Andie

This is one of 48, passed to me from our secondary school supplier to build ready for them to image for us. I am fed up with fiddling around now so am going to get this one swapped for one of the others. Hopefully either I've done something stupid on first setting up which I won't repeat or this machine is a freak and will be reimaged anyway. Hoepfully....!

As above, it is happening to the domain admin as well on very first login, and domain admin has local profile and no login scripts. It doesn't seem to be an issue caused by the mandatory profile for pupil user or by a login script.

Now I've tried the domain admin from clean profile, I don't think this is an issue with the mandatory profile. You may have missed my second post above, as posts sometimes overlap. But I removed the machine from the domain, removed all but the local admin profile, then set the display properly, then rejoined the domain, logged in as domain admin and the display reset itself to dual clone display and 800 x 600. Domain admin has local profile and no login scripts.

Ok, I have just gone back to base, as it were. I removed the laptop from the domain. Deleted all profiles except local admin. Set the Intel properties to single display (not dual clone). Checked the primary display in display properties is set to same resolution. Rejoined the domain. Logged in as domain admin. And after log in, the resolution has been reset to 800 x 600 and output is defaulting to dual clone display. AAAAAGGH!!! Default user profile issue? I've built laptops before, and have never had this issue!!

(Sorry, not sure where to put this, and have tried to do a search) I have a weird problem that I think is being caused by a conflict between an Intel graphics driver and the built-in display settings. New Toshiba Tecra laptop build. Resolution logged in as local admin defaults to 1366 x 768. ***Seemed to be the same for domain admin.*** Graphics adaptor is Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD. Running XP Professional SP3 (XP downgrade supported by Toshiba). ***On further test, my memory is wrong - the domain admin is reset to 800 x 600 on first logon too. However, hit a problem with ordinary users. When they log in, the display resets itself after log in to 800 x 600, which looks dreadful. Their profiles are mandatory. However, the display resolution seesm to be independent of this. I tried opening the Intel properties from the taskbar when logged in as pupil, and reset the resolution. Worked fine, and stayed after logoff. But I can't do this for all the pupil users! I've also found that the Intel properties are set to dual (clone) display. Have tried the following: Logged in as local admin, set the Intel Properties to single display and correct resolution. No effect on pupil user - still dual and 800 x 600. Logged in as domain admin and did the same, with no effect. Looked at trying to get second monitor set to correct resolution in display properties (not Intel) but wouldn't let me, and don't have a new enough external monitor to attach and play around with. Seem to be going round in circles. Anyone had this and can put me out of my misery?

Did you check the post I'd referenced? I complained to our Pearson local consultant, as our maths co-ordinator swears he was assured the online version would be free of charge as we'd bought the CD product already.

The planner has gone online now. We are waiting for the upgrade details. They say they notified existing customers by email to school offices, but nothing came through to us that we can trace. The registry edit is just a fix to keep us going until we can give the online version a go. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/educational-software/63484-abacus-evolve-available-online.html

OK, I have now worked out that this is actually only happening on one machine. There is a suite of 31 identical machines, and this is happening now on one machine. I keep coming in to find that the machine is still on and logged in. We are using XP Professional on these. I have deleted the cached profiles from this machine, and that seems to stop the problem for a while, but then it starts again. Can't understand why this is only one machine. Not affecting one particular user, just this machine. Anyone any ideas?

Thanks! That will also save me a lot of work now too!

For Abacus Evolve I-Planner Software, where the database stops connecting because you have changed the name of your computer (Abacus Evolve Interactive Planner Installation Guide, pages 26 to 27, Resolution3) - standalone install. Navigate to HKEY Local Machine\Software\Harcourt\Abacus Evolve IPlanner 3 and locate the DBServer registry key. This contains the computer name. Edit this so that the computer name is correct and close the editor. No computer restart necessary.

Have just found out through Pearson Software Support team that Abacus Evolve I-Planner (the one that is a nightmare to install) is available online. The software support chap I was dealing with said we could buy the online planner at a discount, as an existing customer. So I went back to our Maths Co-ordinator, who was not best pleased. He said Pearson had spoken about the online planner when he had purchased the CDs, that he hadn't been notified that it was now available, and that he had been told we would get the online planner for free as an existing customer. So I went to the Pearson Education website (Pearson Schools - Teaching resources, textbooks, software and online resources for Primary and Secondary schools, FE colleges and trainers from Heinemann, Edexcel, Longman, BBC Active, Ginn, Rigby, Causeway Press and Payne Gallway.) and followed the link to contact a local advisor. I fired off a disgruntled email to her, and have just got back a reply to say we can get the upgrade for free. Apparently, we would have been notified of this by an email to the school office. Oh yes? So anyone struggling with the CD install might be advised to contact their local advisor... Of course, I have yet to have a go with the online version - it may be as much of a nightmare as the CD version...

We've just had the letter from the LA about this, filtered through from the head, and they are taking back at least some of the money allocated to schools because the LA topslice has been allocated to committed contracts (Learning Platform, etc.). Thankfully, we followed your advice and kept the money which was given to us to one side!

Not sure if I am missing something here: We have mandatory profiles. Profile space is limited for ordinary users to 10000Kb by group policy. Recently though we have had a number of users unable to log out because they are being told they have exceeded their profile storage space. These are accounts that have been running fine for months. Have I got a gremlin or am I being dense and missing something? Or is it that programs are getting hungrier and I need to up the profile storage space? I've just had this happen to a user who logged in and just used Mathletics, nothing else. Ordinary users shouldn't be able to install stuff anyway. When I looked at the profile, the biggest file was Java related.

Do you have favorites redirected to a shared folder? If so, it may be a permissions issue on the shared folder. Favorites can be redirected by GPO. Ours is a custom adm template, located in our case in User Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Internet Explorer>Favorites. If you can locate the GPO, you should be able to find where the redirection is to, and then edit the permissions on the folder. However, if you have a custom adm template, you may find you can't see the setting without using filtering. You'll need to open the GPO editor, click on Administrative Templates, go to the View menu, choose Filtering and then, in the new window, untick the "Only show policy settings that can be fully managed" box. Then navigate to your GPO and you should be able to see the settings properly. Sorry if you know all this already!

ICT Technician, Hampton College, Peterborough Full time, 37 hours and 52 weeks. 8.15am to 4.30pm Mon to Fri. Grade 6 17,160 to 19,621. Full advert and contact details here They don't seem to have loaded the details onto their website yet though!

As a techie in a small junior school, I adapted the FITS forms to use, as a full blown service desk would have been overkill for us. I even have to fill in the forms myself as staff generally just come and find me when there is an issue. I know all the arguments about how the industry IT bods do things, and why should we be expected to fix things instantly, but I am fortunately appreciated in my job as someone who will try and fix things quickly. As the school does more and more online/at computer, I think a service desk may becoame an option. That's part of adapting to the change in your environment, and it sounds like the course gives you a chance to explore lots of different approaches to recording your job. Thanks for the info on the course. As someone who fell into this line of work without any formal IT quals, it would be good to get a certificate in something after all these years!

The Poetry Archive website has now dispensed with RealPlayer for its audio playback - hooray! Received this by email: "You wrote a while ago, saying that you would very much prefer the Poetry Archive website not to require visitors to download RealPlayer in order to listen to its recordings of English-language poets reading their work. I'm pleased to tell you that, having had similar comments from other visitors, we have changed the site's audio platform. From today, Real is no longer needed in the Archive. All the recordings will play using Flash - software which virtually all our visitors will already have. Please go to Poetry Archive to explore our collection of recordings. You'll find that there are now 227 poets in the Archive. During the coming months, more will be added - including W. H. Auden, Lorna Goodison, Christopher Reid, Grace Nichols, Imtiaz Dharker, Louis Untermeyer, Sophie Hannah, John Agard, John Hegley and the new Oxford University Professor of Poetry, Geoffrey Hill. Today, we have also made it possible for visitors to save the details of the poems and poets they have enjoyed during their visits to the Archive. When you visit, please look for links to My Archive. With best wishes and thanks again for writing to us, The Poetry Archive http://www.poetryarchive.org "

IT Technician Post in Orton Longueville School, Peterborough Salary: Grade 8 Hours: 37 hours a week; 52 weeks a year Holidays: 24 days annually Closing Date 9th August 2010 Further information: EPM - Educational Personnel Management Application forms from: Orton Longueville School - Vacancies

Are they also going to cut the targets? Learning Platforms, every child e-portfolio, parental engagement, pupil:computer ratio - you know, that sort of thing??

My son was at a campsite in Edale last night and the river burst its banks. Said there was something like a mini sunami as the water built up behind a blockage, and then an almighty bang as the blockage was broken through. Thankfully he was camped on higher ground. And I only got the text this morning so was able to sleep blissfully unaware. Of course, being a teenager he may have exaggerated things just a bit.... EDIT: He wasn't! The bang was actually debris being washed down the river and hitting trees. What was a trickle of water in the river bed at 9.30pm was a raging torrent at 10.30pm. I've seen the video he took after he was surprised by the sudden arrival of other tents being pitched around him in the dark! Must have been all the water coming down from all those storms further north.

IT Technician at New College, Stamford. Salary £14,832 to 19,134. Closing date 29th July. Interview Date 13th August. Full time. Further Vacancies

Thanks. I did see the stuff on Wikipedia about ffmpeg, but was put off by command line interface. Have had a look at the ffdshow link you sent me, and it appears to be in another language so I followed the link from there to the SourceForge page: ffdshow | Download ffdshow software for free at SourceForge.net Will probably download that too. Thanks. Very useful. Edugeek is as ever brilliant at helping folks out!

Thanks all. Used AVS Video Converter (link above) and that worked fine, with a really easy interface. Shall have to investigate getting an activation code to get rid of the annoying watermark, but not expensive as we will only need one copy on a laptop to run the conversion. I'll have a play with changing the file extension too though. Would be cheaper.

Thanks. I'll have a look at these and post back any success I have.

Last desperate attempt to find out if the .MOD video format can be converted to something useful. Basically, we have made the mistake of purchasing some Panasonic camcorders, without realising the video formats issue. The Panasonic software is useless for editing, and doesn't recognise any network drives, so is driving me round the bend. The file extension for the recordings is .MOD, and I've had a good look on the forums here, but the convertors I have downloaded don't recognise the format. Windows Media Player plays only the sound and doesn't seem able to find a suitable codec. Is there any hope? Or should we sell them on eBay and start again?