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Deep Freeze Or Similar

NB9457

By NB9457
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NB9457

NB9457

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At the minute we have a lot of laptops which go home to students to use for online learning. Obviously when these come back they need to be wiped.

 

I've looked into Deep Freeze, is there anything else similar? (free/open source is preferable)

Geoff

Geoff

Posted
Posted
If these machines are Windows 7 you can use Steady State. The software and guidance is difficult to get hold of now it is discontinuned, other Edugeekers may have it on hand though.
NB9457

NB9457

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If these machines are Windows 7 you can use Steady State. The software and guidance is difficult to get hold of now it is discontinuned, other Edugeekers may have it on hand though.

 

Cheers, I'll have a look at that!

 

I have been looking at a product called Time Freeze, it's free and I've just installed and ran it on a client and it seems pretty good. Anyone else have experience with this?

Steve21

Steve21

Posted
Posted

What's the idea with the freeze? As I'm assuming if they're keeping them at home for a few days/weeks to work on, they'll need to restart it which would wipe it wouldn't it? (Or is that only old style XP wise)

 

Guess it depends on your image/software you have on them, but we just image ours normally when they're back :)

 

Steve

NB9457

NB9457

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What's the idea with the freeze? As I'm assuming if they're keeping them at home for a few days/weeks to work on, they'll need to restart it which would wipe it wouldn't it? (Or is that only old style XP wise)

 

Guess it depends on your image/software you have on them, but we just image ours normally when they're back :)

 

Steve

 

They get given a dongle or connect to their WiFi, so there isn't an actual need for anything to be saved to the machine, they do all their work online via various websites and virtual learning platform.

 

Plus I'm on site 3 hours a week and there's 20 machines that change hands weekly, so it's getting a bit much for me!

NB9457

NB9457

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Couldn't you lock them down sufficiently so that they do not need wiping?

 

It's more from a data protection point of view really. They'll be locked down heavily anyway, but I want to make sure any internet history/downloaded files are gone and this seems the best way forward to be honest.

 

PM me if you're not having any joy tracking down SteadyState. That said, I remember having problems with it (random lockups and the like). My readme in the folder says "Delete in 2014 if no longer needed"...

 

If they just need net access: Porteus Kiosk - free and open source kiosk software for web terminals. may be worth a look.

 

Never really used SteadyState so may have a quick read. As for the Porteus, thought about it, but they need to have Java, Flash, Silverlight and a couple other runtimes, so makes sense sticking with Windows really.

LeMarchand

LeMarchand

Posted
Posted
As for the Porteus, thought about it, but they need to have Java, Flash, Silverlight and a couple other runtimes, so makes sense sticking with Windows really.

 

May be worth a look as Flash is definitely OK. I think I've got one set up where I will be tomorrow morning if there are any sites you want checking. Other advantage is that they can't try to install stuff on the machines.

NB9457

NB9457

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May be worth a look as Flash is definitely OK. I think I've got one set up where I will be tomorrow morning if there are any sites you want checking. Other advantage is that they can't try to install stuff on the machines.

 

Does it clear web history and cookies too?

LeMarchand

LeMarchand

Posted
Posted
Does it clear web history and cookies too?

 

I think that's one of the setup options. IIRC you boot up from ISO once, set it up how you want it and then it creates a second customized ISO. There's also a "control from Porteus server" option. I'll take a look tomorrow.

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NB9457

NB9457

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I think that's one of the setup options. IIRC you boot up from ISO once, set it up how you want it and then it creates a second customized ISO. There's also a "control from Porteus server" option. I'll take a look tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

 

Think they need an App too called blackboard or something, so not sure if tht's locally installed or online.

LeMarchand

LeMarchand

Posted
Posted
Think they need an App too called blackboard or something, so not sure if tht's locally installed or online.

 

Alas, if they need anything more than a browser that plan falls apart!

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted
Think they need an app too called blackboard or something

Perhaps Windows To Go might be worth looking at (as long as you have the proper licensing in place)?

 

You could issue the students with USB flash drives that have been already setup with Windows To Go and any applications they require. When they return them you could securely erase and reimage the flash drive.

NB9457

NB9457

Posted
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Posted
Perhaps Windows To Go might be worth looking at (as long as you have the proper licensing in place)?

 

You could issue the students with USB flash drives that have been already setup with Windows To Go and any applications they require. When they return them you could securely erase and reimage the flash drive.

 

Good in theory, but given the students, I doubt the pen drives would make it back to us!

LeMarchand

LeMarchand

Posted
Posted

OK, looked at our Porteus Kiosk trial machine (Advent 4211 aka MSI Wind netbook). Bear in mind that I may have made choices during the setup that have affected the below!

 

Good news: doesn't appear to keep history or cookies. I say "appear" because the history and settings pages are locked out. That said, after a reboot it didn't remember the addresses I'd typed in or my email credentials. This makes sense as it's designed for use in a public kiosk setting. (Secondary good news being it runs well on that hardware, so will probably run on some of your old clunkers).

 

Bad news: may not be suitable for you as all it does is launch Chrome browser, so whilst Flash is OK Java and Silverlight are a no go.

 

Maybe set up a Windows 8.1 or 10 machine in Kiosk Mode to launch IE on login? Not sure how it copes with cookies/history but I imagine there are ways to control this via group policy.

timbo343

timbo343

Posted
Posted
At the minute we have a lot of laptops which go home to students to use for online learning. Obviously when these come back they need to be wiped.

 

I've looked into Deep Freeze, is there anything else similar? (free/open source is preferable)

 

Clonezilla?

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted (edited)
I want to make sure any Internet history/downloaded files are gone and this seems the best way forward to be honest.

It's not free, but Sandboxie might be worth looking at. It's kind of like an application-level Deep Freeze. You can set it up so that programs (and folders) are forced into a sandbox and the sandbox contents are automatically deleted as soon as the program is closed.

 

http://i.cubeupload.com/a4jEXw.png

 

http://i.cubeupload.com/CZy9Wm.png

Edited by Arthur
asc

asc

Posted
Posted (edited)
They'll be locked down heavily anyway, but I want to make sure any internet history/downloaded files are gone and this seems the best way forward to be honest.

 

Then surely just a script which runs on log off to...

a) empty downloads folder

b) clear internet history

... would work? There may even be GPO options to do it already - never really looked into it.

Edited by asc
Quote didn't show correctly.
  • 3 weeks later...

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