basic maintenance

[bishopsgarthstockton]

Yo dudes and dudettes

Quick question

What sort of basic maintenance and how often do you carry it out on the computers in the school/organisation?

[mrcrazy04]

AV auto updates.
Windows auto updates.
Office auto updates.
I usually reimage my machines once every 3 or so months, as it's quicker than doing a defrag or anything like that!

I do disk cleanups on the server whenever it needs it. The webroot is usually the folder which gets the most clogged up and needs a good tidy.

The machines don't get too dusty inside, so usually just get a clean when I open them to do work on them. Any hardware changes are when needed usually. I guess a yearly checkup might be a better idea.

[tech_guy]

We only re-image if something appears to have gone awry - usually after something an update from some chickenshiteprogramwrittenbyaformerteacherandpurch asedbecauseitwascheapatbett goes belly up.

[bishopsgarthstockton]

We only re-image if something appears to have gone awry - usually after something an update from some chickenshiteprogramwrittenbyaformerteacherandpurch asedbecauseitwascheapatbett goes belly up.

lol

the worst job in the world is cleaning ball mice... well rank... we have started to do away with ball mice and shift over to opticals.

[Sylv3r]

the worst job in the world is cleaning ball mice... well rank... we have started to do away with ball mice and shift over to opticals.

We moved over to fully optical mice across the whole school last year - it was the best thing we ever done. More cost effective and saves us a lot of time getting called away because "the mousey is broken / jumps around the screen".

[Lazyletters]

Depending on location really.
Reception classes get a good hoovering inside and out and I go over the keyboards with a fine paintbrush - it's all the fluff from their new clothes that's the problem - besides the sand and glitter!

Admin Pc's I hoover the insides at least once a year and the remainder get a quick clean whenever I visit them.

Pet hate is cleaners with abrasive cloths on flat screens... I've just had three brand new ones ruined by the new cleaner and her polish.

Agree on the mice balls, transferring to optical is better - until they put gluestick on the bottom then it's a lot of picking to get the glue off the sensor.

[bishopsgarthstockton]

Depending on location really.
Reception classes get a good hoovering inside and out and I go over the keyboards with a fine paintbrush - it's all the fluff from their new clothes that's the problem - besides the sand and glitter!

Admin Pc's I hoover the insides at least once a year and the remainder get a quick clean whenever I visit them.

Pet hate is cleaners with abrasive cloths on flat screens... I've just had three brand new ones ruined by the new cleaner and her polish.

Agree on the mice balls, transferring to optical is better - until they put gluestick on the bottom then it's a lot of picking to get the glue off the sensor.

dose hoverering a machine inside not damage the components. I've always been led to belive it does. Intresting if it dosent becuase it would alot cheaper to do that than buy air cans

[FN-GM]

I have cleaned out computers with a vac for a long time not caused any problems for me

[Lazyletters]

When it comes to software cleanups - I get the PC to do the work for me. Task setting on day one, cleanup internet files on shutdown, empty deleted emails, etc. Defrag on a schedule automatically and automatic download of updates and antivirus cut down on regular visits to PC's to carry the tasks out manually. Remote login is great for checking updates and cleanups are happening, Servers are on a regular backup and defrag schedule overnight, just check the logs on a regular basis to make sure it's all happening.

To make sure that internet access is not slowed down I use spywareblaster and spybot to make sure the systems are kept relatively clean. Especially important for teachers laptops.

Having limited hours at each site I visit means it's very important to set this all up the day the PC is installed otherwise it very quickly gets out of hand.

[Lazyletters]

So long as you're not physically swiping the components it's never been a problem. I'm allergic to dust - bit of a problem - so I always hoover and it's worked for 10 years now. A small paintbrush - real hair - is very useful for getting into those stickier areas and flicking around the edges of fans - some of the dust gets very ingrained.

I could never get the schools to pay for air cans, besides I would have been a sneezing wreck almost immediately so no good for me.

[SteveB_NI]

Also how do you all handle the "inconvenience" of essential maintenance?

I booked a trolley of laptops out for maintenance on Friday & discovered that my problems with random disconnection affects all but 4 of the 20 laptops in that trolley.

I need to re-image these 16 laptops but I have found the trolley is booked out pretty much solid for next few weeks - looks like I'm gonna have to rebuild 5 or so at a time & keep the others in service

Or if I'm feeling nasty on Monday I may pick a day and cancel all bookings for that day.

[FN-GM]

I would go for the latter option

[SteveB_NI]

It may be better - but I'm gonna test a few laptops prior to booking them all out. Just incase it makes no difference

[FN-GM]

The things is you may have to cancel the bookings for the trolley to do some essential work on them to get them working properly. So if you do cancel the teachers booking they will be moaning at you, but if you leave it and they have a trolley full of laptops with problems they will moan at you again. Its a no win situation.

[Lazyletters]

Also how do you all handle the "inconvenience" of essential maintenance?

I booked a trolley of laptops out for maintenance on Friday & discovered that my problems with random disconnection affects all but 4 of the 20 laptops in that trolley.

I need to re-image these 16 laptops but I have found the trolley is booked out pretty much solid for next few weeks - looks like I'm gonna have to rebuild 5 or so at a time & keep the others in service

Or if I'm feeling nasty on Monday I may pick a day and cancel all bookings for that day.