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If you know xp pretty much inside out you should have no problems with it as long as you have put some study time in you should have no problems. Good luck with it anyway and let us know how you got on.

@Claridentech - You can use Group Policy Modelling to provide you with the reports from GPOs. In your GPMC choose Group Policy Modelling and run the Group Policy Modelling Wizard to obtain a report on specific GPOs (and other options). It's a good tool to use and you can also save these reports as html to share.

What sort of things are you looking for Robert, are you starting your network from scratch and want to see how (or how much) we lock the blighters down!!?

crc-ict - I wouldn't say that the RM-one machines are massive, they don't take up much space on your desk and would fit easily onto a 600mm worktop space. The system appears to be robust and "student proof" *laughs*. We had a quote from RM for 210 of these at £505 per unit. RM One Specifications and overview As has already been mentioned there is a Dell variety where the base unit is attached to the back of the monitor stand. They also work very well. Both have a design feature that prevents users from removing mice and keyboards. The quote I got for Dells was at £450 per unit. I am still interested in the RM-One machine however as it does appear to be more robust and solid compared to the optiplex variety. We have one of each on trial and the RM machine far outways the dell one for several reasons. I would be interested in looking at other varieties if anyone else knows anymore suppliers.

I agree with Ric that using CSVDE and LDIFDE are a sound tool to bulk import users. Why spend money when you don't have to!! Additionally for changing passwords you can delegate the authority for password changing to teachers by creating a custom MMC for this function. Don't spend money when you don't need to!! AD Infinitum is a good tool and I have used it myself on many occasion and could be worth investing in if you HAVE to spend.

You should have had an email long ago from Microsoft to let you know your login details for MVLS If you haven't you can contact them via the following address [email protected] I am surprised it has taken so long, like localzuk ours took around two weeks to come through. Chris

I wish you all the best with it sqdge and congratulations on your contract renewal and while I might sound annoying and bitter, its not directed at you, its directed at the poor judgement and relates to the importance the teaching fraternity have on the support elements of a school. I know there have been rantings that schools are not businesses although I disagree in part, but I couldn not see any business worth its salt employing anyone as their network manager based upon the quotes above.

@Kyle - I can understand where you might think this but with experience you will realise that being line managed by somebody younger is not a problem unless you both make it one. @sqdge - I'm a little concerned that you say you were appointed despite having no experience, did you fabricate your cv have you really got the site managers job instead!!!

Sorry you are going but maybe Ramesys will be a good move for you (no cold calls please!! ) I am concerned for the BSF takeover scenario also, particularly as news of what, when and how is hard to come by despite extensive trawling through emailing P4S direct to talking with the LA to meetings with the Head. I've generally found that the school will generally follow what the LA directs with regards to IT unless you are able to convince them otherwise. The LA, despite our keeness to work with them (thats for you grumbledook ) "appear" to be playing a cloak and dagger game of drip feeding information as and when they see fit. We have a meeting with them next week which is the first since they casually revealed that in due course and in conjunction with BSF, we would be taken over by a managed service. There were only 5 NMs at this meeting as it was called at short notice. The sum total of the information was the aforementioned and a tip for us to do a google search for Partnerships for Schools. To me this is irresponsible and is demeaning to the role of NM in that it appears they didn't want (or couldn't) to elaborate on what it meant for fear of outcry. In my experience this method of diesseminating important information that affects the school, your position and the knock on effect to family and home does not go down to well. Following my reasearch we are now aware that our positions will be protected under TUPE but my concern from here is how many of the "better quality" NMs are likely to stay in position in a role that is expected to be no more than a helpdesk role. No NM worth their salt would want to stay in this type of role and I guess this is where the LA will be able to reduce costs in the long term through having to observe the TUPE regulations. I've mentioned this before as we have been down this route before, I hope that in choosing the managed service provider, they do so very very carefully and ensure that the service being provided is no less in terms of quality and timeliness than is currently being given to our schools. I'm rambling again so I'd better go do some work before I am dismissed for inappropriate use of works time!!!

Likewise Leon, I have found this tool to be exceptionally good at recovering lost files from corrupted floppies. If all else fails with recovering filename it will recover the file but give it a file1.doc type name and you can sift through them to find the ones you want to recover afterwards. Cheap, cheerful and easy to use. Chris

I've been up to the lake in our village with our daughter as there is a fair on, won her a little i love you teddy, she was happy with that. Spent the rest of the day in the garden.

Or you could use gencontrol from gensortium, its free and it connects to all your pcs in your network like tightvnc

Sorry Lee I was a bit vague there I meant that users log off to disconnect their session and then log back on instantly and the restrictions are not active. Does this apply with Impero?

This all looks extremely similar if not identical to Net Support School but with a cheaper price tag. Are there any issues with students logging off and disconnecting their sessions as they could with NSS?

Hi Rob I had the same issue here but I repackaged it using WinInstallLe and it works fine now.

badda-bing job done - cheers

I had similar discussions with our LA not too long back and with another school that had left the RBC provision. Their reason for doing so was because of unreliability and speed of connection. This was in the days of the 2Mb connection. As Limbo says the connections are routed to you via different add on connections such as libraries and other schools ( I have two other secondary schools hanging off my 10Mb connection). Personally I had issues with the 2Mb connection but since the changeover to the 10Mb I have had no real issues concerning downtime and connectivity speeds. That said we are having a new school built at present under PFI and the LA have indicated that they are feeding in a 100Mb direct connection to the school (All Secondary schools in Oldham in fact) so I would imagine the connection will be somewhat enhanced by that. The idea of course in the long run is to establish a better collaborative learning setup as the VC took up huge amounts of bandwidth on a 10Mb connection and was totally unusable. Here's to blue skies!!

I have a number of machines that show a black logon screen. Once you log in it appears as it should. I would like to get rid of it but can't seem to find the solution for it. Does anyone have any ideas? See attachment

Our LA are looking into this also, the early rumbles are that they are looking to provide a thin client type machine in each of the homes that require one and run the internet connection wirelessly from three specific ares within the authority. It is intended that this will happen once the LA wide vle is in place so that they can access the applications without licensing issues. Not sure of the whole idea yet but sounds fairly good again as has already been mentioned, the question as to who will maintain and support such equipment is yet to be decided.

Training and guidance Inventory/Asset Management

I can very much symphise with some of the comments being made on this particular thread. I had a tough time with my former employer ( a school that shall remain nameless) whereby I had the audacity to request a raise, providing a valid report on change in roles and responsibility and making comparisons to other schools of a similar size and structure both in terms of technology and personnel. For two years they sat on this paperwork and despite constant reminders and meetings was eventually told that they couldn't do anything about it at present as all support roles were being reassessed by the local authority to realign the pay structure. They also said that they could only do immediate reassessments on new staff so I asked if they could lay me off and provide me with a new cnotract the next day..of course this wasn't possible!! In the end I left and found another job at another school and a better salary (9K better). I feel there is very little appreciation for the work that "Support" staff do, however, being an ex serviceman I am used to the "Them and us" scenario that seems to prevail at some schools. I do not of course refer to my present school which I am pleased to say fully appreciates the work that you do for them and indeed let you know as much (with the odd exception). So I guess, while it is of no help to this thread, its a matter of finding the right job at the right place for the right money.

Has anyone been asked to install or copy this software onto their network? Alite - Learning to Learn Has anyone actually installed this on their network and if so could you please give me some guidance as the company only send you minimal information and leave you to get on with it? Any help much appreciated

Ouch I hope your wife and kids don't read this forum with you calling them a "Full-time Job" I would get linched for that!! Yes I think pay is not the main reason, if I didn't have a mortgage, debts and a healthy social life I would do it for free!!! 8O ................not. I love the fact that I can go to work in the morning and be there for 7 o'clock without any traffic problems and then go home around 4 ish to enjoy my family when I get home. I think if you want a high paid job you've got to be looking at the corporate rat race. Oh and of course when its end of term holidays we can start later and finish at 3...or 2.15 ....must go

This sounds to me like you should maybe read "Director of Administration and Information Systems " as Business Manager in most schools.

and the name of that F-R-E-E digital signage IS *drum roll* ?????????