Non-domain Laptops accessing user home shares.

[RockIt]

My first of 2 posts today...

I am trying to find a method of connecting to a user's home folder on the network using a laptop that is kept off the domain. (I have my reasons for doing this)

Our staff log on the their laptops using a generic 'Staff' account that is pre-set for them when they receive it. All of our laptops are created from images deployed by ghost.

What I would like to do is get them to run some sort of script or application when they are on site that asks them for their username and password (domain) and then uses the supplied information to map their network drives as follows.

h:\ - staff home (based on \\server\homes\username)
m:\ - staff shared area
s:\ sims share
etc.

I would like all staff to run the same script so I can have it stored in a central location that I can change from time to time as needed.

I have tried everything I can think of to make this work and I am stumped.

I have about 50 staff laptops sitting ready to be imaged and they are all back on Tuesday

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[User3204]

We map drive letters across our domain, so staff users can access certain shares on the student network. There is no trust between the two domains.

If we do a share through Windows File Explorer, it asks for domain user account, and there is a tick box for "remember username/password".


On the other hand, we do have a similar system as you for the student laptops. There is a generic autologon (for speedy bootups).
One of our techies has written a VB program that takes user/pass from them, and then maps their p: (home share) and connects to our internet proxy (through telnet).

I made him use a config file to decide drive mappings etc.
This program is designed to timeout after 15min, as we don't trust the students to not logout properly.

In theory it could be possible to make something like this that ran a script from a server. You would have to make sure that the share where the script is located is readonly for everyone (and I might be inclined to hide it too).

I don't have the source code to this program, at the moment, the techie is off this week, and it is stored on his laptop (I hope he has backed it up onto the network, but I don't know where).


Although, saying all this, I have to ask, why?

Why do you not have the laptops in the domain ? We have joined all the staff laptops into our domain and they map drives at "logon" and these are cached, so they can logon (to the domain) at home.

[RockIt]

I think that that 'vb program' that you have sounds just like what we need.

Our main reason for having the laptops off the network is for quick boots. Staff need to run SIMS from their laptops for registration and lessons are short. They are constrantly complating that their lesson is half over before they get to take a register (over exaggeration ofc).

I have also been asked to ensure that the experience at home is as simple as possible so they can connect to the internet and work as if it was their own personal computer. (a very 'tall order').

I would really appreciate a look at the code for that program or any others that anyone else are using...

thanks

[mark]

Sounds an unworkable solution having to seemingly compromising security (potentially) for staff convenience.

Our staff have to log onto desktop PCs around the school to register every lesson. We set a mandatory profile that loads as quickly as a local profile into the domain. Users are allowed the same login off network, so the home experience is identical.