tigerstar

That sounds like it. Depending on the laptop and what BIOS it uses, the "boot password" may in fact be an ATA hard drive password, which must be entered before the drive will allow access. Fortunately, because this is a universal standard you don't need the original computer in order to remove that password - you can just use a tool like MHDD or ATApwd to remove it.

I've found that having "Enable advanced printing features" checked (the checkbox is on the Advanced tab of the printer properties dialogue) seems to cause a lot of problems with multiple copies of print jobs on the older HPs. Have you tried it with this turned off?

As a rule I always avoid running bundled software installation discs on a print server, as they tend to include a lot of useless cruft that you don't need. I usually visit the manufacturer site and download the latest driver - barebones only if it's available. The printers get static IP addresses via DHCP reservation rather than manually inputting via the panel or web interface (it's easier to manage, avoids accidental conflicts, and if you ever have to do a factory reset on the printer it will get the same IP again regardless). Then I just use the standard Windows printer installation wizard on the server, specifying the printer by IP address. Keeps everything simple and consistent across different printer makes and models.

We had the exact same problem during the January exam - 1 out of 8 students taking the exam had it crash when she went to print. In the end, I just had to take a screenshot of the state of the exam at the point it crashed and submit it along with an explanatory note. I don't think it's an issue with the version of Flash Player installed on the computer (we always keep it up-to-date). Bear in mind that the Flash Player is a browser plugin, whereas the AQA exam runs from a Flash projector, i.e. the standalone player you can generate when a project is exported from Flash. The executable uses its own internal version of the Flash player dependent on what version of Flash the project was built in, so it works independent of whatever browser plugin you have installed (and even if you have no plugin installed at all). I quickly checked the executable for versions of the exam software going back to June last year, and they all use 10.1.52.14. But yes, this is quite a serious issue if the exam software is unstable.

I've been using Freemake Video Converter lately - it's fast (it can use GPU acceleration during conversion), supports lots of formats, and can even download and convert from YouTube and other video sites within the program. The only thing to watch out for is that it tries to install some useless "smilies" toolbar and homepage during setup, but you can uncheck that.