluster. There is more information on this cluster here: The portal cluster.