gerardsweeney

Heh - nice to know I'm not alone. I don't think it's to do with the Adobe updates, though - like I said, it does the same thing with the VERY latest version of Flash on a PC with a patched-to-the-hilt IE8 PC. Next up will be taking a laptop home with me to verify (again) that the same sites work fine on my home broadband over wireless (sound of that getting added to the to-do list)

Hello, all.. I should start by saying that I'm not the network admin - I'm the desktop admin, so I'm really asking here to try to suggest things to our network folk who seem to be having trouble resolving this (so in other words, I may not be able to immediately answer questions about ports which are open etc - so please feel free to offer ANY suggestions, no matter how basic they seem heh). For the last (xx) months, we have been having some fairly major issues with viewing streamed Flash/YouTube content. It works, but it's often REALLY stuttery - or at least randomly misbehaves badly. For example - watching a BBC stream (pre-recorded) of either audio or video, our users get: Plays for a couple of minutes and then starts to echo - so you get something like "And I said to And I said to". Pause it, and it plays for another 10-30 seconds, and then pauses. Unpause, and it'll play for another few minutes before starting to do the echo thing again. That's pretty much consistent with any BBC stream. With 4OD, we just don't get anything. The window sits blank or I get the never-ending "flash loading" circle graphic. This happens going through either 4OD or via YouTube (I know they probably link to the same URLs but I figured I should say this for clarity). YouTube seems to be fine, if that goes for anything? The issue is on all PCs in all schools with different flavours of Flash/IE from ye olde ones on IE6 to brand new shiny version of Flash on IE8. The High Schools are on a 100Mb connection to our data centre which has a 45Mb connection to the WWW - so it's presumably not bandwidth. Any suggestions gratefully received before WWIII breaks out here!!!

Nice one! Gerard

rem ========================================================= rem My Documents back on Desktop rem Take ownership C:\Drivers\PostInst\SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" -ot reg -actn setowner -ownr "n:Administrators" -rec yes rem Permissions to FC for Administrators C:\Drivers\PostInst\SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" -ot reg -actn ace -ace "n:Administrators;p:full" -rec yes By default, the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103} has NTFS permissions which prohibit anyone from writing to it. The above first takes ownership of the key, then changes the permissions to allow the local group "Administrators" to write to it. reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\ShellFolder" /v "Attributes" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "4034920765" /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\shell\cmd" /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /ve /t "reg_sz" /d "Documents" /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\DefaultIcon" /ve /t "reg_expand_sz" /d ^%SystemRoot^%\system32\imageres.dll,-112 /f This then changes the values of key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103} (which Administrators can now write to). The values changed are to make it similar to the settings found on an XP workstation. rem unhide My Docs reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel" /v "{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 0 /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu" /v "{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 0 /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /v "Removal Message" /f The above sets both "New" (Win7) and "Classic" Start Menu so that the "My Documents" is visible. rem Hide User profile desktop namespace reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel" /v "{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 1 /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu" /v "{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 1 /f Hopefully speaks for itself, but the above sets both "New" (Win7) and "Classic" Start Menu so that the "Profiles folder" is hidden. These changes came about by looking at the above reg values on an XP workstation, and then the same on a 7 workstation. And then contrasting/comparing the two, and manually changing each 7 difference until I got the desired effect. If you're using GPOs, I'm sure there's a way of importing custom registry changes and NTFS permissions changes - it's been a long time since I've had anything to do with GPOs, so you'll have to forgive my vagueness. I hope this has helped a little?

Ho ho.. Very good.

You're welcome.. You might be able to add it as a custom (unmanaged?) Group Policy? The script gets run as part of my desktop building Altiris script, so I wasn't that fussed about hassling the GP admin with it

Maybe your users have a better understanding of where to save their stuff?

I've only started dabbling with Win7 and I also found the dreaded Profile folder. So it's reassuring to know that what I thought would happen has happened elsewhere. I put together a small BAT file which I've used when creating my test Win7 PCs just now, and it seems to remove the wretched "Profile" folder and restore My Documents back on the desktop where it should be. I STRESS here - this has only been used on test-bed PCs, but perhaps it'll give you something to look at: You'll need to download SetACL. rem ========================================================= rem My Documents back on Desktop rem Take ownership C:\Drivers\PostInst\SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" -ot reg -actn setowner -ownr "n:Administrators" -rec yes rem Permissions to FC for Administrators C:\Drivers\PostInst\SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" -ot reg -actn ace -ace "n:Administrators;p:full" -rec yes reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\ShellFolder" /v "Attributes" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "4034920765" /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\shell\cmd" /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /ve /t "reg_sz" /d "Documents" /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\DefaultIcon" /ve /t "reg_expand_sz" /d ^%SystemRoot^%\system32\imageres.dll,-112 /f rem unhide My Docs reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel" /v "{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 0 /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu" /v "{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 0 /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}" /v "Removal Message" /f rem ========================================================= rem ========================================================= rem Hide User profile desktop namespace reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel" /v "{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 1 /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu" /v "{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}" /t "REG_DWORD" /d 1 /f rem ========================================================= Any use?

Thanks, Timbo - that thread appears to echo what SimpsonJ suggested. I'll go have a dabble. Many thanks, gents!

Brownie points for the VERY fast response - it's greatly appreciated. Your suggestion is nearly what I have in place just now. My current method: Teacher provides a list of user's names and login IDs. The shares are created with a quick script which reads in a TAB delimited file of their name and their login ID.. I could have done a read of AD, but I was feeling lazy and it depended on the teachers providing a (correct!!) list of user IDs whereas asking for both means I have a 50/50 chance of finding the correct details The script creates the folder like: Pupil I drives Created 2011 Mark Hamill (HamillM) Anthony Daniels (DanielsA1) Harrison Ford (FordH) Staff see the very top level (Pupil I drives), while pupils see \\server\userid$ That works very nicely here, but one of the other schools has indicated that this method isn't suitable (I refrain from commenting further). So I'm now looking at this largely theoretical NTFS idea now. Harrumph..

Hello, all.. I've had a trawl on t'interweb for this, and not come up with anything.. Apologies in advance if this sounds laughable, but it's not really my "thing" One of the more common requests we're getting nowadays is for a shared folder for all (eep) students to be able to write to, so that the pupils can save work there for teachers of that dept to look over etc. What I'm trying to get my head round is this - can I set up the share so that: PupilA saves work in the share PupilB saves work in the share PupilA cannot see PupilB's work or vice-versa TeacherA can see and EDIT PupilA's work (when PupilA doesn't have it open, obviously) PupilA can then go back in and see what TeacherA has changed Does that make sense? I know with the default share permissions, I can set it so that Pupils and Staff can write to the share, but it's tweaking the NTFS with the above that I'm hiccuping on. Any NT gurus out there have any advice? Oh, and the server would initially be a 2003 box but will be 2008 later on. Cheers, Gerard

Aha! convert ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:"PC name:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:"Manufacturer:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:"Model:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:"Serial number:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -append %temp%\pcbold.png convert ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" " ^ -append %temp%\pcspace.png convert ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" " ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"%COMPUTERNAME%" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"Hewlett-Packard" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"HP Compaq 6910p" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"12345678" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" " ^ -append %temp%\pcnobold.png convert %temp%\pcspace.png %temp%\pcbold.png %temp%\pcspace.png %temp%\pcnobold.png %temp%\pcspace.png +append %temp%\pcall.png gets an aligned (as near as I can tell) system info box - yay! Now back to the feathering... Or, erm, maybe I should get back to fixing these 2 PCs that I'm meant to be doing

(Answering myself heh) convert -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:"\n PC name: " %temp%\pcname1.png convert -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"\n %COMPUTERNAME% " %temp%\pcname2.png convert -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" Manufacturer: " %temp%\Manuf1.png convert -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:"Hewlett-Packard " %temp%\Manuf2.png convert -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" Model: " %temp%\Model1.png convert -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" HP Compaq 6910p " %temp%\Model2.png convert -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" Serial number: " %temp%\serial1.png convert -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" 12345678 \n" %temp%\serial2.png convert %temp%\pcname1.png %temp%\pcname2.png +append %temp%\pcname3.png convert %temp%\Manuf1.png %temp%\Manuf2.png +append %temp%\Manuf3.png convert %temp%\model1.png %temp%\model2.png +append %temp%\model3.png convert %temp%\serial1.png %temp%\serial2.png +append %temp%\serial3.png convert %temp%\pcname3.png %temp%\Manuf3.png %temp%\model3.png %temp%\serial3.png -append %temp%\pc1.png produces something pretty darn close to what I was looking for. The spacing is a LITTLE out, but it's looking not too shabby (by my limited abilities, anyway) I suspect ImageMagick folk out there will be spluttering their coffee over the screen at this shonky code, but heigh-ho..

Happy Birthday, ZX81!! I'm slightly biased towards the Speccy as opposed to the ZX81, since my site (The Tipshop) is for the Speccy [apologies if anyone choked to death on that plug]

So I don't look like a complete sponger.. This: convert ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" PC name:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" %COMPUTERNAME% \n" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" Make/Model:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq 6910p \n" ^ -pointsize 18 -font TIMESBD.TTF label:" Serial number:" ^ -pointsize 18 -font Times.TTF label:" 12345678 \n" ^ +append pc2.png Gets me it all in one line: PC name: abcde Make/Model: Hewlett-Packard(etc) Serial number: 12345678 If I remove the +append, then I get a png file for each line. SO close, but not quite.. Can anyone provide the magic syntax??

Heh - no problem, I'll dabble One thing I was hoping to fix was the system information bit. What I would like to see is it changed from: PC Name: 123 Model: Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq 6910p Serial number: 12345678 to something a bit like: PC Name:123 Model: Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq 6910p Serial number: 12345678 where the "sections" are bold, while the data is in normal font... However, I've had no luck with that with ImageMagick - anyone??

Oops - I forgot to upload the individual components, but I see you've got round that Yep - that looks nice and simple - thanks very much for the suggestion!! I'll have a browse at ImageMagick's site on how to get such an effect. And if any Inkscape bods know how to go about fixing the "wrong" transparency, that would be appreciated Regards, Gerard

Right - I've been playing some more, and I've got it looking not TOO bad though I'd more than welcome some input.. I'm also looking for some advice (at a tangent here!!).. One of the schools provided a JPG of their school logo which I've managed reasonably successfully to make to a transparent PNG, but it's still a bit jaggy.. I've followed the guides on YouTube about using Inkscape to convert a JPG to a vector, and that works. However part of the logo is white, and Inkscape's "remove background" in the Trace Bitmap picks that up as being the same white as the background, so it ends up looking weird. I'm sure there must be some easy way to fix this, but I'm at a loss - any Inkscape folk know? Anyhoo, back to topic My BAT script currently looks like: Rem Lifted from http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/thumbnails/ Rem Generate the PC info (with blank lines for appearance) convert -pointsize 18 label:" \n\n PC name: %COMPUTERNAME% \n Model: Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq 6910p \n Serial number: 12345678 \n\n" %temp%\pc1.png convert %temp%\pc1.png -alpha off -fill white -colorize 100% ^ -draw "fill black polygon 0,0 0,15 15,0 fill white circle 15,15 15,0" ^ ^( +clone -flip ^) -compose Multiply -composite ^ ^( +clone -flop ^) -compose Multiply -composite ^ -background Gray50 -alpha Shape %temp%\thumbnail_mask.png convert %temp%\thumbnail_mask.png -bordercolor None -border 1x1 ^ -alpha Extract -blur 0x10 -shade 130x30 -alpha On ^ -background gray50 -alpha background -auto-level ^ -function polynomial 3.5,-5.05,2.05,0.3 ^ ^( +clone -alpha extract -blur 0x2 ^) ^ -channel RGB -compose multiply -composite ^ +channel +compose -chop 1x1 ^ %temp%\thumbnail_lighting.png convert %temp%\pc1.png %temp%\thumbnail_lighting.png ^ ^( -clone 0,1 -compose Hardlight -composite ^) ^ -delete 0 -compose In -composite ^ %temp%\glass_bubble.png rem Merge the Corp logo with the crest composite.exe -gravity SouthWest WWHCrest-Transparent3(PaintDotNet).png -geometry +20+20 CorpStrt.bmp %temp%\outputimage1.bmp rem merge the Corp/crest with the bubble composite.exe -gravity SouthEast %temp%\glass_bubble.png -geometry +20+20 %temp%\outputimage1.bmp Backdrop.jpg which gets me: http://www.ea.e-renfrew.sch.uk/masterclass/gerard/Win7Screens/BackdropWithTransparentLogo.jpg My issue is now what I do with ones which don't have transparency (EG some schools provided a photo of their building): which leaves me with: http://www.ea.e-renfrew.sch.uk/masterclass/gerard/Win7Screens/BackdropBusby.jpg I'm not artistic in any way, but I just don't think that's quite as good as the logo. So does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe just have the school name in place of any of the school pics?

Heh.. The crapness was trying to get the 3 things done in a semi-decent way.. I'm at home just now - my WIP files are at work - I'll try to put them up somewhere for you to laugh at - erm - view Regards, Gerard

(Sorry if this is in the wrong section - hopefully someone can move it if required?) Hello, all.. We are getting ready to make the move to Windows 7 sometime, and I'm hoping to customize the 7 logon screen. No, I'm not asking how you do that Our Council's Corporate division has a standard wallpaper, but I'd quite like to have a slightly modified version of it - one for each school. Essentially, what I'm thinking of is something a bit similar to this: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-7/52991-windows-7-logon-screen.html#post485058 where I have a picture of the school (perhaps tinted in some fashion) and a text string with the school name underneath. There are 32 of 'em, so I don't really want to create one manually as I suspect my Boss would kill me for the time spent on such a frivolity I've had a play with ImageMagick, and my results have varied from bad to laughable mostly because my artistic abilities are non-existant. Is there anyone out there willing to give me a few pointers? Kind regards, Gerard

I'm in a similar situation, so I'll definitely be giving this a bash on Monday since I'm sure I changed the language settings. What I don't get is this - WAIK weighs in at a fairly beefy 1.5-odd Gb. Why, then, in the name of all that is holy do we have to manually TYPE in the language and timezones? It - surely - couldn't be beyond the reaches of MS to make them listboxes? And if it is changing the language which borks the unattanded, why make it an option?? Grr... Thanks very much for the unattended.xml files which have been posted - hopefully they'll give me something to play with on Monday (fnar! Ed). Regards, Gerard

Gads - Pinnacle 14. The latest pain in my bum. Our Media Studies dept moved from Pinnacle 8 (because it was cheap) to Pinnacle 14 (because it should be similar to what they were used to). It INSISTS on resetting preferences back to using "My Documents" for temporary folders, Video Import and other things. Every bloody time you run it. Our users log in with My Documents redirected to their home folder - so this obviously presents amusing problems of their home folder filling up in about a nanosecond unless they remember to set each setting back to using the D: partition (NTFS partition blocked to all but those doing video editing). I ended up creating local user accounts on the PCs, as I couldn't see any way round it. Anyone have any idea if ULead is any better within a classroom environment? I disliked Pinnacle V8. I LOATHE V14. Regards, Gerard

Heh... Unfortunately, the school isn't going to be shelling out for anything any time soon. For what it's worth - at the risk of jinxing the Hell out of myself - I did finally get it to work. I had to create new deployments (yeesh), and I included every single frickin' hotfix Autodesk cared to release for this scuzzy program and opted to merge them into the installer. And it appears to be working. Whether anything else is broken is another matter! Which is more than can be said for Inventor 2011 which another of our schools has purchased, and Inventor just refuses to even install - but that's a gripe for another day. Thanks for taking the time to reply, though. Cheers, Gerard

I know it's bad form to revive an old thread, but.. I'm having exactly the same issue here with our 2008.. It appears as being loaded, but the only Addin listed is 2D Design. Any chance you ever sussed out what is going on? I REALLY(!) don't want to have to create a new deployment just to see if it makes any odds. Cheers, Gerard

Hello, all.. We purchased 5 WD15EARS drives from Misco back in March. Today, one of them started playing silly beggars and WD's diagnostics disk confirmed that it's needing replaced. I phoned Misco, who said I need to go through WD because they only supply the drive with a manufacturer's warranty. I looked up the site: Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB Advanced Format - Misco.co.uk "Warranty Information This product has a limited warranty of: 36 months for parts This manufacturer warranty is provided by Western Digital. Support Phone Number: 0870 720 8740 This warranty is supplied by Misco on behalf of WD" So we need to pay for a courier to come collect it, and WD will pay for the return courier. At the risk of sounding stupid here - are Misco allowed to do this? The narky guy at Misco was quite convinced they were. It's the first time I've ever encountered this.