To successfully access your appointment, your computer must meet the following technical requirements. Missing your appointment due to not following these requirements will result in a forfeit of your exam fees.
Just because a computer worked for another exam program's appointments does not mean it will work for ours. You must ensure you comply with the following requirements completely.
Pre-exam checklist
If all 3 of these are confirmed for your machine, you should not have a problem entering your exam appointment. Failure to confirm these before your appointment may result in failure to connect to your appointment, and forfeit of your appointment fees.
- Your computer must pass PSI's system compatibility test
- This test is NOT fully comprehensive, your testing device must align with all requirements listed below in order to be supported by PSI's system
- Your computer must adhere to PSI's Operating System requirements
- Review this carefully, especially if you're a Linux user!
- Test your connection using https://networktest.twilio.com/
System requirements
- You must use a personal computer, not one issued/controlled by an employer, nor a public or shared device. You must have total administrative control over your machine.
- DO NOT USE A WORK COMPUTER. I cannot emphasize this enough. I see tickets every day of customers who think their work laptop is fine because they have admin control of the computer, but due to the unpredictability of installations your workplace can put on your machine without you knowing or being able to remove/modify it, if you run into an issue during your exam appointment, you will forfeit your exam fees, no exceptions.
- Using a computer under control of another entity can result in inability to connect to your appointment, and forfeiture of your appointment fees.
- During setup, you will need to download PSI's secure browser
- If you have taken an exam with PSI before and have a previous download of the secure browser, please uninstall it before your exam and install the most up-to-date version on the day of your appointment
- Multiple monitors are not allowed with the secure browser. Using a secondary monitor will require you to turn off the laptop monitor for your exam.
- Virtual Machines and VPNs may not be used during the exam.
- With the exception of your testing machine, electronic devices and recording devices of any kind (including but not limited to cell phones, smart watch, televisions, and cameras) are NOT permitted in the testing environment.
- Headphones are not permitted.
- Webcam, speakers, and microphone must remain on throughout the exam.
- You must be connected to a power source.
- You must have reliable, stable internet to send video, audio, and take the exam.
Webcam
You must be able to clearly show the text on your ID, and the proctor must be able to clearly see your face for the duration of your appointment.
- Webcam must be able to do a full scan of your room. If your webcam is built-in, your machine must be able to move to complete this step.
- Webcam must be able to clearly show the text on your ID.
- Webcam must be clean and free of debris or smudges.
- Adjust the manual focus ring on your camera (if possible) if needed.
- Be sure you are well-lit during your appointment. Try sitting near a window, or with a light source behind your monitor so the camera can properly focus on your ID and your face.
If you run into issues with verifying that all programs are closed when entering your appointment, make sure you close all virtualization applications (Docker, VMware, etc.) AND their respective background services/daemons (vmms).
Some of NVIDIA and VMware's software is a security risk for this exam. You may be asked to uninstall some of these features to begin your exam. PSI blocks the following items for NVIDIA, your best bet would be to uninstall them before your appointment and reinstall after:
- friendlyName processName os
- NVIDIA Container nvcontainer Windows
- NVIDIA Container nvcontainer Darwin
- NVIDIA Shadowplay NVIDIA Shadowplay Windows
- NVIDIA Shadowplay NVIDIA Shadowplay Darwin
- NVIDIA Share NVIDIA Share Windows
- NVIDIA Share NVIDIA Share Darwin
You may use a hybrid device, but it must be left in laptop mode for the duration of your exam.