OverWorked

Tarquel, Your experience sounds like Millenium Computer Systems. Our LEA warned us about them. They ring and ramble on and on about sample 'long-life' toners (there's no such thing), not saying that they're not free. They then send you loads of the stuff week after week and keep billing for it. Staff at other schools have been verbally abused when they tried to get the deliveries stopped. The person who rang (she called herself Laura) tried to get me to give her an order number for the samples. She kept asking me just to 'get the next number off the list'. I held fast and refused so she just put the phone down sounding annoyed. Fortunately nothing arrived. A few months later Laura rang again, giving a different company name, but the spiel was basically the same. I got shot of her quickly that time. I think the LNL offer is legitmate, I just wondered if anyone else had had experience of it.

Thanks. I think I'll leave it. We don't need another printer at the moment anyway.

I've just received in the post a brochure from LNL promising a free Konica Minolta printer. http://www.lnl.co.uk/PrintersforSchools.html Does anyone have experience of this scheme? Is it any good? They promise a colour laser on free loan for one year (with a 'small charge' to extend the period). All we have to do is buy at least three sets of toner from them throughout the whole period. The toner price seems to be slightly over the going rate, but not excessive. Any comments?

Ooh, we have an Intel USB microscope. It's one of my favorite toys. Granted the picture quality isn't fantastic, but its easy to use. Ours is used quite a bit. We didn't pay for it though - it was donated. Lots of 'essential' curriculum software: we've got loads too. Hasn't everyone? They buy it with no idea of what it is and then jump up and down on me to install it urgently on all the machines, only to find out that either:- a) it's shit b) it's really good but they don't know how to use it. I've got loads of edu software that I know never gets used.

I'd second Geoff's suggestion. In the GPO, are you assigning the msi to users or computers? I only ever assign to computers. Adam - MSI's really did drive me mad for months. I've pretty much got them cracked now so I know what your going through. They are worth persevering with. I rarely install anything manually. I do the great majority with msi's. Another question: Do you have trouble with vendor supplied MSI's, or is it just your home-made ones? Can you deploy something like MS Office from the MSI on the CD?

I had this problem. Most MSI's failed for users, but worked for admins, when we had mandatory profiles. Since switching to roaming profiles the problem has gone away. I don't have any problems with roaming profiles because pupils desktop is heavily locked down with GP. It drove me mad for months. I also use Ondemand WinInstall LE. For a free product, it's pretty good when you get used to it. It messes up shortcut icons if they're not pointing to a .exe with embedded icons. (Last time I looked, though, they are charging $50 for it. It was free when I got it).

On the wireless connection's properties, under the 'Wireless Networks' tab, check the 'Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings' If it's not visible, then the vendor's utility is managing the connection, and you'll have to look there to disable it first, to allow windows to configure the wireless connection. If you're on a domain, this is essential, as the machine has to log on to the domain when it boots up, otherwise domain users won't be able to log on.

@DMcCoy I had the same problem with Belkin cards, and others. The trouble with the vendor's utilities is that they don't run until the user logs on, so its useless if you're logging on to a domain - you need it to be running when the machine boots up. I quickly gave up using the vendor's utilities for this reason, and just let XP manage the wireless connection.

I've always been plagued by this problem, even (though less frequently) on wired machines. Stewart - how do you map drives in GP without a script? I didn't think this was possible. I have GP set a logon script that maps drives and connects printers, but it doesn't always work. Does anyone have a script then does what Geoff suggests? It seems like the best answer. (I'm pretty hopeless at VBS).

Before you go, thanks for putting me on the right track with the DHCP problem with wireless access points. (Spanning Tree Protocol). I still haven't solved the problem, but I think I'm looking in the right area. I've been ripping my hair out for over a year with that one. Good luck!

Forgot to add: What I've also done is wait until the end of the day, and delete all their roaming profiles from the server. I've also used delprof in a computer shutdown script to delete the locally cached roaming profiles. This will remove all their existing wallpapers and the GPO's will (I think) stop them from reappearing.

Am I missing something? I've just set up GPO's as recommended by tarquel, and logged on as a pupil. I can't see any way they can change the wallpaper now. They just get the blue html wallpaper I set for them. Yes, the 'set as desktop background' is still on Explorer's context menu and Picture and Fax Viewer, but it no longer has any effect. I haven't used any registry hacks, scripts or the like, just GPO. As far as I can see, it works.

@tarquel Thanks for that. Another little problem that's been bugging me for the past three years has just been solved. I already had a GPO with the active desktop settings, but didn't know about the other bit:- -=- Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Display -=- Prevent Changing Wallpaper = Enabled The little darlings were using IE and My Pictures to set their own unsuitable pictures, even though they could only see them at logon and logoff. Now they can't even do that! Wonderful!

Don't do it! I agree with all the above (good and bad: the kids love them; the staff love them when they work, otherwise they chew my head; and they take up most of my time). I'm in the middle of setting up 20 new wireless laptops right now, after the previous 12 got trashed in less than 2 years. My protests went unheeded. This time we have a more strict regime for controlling the machines. Only the staff are given keys, they have to sign them out and back in. It's also made clear to them that their departments will be charged for damage. Laptops are simply not designed to be used by hundreds of kids. Having said that, I have a couple of RM Mobile One noteboks on my desk as I'm writing. They do seem to be sturdier than the usual laptops. We'll see how they last.

We're at a small school in the Yorkshire Dales, so I'm hoping for loads of snow this winter, so are the kids and most of the staff. We want some time off.

I gave my son some Marmite when he was 3 months old. Now he's an addict.

Long story, but I had a non-booting XP laptop with data no it. XP repair CD wouldn't work either. I Looked up XP repair websites on Google, someone recommended a Knoppix CD as a last resort. I downloaded Knoppix, booted the laptop with it and was able to copy all the teacher's file to the server, before formatting the hd and reinstalling XP. No problem! I was very impressed with Knoppix generally. I don't know why it was recommended as a *last resort*. I now have a copy of the CD in my tool box and will be using it a lot more in cases like this in the future. That's all I wanted to say,really. I've been putting off Linux for a long time, now I've done it I don't know what I was scared of. I'll be using it a lot more in the future.

As someone who's trying to get into Linux, I downloaded it and had a go this morning. Very nice.

Thanks, everyone. A mixed response. I understand what was said about problems with returns. I've seen warnings in waranties about marked stuff not being accepted. I'll try either Selectamark or IDmark as a trial. See how it goes.

It's getting scary. Microsoft certification is starting to resemble the Church of Scientology! You end up devoting all your time and money to it to get further up the ladder.

You're right about the traffic. My wife works in Accrington and drives every day, at about 45 mins that's not too bad. Its a lot easier to go that way from Skipton than it is to Bradford, where the traffic is always horrific. I'll think about it.

Very tempting, its the sort of thing I'm looking for, but as Leyland/Preston its a bit far for me to travel from Skipton. As far as I've seen recently, Lancs are more generous with pay than N. Yorks, so I may be crossing the border one day.

What's the etching kit like? Will it do plastic or metal? - I'm thinking of PC cases and most hardware.

We've had a spate of computer and projectors stolen from schools in our area recently. The police have been round advising schools about security and equipment marking. They've recommended two products, about the same, involving stenciling indelible paint. They are Selectamark and Idmark. Selectamark ID Mark We've used black and UV 'security' pens but they rub off over time. I've seen these products in previous work places before I worked in IT. They're ugly but the do the job. Has anyone any ideas or recommendations on these two products? Thanks.

I agree with Sirbendy. Cable tie the keyboard, video, mouse cables together with 2 tie wraps. I've only had one attempted theft since doing this (the halfwit cut the mouse cable to nick it, then realised it was no use and left it). I also use optical mice. Although twice the price or more, they're much more durable than ball mice. I haven't had any failures of optical mice either. I used to have loads of problems with ball mice - fluff, balls nicked.