techyphil

I've just installed Windows Server 2008 with Hyper V. However, I still haven't found a decent way to clone a physical server into a guest machine. I've tried Acronis, converters n all sorts. I know System Center is supposed to do this but it won't let me install it unless its a domain controller! I don't want this server to be part of a DOMAIN. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. I would normally install a guest from fresh but I need to clone this server just for a week until it's replaced. Cheers phil

I fixed this problem following what a member on here said. I need to dig it up. It's because of a folder that was created in the sims directory called 2a982a3d94629adhagdad89a7sd or something. Just delete that and it should work. I couldn't install Sims for years and capita couldn't figure it out. But after deleting that folder, it worked. Sorry I don't know the exact folder name, only that it's a long string of randomness.

HP ProLiant ML350 It's a dual core XEON 2Ghz - 4GB RAM .ICT are trying to resolve these issues for us. We're planning on upgrading anyway to a HP ML370 G5 and would love to run Windows 2008 64bit and if possible SIMS on top of that. However, if its going to be an issue, i'd like place SIMS in a virtual machine so its easier for .ICT to take away the image and debug any further issues we have. Plus the benefits of being able to snapshot and duplicate the entire disk.

It's a dual core XEON 2Ghz - 4GB RAM. Yes Exams seating is a problem and there was supposed to be a patch to fix it. It hasnt worked. The CPU hits 50% when it runs a query allowing anything else to be processed on the other core. However, when she does exams, it maxes out both cores and anyone with a file open on a share located on the server is affected as well as sims users. .ICT's advice is to a) Create the exams season again b) run the seating over night. We can't do B as there are looads and they all need to be done one at a time. .ICT are looking into this. Cheers

I'm also looking to do this. I don't actually run sims on the server. So can I just dump the sims share on the server and install SQL Server 2005 64bit and attach the database to that? The clients are all 32bit. I want a huge performance increase and really want to avoid less then 3.4GB RAM. The .ICT team never give me a staight answer and go all fuzzy when I suggested running it in Hyper V. We've always had issues whereby someone runs a report and it locks up the CPU usage to 100%. With Hyper-V you can CAP CPU usage for that virtual machine meaning I could stick it to 90%. People accessing files from a share on the server won't be affected then either.

Is anyone else having issues with the exams module? Every time the exams officer uses exams, the server max's out. Now we thought it was a dodgy switch as the majority of machines suddenly crawl and this occurred once before as a result of a dodgy switch. After many days of trying to figure this out, it turned out to be SIMS. .ICT have issued a patch to fix this but it hasn't worked. I wish they'd release a "KNOWN ISSUES" list by email. People working in excel seem to get hit hardest! Not sure why but it does. Now is there a problem with Office 2003 as well? SIMS's is crawling these past few weeks. Thanks

I'm looking into the same thing. I need a software package that will prompt the end user to select the subject they are printing it for so I can bill the right department. How do you find print manager generally? Is it saving the school money and reducing wastage? Would you recommend print manager? Thanks Phil

We buy decent LCD projectors Sanyo's mainly the UX88's and the UX74's. We fit it ourselfs. Saves a fortune.

Saying if someone brought in a laptop from home and plugged into the network. Without RADIUS or some other form of network access protection, how would you prevent non-domain members from browsing network shares? I know theres a way somewhere, I just don't like the idea of prevent the RUN being seen. NTFS is ok, but theres some shares that need to be accessed by some software for students. To the DOMAIN workstations, they are unable to see these shares because of the tight restrictions. Thanks for any help

dan400007 - You're a life saver! .ICT could'nt fix this problem that we had for almost 2 yrs now! I've had to use the custom installers compiled from this forum with a few tweaks along the way after some upgrades. I just deleted a folder with a long string of numbers from the sims root and it worked instantly! I got the finger pointed at me saying its because I installed IE7 policy template so we could centerally manage new settings. Those policies didnt even apply to the servers a ) as they are still running IE6 b ) not within the OU the policy has been applied to. Honestly, .ICT took away copies of our sims dir and couldnt replicate the fault. Woo im sooo happy!

Thank You RyburnMark - top man!

I've also tried this with SSL-Explorer. I can do remote desktop, but remoteapp's doesnt work. I then set about using the IIS web interface and launching it that way. That also doesnt work.

Does Frog allow for real time reporting and does it allow staff to put data back into the SIMS/CMIS system? How does prices compare to sharepoint? Looking at our licensing options, sharepoint starts to cost a lot when you start multiplying a few pounds by a thousand plus students and external connectors etc. I'm really interested in seeing some of these VLE's working in schools before we decide which direction to go. Is anyone running the Sims Learning Gateway 2 successfully?

hey kmount Yeh we've got 2 lines coming in. BT won't touch it until our router has been replaced. So Affinity are coming on site first thing Thurs to replace it with a better router! Its weird how random it is.

Well we had a guy from affiniti out today. He tested our cisco router first thing this morning. It took him 4hours to replace it with the running config from our old cisco router. It proved that it was not the cisco router. However, the cisco router he was going to replace it with was half the spec of the old one, so decided to put back the old one. He is 99% sure its not the router. Anyway, after putting it back the internet was back up and running. UNTILL NOW! Its gone down again, I can't remote in any more. Arrrg.

Just to up-date you all. It's a fault with the line itself. A BT engineer has been in today cleaning the fiber cable and testing the connectivity. It took about an hour and its suddenly working. However, they phoned a few hours later to report CRC errors and asking if the internet was still working. At the time of the call it was. At 5ish I went to go home, and Boosh - It doesnt work again. They're dealing with it tomorrow now.

I love it, i've been playing it since it first came out. Ranked up to lvl 32 then I decided it's time to reinstall Windows. I virtualised my old installation, reinstalled windows. reinstalled the game, it found my account ( must use the CDKEY ) only im at rank 0! I figured it'll be stored online. Anyway - I mapped my virtual HDD of my old OS, found that most of my game settings was stored in My Documents for max payne etc. BUT NOTHING FOR COD!!! Anyway, word of warning - theres a tool available that backs up your rank. Use that before reinstalling the game. I've lost all interest in it now. Lost the will to live

Cheers tony

Can I just ask tech specs of schools running Sims.NET over RDP/TS for registration. I've played with Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and think its brilliant. The transparency and quick set up meant I had a working application in no time at all. However, in terms of support - what is supported and works? Is Sims.NET supported on a 64bit OS? Is Sims.NET supported on Windows Server 2008? Is Sims.NET supported over Terminal Services? I've often asked the question to .ICT but at the time they didn't really give me an answer. In order to get this working, i'm going to need to run 64bit Windows Server 2008. Also, SSL-Explorer works a treat as a way of allowing secure remote access for staff to work in Sims.NET. Well .ICT then said "We have our own Secure VPN Solution that you'd need to use." I feel confident with SSL-Explorer. It does the same job. I should get pricing on that shortly, but I'd imagine its expensive.

I'm running Win2k8 64Bit on a Dell PowerEdge 2900 / 2.6Ghz Dual Core / 2GB RAM and RAID5 (5 Disks) It's using Hyper-V with Windows Server 2003 32bit as a print server, as getting Vista/2008 64bit Drivers was becoming a pain for my 32bit XP Clients. Only running around the 300MB Ram mark with most services other then the spooler turned off. Never had to restart it yet.

I've booked myself to go BETT 2009 on the Friday using the Northants transport arrangements. I'm getting picked up in Wellingborough outside Tresham College, just wondering who else is getting picked up there? Any idea how many coaches are going down or is it a few coaches travelling around picking people up from various points across Northamptonshire? Also, It looks as though I'm going down on my own. If I was to bring a techy friend along, could I register them also to scab a lift? If not I might just drive down and petrol share with him.

Yeah perhaps its just Northampton. Oh my nan lives in rothwell Im in Moulton, just up the rd infact from Rothwell. 15min drive.

Its a VPN ( SSL-Explorer ) over port 443. I think i'm screwed. However, does this mean that when I go into work tomorrow the internet would still be extremely slow for the school? I have a good feeling something needs to be restarted. You'd think that the network would be faster during the holidays as there are no schools using the EMBC network?

Ok, I found a 1mb file and the download speed was 2kB/sec

Ok, thanks for your attempts, I'll try get a download from it. See if its crap lol. Typical isnt it. Remote access so I can get a head start and defrag, then this happens.