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System Requirements

The following system requirements are detailed for your installation of IDEA.

Software Requirements

IDEA 13 is a 64-bit application that can only run on 64-bit operating systems. The following details the supported Windows operating systems and the supporting software required to run IDEA. For the latest information on IDEA's compatibility, such as Windows Operating System and more, see our conformance section in CaseWare Passport.

Important

You must have the latest Windows updates/service packs installed.

Supported Windows Operating Systems

The following Windows operating systems are supported:

• Windows 10
• Windows 11
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

Supporting Software

If the following applications are not already installed, the IDEA installation program will install them automatically:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 (64-bit) Redistributable Package
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime Installer (x64)
• Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) Redistributable
  Note: Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) Redistributable will not be installed if any 32-bit Microsoft Office software/drivers are detected on your machine.
• Python 3.12.4 and associated Python packages (installed with IDEA)

Hardware Requirements

The following table outlines the minimum hardware requirements:

Visualization Feature Requirements

To run the Visualization feature in IDEA, your system must have 8 GB of RAM.

DPI/Display Scaling

IDEA does not support DPI/display scaling. For high resolution monitors/screens, it is recommended to adjust the screen resolution for legibility. To adjust the settings in IDEA there are two options available:

In IDEA go to the File menu and select Options. In the System tab of the IDEA Options dialog check the High DPI scaling is performed by checkbox and select one of the entries from the drop-down list. Click OK in the IDEA Options dialog. Note that a change of the setting will only be applied after a restart of IDEA. Toggle between System, System (Enhanced) or Application to see which setting provides the best legibility.

Alternatively, you can change the properties for the idea.exe file. For Windows 10 and 11 it is recommended to enable the Override high DPI scaling behavior feature and select scaling performed by System. To enable this feature, access the Properties dialog box for idea.exe and click Change high DPI settings on the Compatibility tab.

Administrator Privileges

All editions of IDEA and its associated tools must be installed with administrator privileges.

Technical Notes

• Coexistence of IDEA and CaseWare Network License Server
  In a network implementation, do not install IDEA and CaseWare Network License Server (NLS) on the same machine.
• Coexistence of Different IDEA Versions
  Different IDEA versions (e.g., IDEA 10 and IDEA 11) cannot exist on the same machine.
• Microsoft Office
  IDEA is compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 (64-bit) or later.

  Microsoft Access Import and Export Requirements

  Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) is required to import Microsoft Access files or export IDEA databases to Microsoft Access files.
• CaseWare Working Papers
  
  • IDEA is compatible with CaseWare Working Papers 2024.
  • IDEA only supports a single implementation of CaseWare Working Papers. Concurrent installed versions of CaseWare Working Papers are not supported.

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