creese

Ah, go on ! :-) Reason 0, I'm not sure it can tell you more, simple. 'Have you got an S drive? Is the SQL engine running. Except in a very small percentage of occasions, that's it fixed. Reason 0 A/PL your patch lead is unplugged ain't gonna happen. Microsoft gave me a 'Not all network drives are available' at home today. It would have helped if it has said 'You Wally, you set the time to switch off the NAS when you are 'normally' at work, you're on leave' Instead I had to you my Sherlock like deduction skills.

'Training a handful of schools is very different from 'supporting' over 150. I wish we had time to train as we support but there are not enough hours in the day/week/year. We train in classroom and if you have been paying attention to my training, they do not come along in the numbers we would hope, you already know why that is.

Wow!!! What a film. Still trying to figure it out.

I wouldn't go for express in a secondary. It's okay for primary phase.

Any spare seats tonight?

Going too see this in Cardiff tonight. On the food smuggling. I take my grandchildren on a Saturday morning sometimes less than a quid entry each. We take sweets and drinks, in coats during the winter, in a bag with wet wipes etc on top in the summer.

Well you stick with your Vikpawedia verson of the word, the rest of us will use the proper English definition. As you have managed to agree, if they remember what instruction you gave, great. But most of the time they are just following your instructions, 1, 2, 3. because A. the fault may never occur again B. they are not interested in problems with the program only getting me to fix it. With VNC/RDP 99.9% of the time we fix it from good knowledge of what errors are current. Training is training, instruction is instruction, it's why they made up 2 words. I thecase of this thread no one is seeking a solution to a proble but its a 'commentary on the wording of the original request for help and the wording of SIMS error' messages.

From a foggy memory, LanID 01 is all you will need. That is usually aready in SysMan Dos. Vague memories of the old system I'm afraid.

Try this http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/16262-sims-launcher-module-no-id.html

The last thing on earth I need is pity, I certainly wouldn't ask for it. I do my job, as do the rest of the team, and enjoy it (mostly). Most of the time we know what the error is before they start on the actual message. Finally on this point training is gaining knowledge not being shown how to do something many times. Training is empowering not leading. You could sit a monkey at a PC and get him to press keys in a ceratin order but you ain't training him to spell. I have no Idea if I have have ever met sivadam, we do share similar views at times. I'm sure neither of us wish you harm. If you have finished with the Voodoo Doll, Sivadam, can I have it next please. :-)

@vikpaw They manage to varied degrees is the answer, or we have to do it for them. Who are these colleagues you speak of? We have whole schools where no one knows what is going on. Those do the very basics in Sims. Ask then to stray from the norm and they are stuck. Give them an instruction sheet they may follow it, that is NOT training, as much and as loud as you say it is. At least I'm 'trained' enough about pacemakers to know you don't remove a heart, wires are threaded from the shoulder area into the heart with the main device fitted in a pocket near the clavicle. As you are concious whenit happens you would know if the heart was removed. Now you are trained in heart surgery. The bill is in the post.

The only work I did with old Sims in a seondary was carry out backups or very detailed instruction fixes from the 2 lady helpdesk at the LA. Or should I say training from the ladies?

Just for the record: training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competancies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. A far cry from being shown or told how to do things. Edit: accorfding to your definition, as soon as you got the monkey's hand out of coconut, you could train it to use Sims.

I have contact with many other authorities and a lot of them are in the same boat as us. Out of 130 primary phase schools there are a small handful of competant user of Sims. In 20+ secondaries the techs rarely touch Sims, we even upgrade for them. There is training and there is training, as far as i am concerned we are qualified, in several ways to train in Sims. Any training from anyone is not an option, it would be like my elder broter teaching me to drive, when that training inclueded jumping red lights and putting your foot down at zebra crossing. I don't want users being taught bad habit and wrong ways of doing thing, what is the point of that? I think that is a silly point you are making When you tell them which one, they will have been trained 'When you tell them which one, they will have been trained'. That would mean I had been trained in major surgery, I am medically trained, but would you want me fitting a pacemaker for you? I've seen it done, 1st hand.

I love your world, can I join? Training by someone else who uses Sims..... The blind leading the blind in an Chinese whispers (no offence to anyone there I hope). Tech from the secondary, what does he/she know about Sims. If they can have in house training they could attend our training, surely, or not? Videos? i refer my honorable friend to the answer I just gave. Training = time. Time = money. Time = no one to apply the plasters and hand out sick bags, translate to non-english speaking parents etc. etc. As they point out to us, they do not just sit in front of Sims all day, you know. The error message could say, touch your nose 3 times, spin on your chair 4 times and say Rumplestiltskin backwards. First helpdek call? Which finger do I use? seriously. The last thing on the interviewers mind is 'Can this person use a computer?'

The blame is not with Capita. Heads think anyone can use computers if you sit someone in front of one, after all they are only typewriters with a TV attached, aren't they? As I said I am talking about Primary phase, mostly, Secondaries are much better.

As Aaron Neville sang, I just "Tell it like it is" I don't make the rules, I just follow them. All training courses are free to our users, well advertised and we have to cancel a fair few. Likewise with surrounding LAs.

I so wish I lived/worked in your world. It must be close to Utopia. PS. I wasn't talking about teachers. But they can be just as bad when it comes to IT.

You can have it. It explains it perfectly. Heads will not let people out of school for a day, even though the training they receive will save them many days of helpdesk calls and give them the ability to use Sims as fully as it can be used.

They do? Really? Your source for this is......? My vast part of the world I know, which includes 4 or 5 counties would prove otherwise, getting someone on a FREE course is like getting a monkey to let go of the peanuts in a coconut trap.

There are an awful lot of users out there press the printscreen and expect something to happen. That is the level of their knowledge. They work in a school because they want to work term time only and the hours suit. They are far from computer literate and a simple error, as in this case, relayed to a support team would get the job done a lot faster than reading out a long unintelligible computergeekspeek error message. Don't forget we don't all work for and with Secondary schools. KISS.

Should have put that in your 1st post. I wouldn't have bothered posting then.

On a more practical side, how about a token system. They have a token with their name/admission No. which they exchange for a laptop.

400 x 2mins / 60mins = 13.3333333 hrs Maths is obviously not your Head's strong point.

House doesn't do love. He hates everyone, except Cutty. Just has Holmes had one love in his life, unrequited.