kevinmcaleer

I found that using a normal user account for day to day stuff was fine, both for myself ,the ICT Technician and Help Desk Advisor. The only extra priviledges any of us had (we all belonged to a help desk group) was that we could create/modify user accounts. To do any work on the server, we simply Remote Desktop'd into the server with the administrator account. Only I, as the network manager, needed this account. After about a year, the ICT technician became quite confident with the network and I knew I could trust him with the administrator password. It all depends how you run your technical support department. Structure is important, as well as clearly defined roles. For a really, really good guide to running technical support in schools, have a look at FITS: http://www.becta.org.uk/fits

I think Flock is a much better browser: http://www.flock.com You can blog straight from the browser and all your favourites are stored in a del.icio.us account. Try it today! -Kev

From the horses mouth: http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_19592#transfer In a word "no" you can't transfer volume licenses. The line in the User Agreement of note is: "Software purchased in connection with a volume licensing arrangement of the software cannot be transferred." Hope this helps! -Kev

The only problem is there are 4000+ schools running the pilot. If you could phone 32 schools a day (thats one every 15 minutes), thats 160 schools per week, it would take 25 weeks to get through every school in the pilot. Thats a lot of phone calls! Thats why there is a tool to do it automatically. -Kev

There are Antivirus applcations for Mac, but only to get rid of PC viruses from PC files, as there aren't any viruses for Mac OS X. Its part of the secure system design. You can't get 'em. period. Oh and spyware, none of that either. Windows Vista will have a similar system design, but Apple got there first (about 5 years ago!). You still get Spam though. -Kev

In the computers configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings and then file System, Just add the files you want to protect or unprotect. for the full official article see: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/ServerHelp/1687ef1d-b382-49c7-b184-a4cc888be525.mspx Pupils can't get round file permissions, once they are set, they are set. Registry settings can also be protected with permissions, thus preventing entries from being changed. you really can lock down workstations with this, if you implement the correct settings. -Kev

I completely agree. It's what a thing does thats important, not how it does it. I also quite like Windows 2003 and XP. I've seen Novell, implemented a few Linux servers and I use an Apple PowerBook at home. Whenever I read magazines and they have the Windows vs Linux or PC's vs Macs question, I always think its rather strange; I can like beef and chicken, BBC1 and ITV, Xbox and Playstation. Black and white is not realistic, things are usually in the infinite greys of existence. Nice post by the way DMcCoy. -Kev

I'm interested to know what everyone thinks about Thin Clients vs Fat Clients. Thin clients seem ok for things like Microsoft Office and maybe a few 'lightweight' applications. But to do graphics creation/manipulation etc, I'm not so sure. Also licensing and hardware costs are still a consideration even on thin client (might even cost more if you use Citrix clients). You also have to have a much more powerful server, with thin clients. Well thats what the myths are; what's the reality? What kind of setup do people have? How many thin client workstations do you have, what spec are they? That kind of server do you have? Is this for Curriculum or Administration? -Kev

I think viewing the C: drive is quite useful for users. However, the only place they need to be able to write to is the c:\documents and settings\ (There are a few exceptions such as c:\windows\temp and the help folder) You can set these permissions in group policy. Basically propagate SYSTEM:F and ADMINISTRATOR:F, EVERYONE:R and then add the items listed above as EVERYONE:C. Nail that Jelly to the ceiling! -Kev

If your Local Authority allows Skype protocols, I'd seriously consider it! I personally think its great! You can even subscribe to the skype out functionality, where you get a real phone number people can call you on. you can also use your computer and the internet to make regular phone calls to people (with land lines or mobiles). -Kev skype me at: kevinmcaleer

That usually happens when a file in the MSI conflicts with a file in another MSI of the same name location or different version, same name and location. You can investigate the MSI file with something like WinInstall LE 2003 (I think it is still free): http://downloads.ondemandsoftware.com/download/installs/winstall87/wininstallle.exe There is an excellent website dedicated to MSI files and app deployment. Funnily enough its called http://www.appdeploy.com They have a searchable archive of How to documents. I deployed Adobe Acrobat reader using this method. -Kev

Just been on http://www.experts-exchange.com and found this: Accepted Answer from Sembee Date: 07/07/2004 01:43PM PDT It is almost certainly a printer driver that is causing this. Notorious problem. The rule of thumb is to use Windows native drivers (ie supplied with Windows) where ever possible. The problem is identifiying which driver it is. You may have to remove them all and then replace them one by one with built in drivers to see which one it is - or do some testing in a controlled environment to try and narrow it down. Don't know if it applies, but could be the culprit. -Kev

or you could use: net use p: /d net use p: \\server\share in a .bat or .cmd file much more concise! -Kev

Did you fill out "Everyone" in the "permit to use" box? Thats quite important, otherwise its loaded into the registry, but not where anyone other than the creator can see it.

I find the way that you inform the SMT, about server requirements and so on, makes all the difference. At my old school, we used to have a 'ICT development' meeting once a week, where all the stakeholders in ICT met to discuss current issues and future developments. The kind of stakeholders we had were: * Member of Senior Management * Head of ICT * ICT Coordinator * ICT cross-curricular coordinator * Head of Business Admin (Typing) * Network Manager * ICT Techncian * School Business Manager (Finance) There was an agenda and minutes were taken. I also presented a biannual IT service report, where I outlined the current usage of IT in the school, showed the problem areas and possible solutions and also how many help desk calls were made etc. It was also a chance to highlight were we thought money needed to be spent (New switches or servers etc) along with what has been spent on IT to-date. I found this gave the senior management full confidence that I had the whole IT environment under control. So when I asked for a new server, I got one; they already knew about it at least about 6-12 months earlier because it was in the Service Report. -Kev

Have you set who can use the copied ntuser.dat? How did you copy it? Doing a file copy probably won't work. you'll need to go into user profile and click on the "copy to" box and enter the location then, click on the "permit to use" and choose "everyone". I think I'd try copying it to a new location using that dialog box, then manually copying the new profile over the default profile. Give that a try and let me know how it goes... -Kev

Thanks spuffmonkey I'd also recommend http://www.logmein.com. The only differences between the pay per use and the free ones seems to be in the extra functionality: file transfers between local and remote workstations, remote printing and so on. I personally used http://www.gotomypc.com for just over 2 years, its a pay per use, but its really quick and you can even use it on a pocket PC. It also lets you resize the window and the remote desktop shrinks, looks very cool. http://www.gotoassist.com and http://www.gotomeeting.com are also worth a look. I should get shares...

in brief, sharepoint services sites exist as islands. sharepoint portal brings them all together by allowing content from 'island' sites to be pull together and targeted towards 'audiences' <- groups of users. It also allows full text searching of all the 'island' sites. -Kev

Sharepoint cals (with School agreements) are for the total number of computers in your school. (per seat). -Kev

<---getting a bit off topic here but---> If a vpn is not an option in your Local Authority, you could try http://www.gotomypc.com or http://www.mywebexpc.com for remote access. I'd say its only really useful for network administrators or possibly senior management. gotomypc isn't free, but mywebexpc allows up to 5 pcs for free. I'd used them both and they're very good. All you need to be able to access is the website from within the school (the Local Authority may block it; proxy avoidance) and have port 443 access (for SSL). -Kev

I found the reverse proxy and IIS sharing the user folder was sufficient. Actually the data available on the web was read only (just in case someone had a weak password) so that data could be accessed but not modified. Anyone wanting to modify work could simply email the changes back or copy it to a memory stick etc. We've used that system for a few years. Sharepoint is really useful for departmental websites. Just create the workspace and assign permissions then forget about it. What the department does with it is up to them. It means less hassle for Network admins and more empowerment to staff. win win. To see sharepoint (services) in action visit http://www.thornleigh.net I'd highly recommend sharepoint for use in schools, it makes an excellent intranet. Meetings and events can be managed very easily through it. It works even better if you have Exchange 2003. -Kev

I think open source software has now truely come of age. Its no longer a 'geek' or 'anorak' thing to install and use. Many software producers are at least considering it as an alternative revenue system (charging for support and training, or packaged distributions, giving the software away for free). Sun, Google, Apple to name but a few, already use this approach. In the school environment, Open source software certainly has a place. As mentioned previously, Linux boxes are great for file storage, dhcp, dns and email & web hosting. They can compliment or replace Windows or Mac Servers, if you have sufficient technical support resource available. I'd also argue that the level of support required to maintain open source systems is about the same as that to support non open source systems. What I think is more important to schools is 'What does it do' rather than 'how does it do it?'. Does it matter to the child producing a report what kind of filing system or OS the server is using, probably not. Does it matter they can open this document at home on their system, propably yes. Everyone wants a cost effective, low maintenance system; open source can provide this. The only problem comes when people perceive open source to mean 'free'. As your mother used to say, nothing in life is free. Open source software still requires support, staff training and maintenance. People wishing to get a school network for free (well the software) are on to a loser. I've also heard about schools helping their students out by burning Open Office 2.0 onto CD's and giving them away for the cost of the media (couple of pence). This is great for families who don't have Microsoft Office but want to be able to create or open documents from school. On the usuability side, Open Office is practically identical to Microsoft Office. The dialog boxes for mail merge and more advanced features may be slightly different, but come on, its not that difficult to do. -Kev

Hello everyone, I'm an Ex-Network Manager, I've recently moved into contracting and IT consultancy in general. My hobby/job/interest is computing/computers so I'm pretty much happy most of the time! I worked in a secondary school for 11 years where I grew a network that started as a collection of unconnected RM networks. I feel the pain of network managers who post here. being a network manager is a thankless task. But rewarding when you see all the little darlings working away on your network! -Kev

Sounds like it could be a problem on the specific workstations. Did you delete the 'Default' or "all users" profile from the c:\documents and settings folder? that can sometimes cause problems. Try copying them back from another workstation.... -Kev

Russ, I'm just efficient! -Kev