Computing Resources at Balliol

Welcome to the world of computing at Balliol College. The purpose of this page is to give you an introduction to the computing services available to you at Holywell Manor, and to provide you with basic answers to your computing-related issues. If you have any further computing questions, please do not hesitate to contact the MCR computing officer.

Computing facilities at Holywell Manor

College provides two small computer labs in Holywell Manor for use by members; a small computer room located just off of the MCR containing several PCs and a laser printer, and a second facility in the Painted Room containing additional machines, a scanner and two public terminals for web/e-mail access.

All computers excepting the two web terminals will require a user name and password. To setup access, please refer to flyers available on the wall of the computer room. You will need a your Bod Card in order to proceed.

There is also limited Wi-Fi access available in common areas around Holywell. The MCR is definitely covered, as is the TV room and bar, the Painted Room, the top half of the garden, the Manor rooms facing the garden and anywhere else within range of our router . . . In order to use the wireless you'll need to download a VPN client and set up a Herald remote access account. More details are available at the OUCS Wireless page.

About the mailing list

The MCR mailing list is the most important means of contact between members of the MCR. All official MCR business, socials and other relevant information are announced over the list, and individual members are permitted to post messages of general interest to the MCR community.

To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to:

You will get an automatic reply with instructions to confirm your subscription.

About operating systems in Balliol

College only officially supports the Windows operating system, but others including MacOS and Linux work fine in the Balliol network. Technical support is available from the College IT Officer, Ian Plummer for Windows-based machines only. Typically Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS) and other Manorites can help with technical queries on other operating systems.

About virus and antivirus

It is very important to have updated antivirus software running on your computer. As we have a network in the college one infected computer is potentially dangerous to other computers in college; consequently, it is a strict Balliol policy that if you want network access you need antivirus software.

The university provides free antivirus software for all students that request it. These include: Sophos, and AGV (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/viruses/). Once your antivirus is installed do NOT cancel the regular checkups it performs on your hard disk(s). It is recommended that you schedule the regular checkups at a time when you are sure the computer is going to be turned on and not being used.

About system back-up

During your degree in Oxford, it is likely that information stored in your personal computer will represent the result of several months or years of hard work. As a result, it is vital that you keep a regular backup of all the information related to your research.

The university has a free back-up facility called HFS (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/hfs/), and as graduate students we have the right to use it to back-up (completely or partially) the information in our computers. The HFS system supports Windows, MacOS, Linux, Solaris and others. To use the system you have to open an HFS account and download and install software on your computer. Once installed, the computer will send a backup of your information to the HFS facility weekly every Friday at some time between 6 and 12PM provided that your machine is turned on and connected to the network.

You should make sure that your system is backed-up at least MONTHLY and that the back-up copy is in a safe place, preferable in a different building.