General Requirements

Your computer must be attached to the Rutgers network in order to download the software as well as for it to operate. On campus connections, using the campus modem pools for dial-up networking and the Rutgers VPN fulfills this requirement. In addition, SciFinder runs best if your computer specifications exceed the minimums.

Note: Currently, SciFinder access is not available through RESNET (the Rutgers University Residential Networking Project) due to port restrictions.

Please remember to terminate your session when it is not in use. This is a user-limited service and terminating your connection will allow other users to access the service. There is a time-out feature in the software. After 10 minutes of inactivity the program will close in order to free up the connection for another user. If your session times out the PROGRAM WILL EXIT COMPLETELY and you will lose any results you may have or chemical structures you have created.

Upgrading from a version prior to Scifinder Scholar 2007

If you already have a working installation of SciFinder Scholar, you can upgrade to version 2007 by simply following the directions for a new installation. Just make sure you install the new version in the same directory/folder as the older version. Note you do NOT have to download the Rutgers site profile again.

SciFinder Scholar 2007 - System Requirements for Windows

Windows

Processor: PC with at least a 450 MHz Pentium-class or equivalent processor
Operating System: Microsoft^® Windows^® 2000 (SP3 or higher), XP (SP1 or SP2), or Vista
Memory: 256 MB RAM
Available Hard Disk Space: 50 MB (not including pagefile memory); 90 MB for installation. For the SciFinder Scholar Toolbar, an additional 25 MB is needed; 75 MB for installation. This assumes Microsoft .NET software is already installed.
Connection: TCP/IP network-level connection to CAS via the Internet,
- Z39.50 application-level connection to CAS through port 210
- Accessing full text via ChemPort^® and online Help files on the CAS server requires an HTTP application-level connection through port 80.

Additional Software

Web Browser: MS Internet Explorer Ver. 5+, Netscape^®, Ver7+,Mozilla Firefox Ver. 1.0+ (Needed to access full text, online Help, and Internet resources within the Tools menu.)

Plug-ins must be installed in the Netscape and Firefox plug-ins and components folders for some features in ChemPort, e.g., Reference Linking. The plug-ins are installed automatically during SciFinder installation.
Java and JavaScript must be enabled for online Help and some features in ChemPort.
ActiveX must be enabled in MSIE for ChemPort Reference Linking.
Cookies must be accepted for some features in ChemPort.

Adobe^® Reader^®: Version 5.0 or higher
Adobe Reader is needed to display PDF documents available via the CAS web site and ChemPort. Adobe Reader can be downloaded at www.adobe.com.

Microsoft^® Excel^®: Excel 97, 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007
(Needed for the Export CHEMCATS^® data to Microsoft^® Excel^® feature.)

Discovery Studio Visualizer or ViewerLite: Windows version 3.5 or higher
Discovery Studio Viewer products from Accelrys are visualization tools that allow you to view 3D molecular models for structure results.
- DS Visualizer may be obtained from Accelrys at www.accelrys.com/products/downloads/ds_visualizer/.
- SciFinder Scholar is compatible with DS Visualizer up to version 1.5.

Installation Instructions for Scifinder Scholar 2007 (Windows)

Download the installation set to a location where you can easily find it, such as your desktop.
Execute the self-extracting installer by double clicking on it. Accept all of the defaults (except when it comes to whether or not to install the SciFinder Toolbar which is up to you to decide).
Note¹: The SciFinder Toolbar is only for use with Internet Explorer and provides a convenient way to be able to launch SciFinder and do searches from your web browser.
- As part of the toolbar install, the Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1 is installed
- After the install is complete in order to access the toolbar in IE you will need to go to the View Menu -> Toolbars -> Select: SciFinder Scholar Bar
When the setup program asks if you have a disk labeled Custom Site Files select No.
Download the appropriate site profile below and save it to your SciFinder Scholar directory, usually C:\SFSCHLR. It contains all the necessary authentication information for the software to work.

¹ Note: It is necessary to right-click on the appropriate link below, and use 'Save Link As' or "Save Target As"

SciFinder Scholar 2007 - System Requirements for Macintosh (OS X)

Computer: An Apple^® Macintosh^® with an Intel x86 or Power PC G4 or G5 processor
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3 or 10.4
Available Hard Disk Space: 65 MB
Connection: TCP/IP connection to CAS via the Internet, and Z39.50 application level connection to CAS through port 210
- Accessing full text via ChemPort^® and online Help files on the CAS server requires an HTTP application level connection via Port 80.

Additional Software

Web Browser: Safari^® (OS X default) or a Mac OS X compatible version of Netscape^®, Mozilla Firefox^TM, or Microsoft^® Internet Explorer (MSIE)
A web browser is needed to access full text, online Help, and other Internet resources within the Tools menu.
- Java and Javascript must be enabled.
- Cookies must be accepted for some features in ChemPort.

PDF Reader: Preview (OS X default) or Adobe^® Reader^®, version 5.0 or higher

Microsoft^® Excel^®: Excel 2004 (Mac OS X compatible version)
Excel is needed for the Export CHEMCATS^® data to Microsoft^® Excel^® feature.

Installation Instructions for SciFinder Scholar (2004-2 Edition) for Macintosh (OS 7.61, 8.x, 9.x)

Download sfs2004-2.hqx and save it into a temporary folder. (~10.7 MB self-extracting executable.)
Use a decompression program, such as "Stuffit Expander" to expand it.
Double-click on the "SciFinder Installer" icon.
Follow the prompts to complete the installation (When the setup program asks if you have a disk labeled Custom Site Files select NO)
Download the appropriate site profile based on your campus:

Stuffit

Copy the resulting file, site.prf to the SciFinder Scholar folder, which should be located in the first hierarchy on your hard drive.

Note: If you downloaded SciFinder Scholar (2004 Edition) for Macintosh prior to November 5, you will simply need a patch to bring it up to Version 2004-2.

Download sfs2004patch2.hqx and save it to a temporary folder. (~5.20 MB self-extracting executable.)
Use decompression software, such as "Stuffit Expander", to expand it.
Double-click the "SciFinder Scholar 2004 Patch 2 Installer" icon to install the patch.
Note: You must select the folder in which SciFinder Scholar (2004 Edition) is currently installed. The default is "SciFinder Scholar".
Follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Installation Instructions for Scifinder Scholar 2007 (MAC OS X)

Download the Scholar OS X Zip file appropriate to your campus.
Move the Scholar OS X Zip into the Applications folder on your Macintosh OS X computer.
Double-click on the Scholar OS X Zip file to expand it into the working SciFinder Scholar Package.
At this point you should be ready to use SciFinder Scholar if you have an Internet connection. Double-click on the SciFinder Scholar Application Package icon to launch.
Optional: Create a Desktop or Toolbar alias.