STone computers playing up!!!!

[KWestos]

We have a number of stone computers which have been a bit problematic from day one.

 

They don't like to apply GPO's properly. And today, if you open up Internet Explorer, a second window appears and takes focus and you can't get rid of it. So basically, explorer just hangs there

 

It's ONLY happening on the Stone computers in various departments, not any of the Dell or HP ones.

 

Can anyone shed some light.

 

Many thanks

[joe90bass]

Do they have any third party software pre-installed? May be worth trying building one from scratch yourself if so and testing.

[mb2k01]

It seems unlikely Stone are to blame directly for GPO issues or IE windows...?

I would be inclined to think that it was just a coincidence.

If it was hardware related (for instance they were all overheating, or all failing to display etc) then it would be easier to blame Stone (or at least the componants they use)

 

In the areas that are affected, are they entirely serviced by Stone kit, or do they also have other brands there?

Have they always done this, or is it recently? Do they all have up-to-date Windows Updates etc? Not different from any other networked PC's in any other way apart from the brand?

[KWestos]

It seems unlikely Stone are to blame directly for GPO issues or IE windows...?

I would be inclined to think that it was just a coincidence.

If it was hardware related (for instance they were all overheating, or all failing to display etc) then it would be easier to blame Stone (or at least the componants they use)

 

We have always had problems with the Stone machines. When we first got them, we had a hell of a job installing Sophos on them (maybe not such a bad thing). They have generally been problematic.

 

The problems we are experiencing are only on the stones. We have re-imaged and rebuilt the image, no luck! They just don't like something on our network.

 

With regards to updates etc, some will accept all updates, other only some - very strange. Policies have always had a problem on these.

 

In the dark at the moment!

[mb2k01]

We have always had problems with the Stone machines

The only reason I sounded suprised is I have loads of them scattered over several schools and have no problems at all (along those lines anyway).

I've found their support to be second to none too. What have their support people said to you? (I'm assuming you've logged the issues with them?)

[KWestos]

How strange, just had a cold call from Stone right at the second I opened this thread!

 

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PeterW]

It might sound really obvious are all drivers upto date especially lan drivers?

[timzim]

We've plenty of Stone PCs and have had no problems with them (wish I could say the same about some other brands). Your problem's more likely to be with your image - maybe check folder/file permissions as that's given us similar problems in the past, especially if you built your image onto the pre-installed OS. Try an image from a different PC - one that works (you might need to fix a few drivers if your HW differs).

[Martin]

We have re-imaged and rebuilt the image, no luck!

 

What method did you use when you "rebuilt the image"?

 

Fresh install from Stone OEM CD, install from Volume Licence CD, deployed an existing image and tweaked it?

 

The behaviour that you describe sounds like software/virus rather than hardware!

 

mb

[srochford]

Can you put the image you're using on a Stone computer on another machine and see what happens? Might need to add some drivers but the IE thing should show itself in the same way (or not!). If it does, then you know it's the image, not the hardware.

 

Check the network drivers - GP needs good networking and flakiness there could cause problems.

 

What do you get if you run gpresult /v > gp.txt (open the gp.txt file in notepad; it will tell you what GPOs have been applied and what they did) - can you seen anything wrong?

 

Are there any messages in the event logs? The commonest is 1202 and there's a whole raft of stuff on the MS web site about how to deal with them - start here.

 

You can also turn on userenv debug logging - details here - to put more info in userenv.log (remember to turn this off when you've finished with it; the extra logging will slow down the logon process)

[maniac]

Are all these machines in one area of the school? It could it be a network related issue if this is the case? Deploying sophos, GPO's applying and Internet explorer all things that require a good network connection.

 

And today, if you open up Internet Explorer, a second window appears and takes focus and you can't get rid of it. So basically, explorer just hangs there

 

This behaviour sounds very like some form of malware/spyware behaviour to me. IE never puts up popups as standard, suggests to me that there's a deeper undelying issue other than the actual brand of the machines.

 

Personally, I have 36 stone all in one computers, and I love them - they work flawlessly and stones service is outstanding.

 

Mike.

[sted]

ive had dells that diddnt apply group policy properly before turned out to be a comination of network card and switch flashed the switch problems went. I aslo had a workaround

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"GpNetworkStartTimeoutPolicyValue"=dword:0000003c

[ricki]

Hi

 

I know this will sound a strange question but are all the stone computers from the same image. If they are then this will explain why they all have the same problem. What I would do is reinstall one from scratch and put all the service packs on and see if it works ok. Then install the programs one at a time and check to see if it still works ok. Once you have a completed machine that works take a ghost copy and put that on the other machines. I had a problem where a image was slightly duff and caused loads of hassle. I have also had situations where a program is conflicting and causing problems. Lastly I have had problems with the driver for a printer that would crash machines.

 

Just an idea.

 

Richard

[DAckroyd]

I have to say personally I wouldn't have bought Stone Computers to start with.... It may not be all the account managers there that are incompetant but I can't say they aren't.

We have asked they to quote on compters a few times and when you specify what you want and they come back with nothing like what you want it makes you wonder... we told the second account manager how the last one was incompetant and they just copied - never even going to ask them for quote in future, too much hassle

[maniac]

Cold callers are the bane of my life. I can't stand them at home and I can't stand them at work. I wouldn't mind but most are companies I've never heard of and just can't match the prices of my group of preferred suppliers - wasting both my time and theirs.

 

One guy just wouldn't accept that we wouldn't consider his company because their toners were £30 more expensive than our regular supplier. He got so desperate he started saying "but we're local and friendly", as if that made any difference!

 

The only fun I get out of it is putting them on speakerphone and letting them prattle on with their spiel and when it goes quiet I say "Sorry, we don't deal with cold callers by phone"!

 

Register the schools phone number with the Telephone Preference Service, and you will find you'll get less cold calls. However a lot of them tend to be in response to people filling in forms for information and not ticking those 'do not contact me' boxes. With so many staff at a school, it's hardly surprising schools end up on lots of lists.

 

We buy from local companies, even if they're not the cheapest, as part of the ethos of the academy is supporting the local community. I use a local company for my cabling, and we have a local company we use for our stationary and toner supplies. The great thing about local comapnies is sometimes they can deliver the same day, can't get better than that!

 

Mike.

[DAckroyd]

I actually got cold calls from double glazing companies seeing it I wanted windows or a conservatory... an extention would have been nice but I was on the second floor

this was caused by having a phone straight to the outside world for modem use