Tricky_Dicky

Fair enough, I suppose a lot depends on how reliable your internet connection is. But I still like the idea that someone else is looking after the hosting/backups/upadates, it just means one less thing to worry about. Like Banjo said though, it might be possible to host it in house or at least at the LA which might be a better option for yourself. Having spoken to the reps from Serco I believe there are 25 trial schools who are starting using it in November, I don't suppose that is anyone on here is it?

Yes it is an issue that your internet connection may go down, but how often does that happen in comparison to your on site servers going down?

It's also worth mentioning that it's entirely web based even to the point that Serco are going to be hosting it for you (from what I understand). It looks a really nice product and being built on MS SQL links really well with there reporting program which should make it a lot more usable.

Did mine with AT computers in Tewkesbury . Nice facility and good trainers. If you are going to stop over, stop at the Weatherspoons as it's dirt cheap and good food and beer.

I loved the look of those HP laptops, especially for the younger years as it has the handle. Although the trolley was heavy it looked really nice, well built and had the networking all built in. I know the trolley won't be available for a little while though as the people we were speaking to made that quite clear. Not sure on when the laptops are due.

Buy 1 good and large multi way adaptor for the plugs and then screw it to the back of your AV rack, once in place you can shorten each power lead down by cutting off the original plug (as it's probably a molded one) and then putting new plugs on at the correct length. Then do the same with the Cat5 and speakers, just position each bit of kit and get the cables to just the right length. Think of it like redesigning the server cabinet and spend a good weekend doing it.

Hi, I've got the ComicLife msi and it's happily installing via a GPO but I can't get the licence key to be accepted and just wondered if anyone else had done it and if so how? Currently, I've exported the key from a machine that has it installed and then have added the following batch script to the logon script for the machines I would like it on : start c:\windows\regedit.exe /s \\servername\netlogon\comiclifelicence.reg Any ideas? Rich

We use it for our MIS system and it works well. Link2ICT just installed some software (can't even think what it is off the top of my head) and away it goes. If you need to recover something then just log a call and it reappears shortly later. Worth double checking what the response times are though. 4 hours is fairly normal, but they might have it down as 4 days

We are a primary school, so go from Year 1 to year 6.From what I've seen, the children find the slightly smaller trackpads and keyboards a bit easier to use as it's faster and suits their finger size better.

We have just ordered our 3 set of Toshiba NB250s and finding them very good indeed. Support from our supplier and in turn Toshiba is very good and we have only had a couple of problems which when I've seen first hand just how badly they are treated, is very good indeed.

Hi, getting very near to having a nice solution with MDT deploying XP but I was wondering if anyone knew how to input the wireless key as part of the deployment? Cheers Rich

I think this has been do able for a while with some hacking about but Google have just launched an msi download and a load of GPO policies. Google Chrome for business Now if I could get Moodle to work properlly with it then I could swap over completely. Rich

I don't I'm afraid. Going to get this and put it on a standard server and get working. It's a shame it can't do the initial sync with passwords. It isn't a problem for the teachers but will make it trickier for the kids.

Have found a supplier. Tempus will do it for £235.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm still having trouble getting a copy though. I can buy the physical media but the licencing is raving money. Can anyone recommend some where that I can purchase it from and an idea of cost. Rich

Yes there used to be a discount for ILM but Forefront is the only one that I can get a price for. This might sounds stupid but Forefront Threat Management Gateway is a completely different product isn't it? Only ask because our reseller seems to think it might be similar to ILM and is only £223 per processor licence.

Hi, I'm trying to decide what is the simplest way of implementing the syncing of user names and passwords between AD and Live@edu. Originally I was looking at ILM, but that appears to have been discontinued and replaced with Forefront Identity Manager 2010, which is £1895 for the licence and another £2.60 per cal, which seems a crazy number to me. Is there anyway of doing it with scripts? Regards Rich

Picassa is awesome. Have it installed as the default image editor for all our machines and it works a treat. Using the folder manager you just point it to which ever folder you want to scan and it will do the rest. Obviously the more photos the longer it will take, but it gets there in the end.

Do you mean you can't deploy apps after the original image? We've got WDS setup and it allows you to choose either indivdual apps or selections or apps, so for example I have a certain selection for Laptop and others for classroom machines. These are all running XP.

Did you create the original image using NTlite or some form of slipstreaming? I've seen this happen when that happens. To cure it, try placing the file it needs in to the image using Microsoft Image Manager. Rich

This is Apples Magic Circle and is really useful. We have all our macs joined this way and so anyone can just login.

Hi Little Miss, We have Moodle in school and it's used by almost all classes and very extensively by some. I'd be more than willing to show you round, maybe a screen share? PM me if you are interested. Rich

Cheers Frosty, have just installed and enabled that and it is working really well

A1 is pretty big printing and I think it boils down to convenience and budget. Printing on that size is not like a normal printer, it needs proper profiles, the correct ink and paper and maintanence to go with it. A large format Epson/Canon can provide amazing quality, but at upwards of £2000 for the machine, £300-£500 for a set of inks, then heads and paper unless you are printing a lot every day I would use an external company. If it's for displays and exam work then a pro lab would probably be better and allow you to setup an account for the school. I use Loxley colour in Scotland and the prints that come back are always superb with a very quick turnaround time. Rich

It's already in a Raid5 setup and is (famous last words) just a stop gap solution before I move some things around and on to the Nas box and new 2008R2 server.