Busybub

No thanks, in the past our kids have routinely swapped their passwords with their mates leading to all sort of problems, really don't want them logging on as somebody else! Whoever sets up the students on the system needs a one click solution to randomly generate an access code for each test taken by each student, which can be distributed at the start of each test. The ePIPS system works well in this regard - students access the test software, enter their assigned code, and it launches the required test matched to their name.

Be prepared for the usual raft of teachers who hit the limit on the encrypted sticks and start chucking other stuff on their other ones because it's more convenient than sorting their data. I have teachers here who routinely carry 5 or 6 sticks between 4 and 8 gig each in order to carry all of their stuff. Hardware encrypted ones usually have built in password policies that force use of numbers, caps and/or special symbols. Something to bear in mind if you deal with numpties... Some types of stick (such as Sandisk) have optional server based software from which you may be able to enforce different settings, but without this, teachers will be able to change the password once you hand over the stick (which is fine if they tell you what it is, and a disaster if they forget). I make a point of setting one and telling them not to change it - one warning about potentially losing all their work is usually enough to put them off the idea. Check to make sure that the stick actually does what you want when the protection procedures kick in. Most will force a reformat of the drive, leaving it usable. Others such as the Sandisk Enterprise will completely disable themselves leaving you with a useless lump of plastic. You should also check what happens when you plug it into a machine that has just had a service pack applied to it. We have the Enterprise sticks. Worked fine on an XP with SP2 install straight from the disc. Added SP3 and they stopped working. Spent ages trying to figure out a fix, only way was to plug the stick in and log into it, leave the stick in, then run the service pack update. Got a few DataSafe sticks too from RM. Actually have a stronger password policy than the Sandisk ones but operate in the same way. 23 quid for a 4gig jobbie.

They usually mount a virtual CD drive. If autorun is disable you can still navigate to the drive to run the required software provided you haven't set other policies.

Hardware encrytion is built into the device. The software is just a means to access it and wouldn't be supported on regular sticks.

Shut Edugeek down for a year and they'll all find out!

There's an EasyHotel around Earls Court, somewhere along the A4 I think. About 30-odd quid a night by the looks of it. Also a couple of others dotted around, easy enough on the Tube...

Safest is option 1 as it doesn't involve a schema change and can achieve everything you listed.

If the array is degraded you only need to reformat. As long as the hardware remains the same, no problem with chucking a ghost image back on... I have crappy servers, have done it many times

RAID drivers will be copied in the image taken. As long as you ghost back to the same hardware you shouldn't experience any problems. I've tried it with SCSI RAID, SATA RAID, built-in RAID (IDE and SATA), never had a problem...

I've done it a couple of times to quickly recover from a degraded RAID array, including twice on a Dell with PERC RAID card. No problems any time I've done it.

Find their index.dat files in their local profile and download something to read them...

I'd get one from Richer Sounds who seem to have some ridiculous deals going on at the moment. Would also slap on the extended warranty, which besides being dirt cheap for the coverage, will be refunded if you don't use it during the warranty period.

If you're interested in 50mm effective focal length you need to look at the 35mm 1.8 DX lens which is made specifically for APS-C cameras

The HP25SP have very good sound isolation but these come pretty close at less than half the cost. Smaller too: Play.com (UK) : Sennheiser PX 200 Mini-Headphones Black : Electronics - Free Delivery

I'd phone somebody at Steljes and ask

Day Of The Tentacle (!) Populous Sim City Civilisation Jetpac Manic Miner (!)

Disaster Recovery! Tell him it's for holding encrypted offsite backups and will be used as an emergency server at some other location if the building burns down...

Er, right, yeah, definitely a salesman talking and definitely doesn't know what he's selling! Explains a lot, as many of us can testify! *grrrrr*

You could open a can of worms behind the red door with that!

Just checking, that's the teacher you're talking about innit?

Our ones don't have speakers in them, although our older SX280's (which use the same chassis) do.

Anybody have any experience of TouchIT boards? Currently using Smartboards but these look interesting as they double as normal whiteboards...

On our GX260's it's listed in BIOS as Remote Wakeup. (There is also another option for starting the computer at a fixed time every day) Otherwise, worth checking the advanced settings of the network adaptor under computer management. Usually some options there for WOL (if supported)

This is coming from somebody who recently sold off an entire system including 2 Canon L lenses so take this with a pinch of salt: If I was starting again with your budget and intending to learn photography I would look for a second hand Canon 300D (£130) and either an EF28mm/F2.8 (£120) or 35mm/F2 (£150-160) lens. Your budget doesn't get you a decent wide angle lens without severely compromising your choice of camera body and short-tele lens options. You can't get a single lens which covers all shooting options. You can't get a decent mid-long zoom without compromising on lens quality or speed. If you're going to be compromised, you may as well do it with a decent bit of glass which you can flog later without losing much (if anything). You can vertically stitch images for landscape (which is a useful learning experience in itself). You can add a cheap (and frankly not very good) long range zoom whenever you like, if you feel the need, or go for a 50mm/F1.8 for portraits, and still be well within budget. Otherwise, the best thing I ever did (as a landscaper) was buy a decent tripod and polarising filter (58mm thread with step up rings for the lenses). I learnt more from using a tripod and fixed lens than anything I ever got from the camera with a zoom. When you've figured out what you are missing (ie what you need), you can flog the whole lot and expect to lose no more than about 10% on what you paid, possibly breaking even as you'll already have paid rock bottom prices.

Forgot, what's your budget?