Teacher Laptops - Internet Settings when offline

[Nick_Parker]

Sorry to go a bit off topic...

The biggest issue our staff have with using their laptops at home is that everything is incredibly slow, logging on take forever for once, and generally everything is slow.

Are there any settings etc you would recommend I look at?

[mac_shinobi]

cant check it now but I think its this util : Proxy Changer-Free Internet Explorer Proxy Changer

 

free proxy changer that sits in the system tray and they can right click and select which one ( you could call one home and one work ) and then they swap between them.

 

Other option is to make 2 reg files and 2 script files ( either bat or vbs ) to execute and silently ammend the registry using the reg files to alter the proxy settings assuming the user logged in has rights or you can do a run as in the script maybe ?

 

and give them two shortcuts that point to the 2 scripts ( one shortcut called home and the other work ) ?

 

short of that you can use hardware profiles and call one home and one work and do it that way ( not sure if this is full proof ) but think I did that once and it seemed to work.

Edited March 9, 2009 by mac_shinobi

[mac_shinobi]

@Overworked

 

I just add a batch script which calls a reg file and silently edits the apropriate keys for the proxy.

 

Change the icon on the batch script to look like IE, and the teachers don't know the difference. Call one Internet Explorer (School) and the other Internet Explorer (Home), and the staff just click the right one!

 

Bat Script

 

 

Export the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings string when the proxy is enabled and call it ProxyEnable.reg and do the same when it is off (under a different name and edit the bat script obviously).

 

It works well for us.

 

beat me to it with the altering the reg keys lol

[tonyd]

This is an AutoIt3 script I wrote a long time back, if it can get a response from the IP of our proxy it sets IE to use it, if not it disables the proxy. The executable generated is placed in the startup folder for all users, and therefore runs at login or whenever the user selects it.

 

$var = Ping("192.168.108.4",250)

If $var Then ; also possible: If @error = 0 Then ...

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings", "ProxyEnable", "REG_DWORD", "1")

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings", "ProxyServer", "REG_SZ", "192.168.108.4:8080")

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings", "ProxyOverride", "REG_SZ", "

;192.168.108.*")

Else

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings", "ProxyEnable", "REG_DWORD", "0")

EndIf

 

 

Although I now prefer the idea of setting up the LAN so all you need to do is enable the IE 'Automatically detect settings' box, since this should enable my own laptop to roam between the proxies at the different schools I visit.

Edited March 9, 2009 by tonyd

[mortstar]

Proxy.pac file for me

 

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
// variables for returning proxy or no proxy
var proxy_yes = "PROXY YOUR.PROXY.ADDRESS:PORT"
var proxy_no = "DIRECT"

// machine is NOT on school network OR address is in local domain - NO Proxy
if ((!isInNet(myIpAddress(), "192.168.0.0", "255.255.0.0")) ||  //IP Address and Subnet mask
dnsDomainIs(host, ".curriculum.com") ||
{return proxy_no;}
else
return proxy_yes;
}

 

Also added a few exceptions that return no proxy for special instances (e.g. Sims Document Server error)

shExpMatch(url, "http://localhost*") ||
shExpMatch(url, "http://10.250*") ||
shExpMatch(url, "http://SIMSSERVERNAME*"))

Edited March 9, 2009 by mortstar

[OverWorked]

I've just completed my own solution, which is a refinement of terrorvis' solution.

 

I use .bat files to call import .reg files to switch the proxy on or off as required. It doesn't alter the other settings, like proxy address, because they're set by group policy.

 

The user just click on the shortcut they require and it sets the proxy and runs IE.

 

batch file example:-

 

@regedit.exe /s "c:\proxy_script\proxy_off.reg"
@"%programfiles%\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"

 

(The @start command suggested to run IE wouldn't work for me).

 

registry file example:-

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"ProxyEnable"=dword:00000000

 

I've created an msi, which is attached.

IE Proxy at Home.zip