Olliegami

Thanks, I can see how this can be helpful, but this won't resolve issues with finding drivers? (Not that I can see, unless I'm not reading it right?)

We have so many computers with different components that sometimes it's incredibly difficult to find drivers for them (easily). Currently, we're still on XP. (Joy.) I knew someone who had a disc full of drivers that did the work for you. Does anyone know where it's possible to get hold of one of these, or is there any other (free) application that anyone uses to obtain these rogue drivers?

We've been looking at scripts, and it might possibly be the way we have to go about it, sadly. We have a lot of freedom with the website, just not the school server.

The software doesn't seem to have a function like that - not that I can find anyway, and not within the manual either. Unless it's possible to use another type of software that will do the job. At the moment we're using the software that came with it. The camera is a FOSCAM IP Camera... Not sure if that helps at all.

Hi! We've got some building work going on at school, and we wanted to be able to stream a live feed to our school website for the pupils and parents to watch. Unfortunately, I've been struggling to manage this, if anyone knows of any simple walk-throughs, I'd appreciate it. (The biggest probably has been acquiring a WLAN address for the camera, which is an IP camera. As the people who manage our server won't allow us to have it. /sigh) We have managed to get images uploaded to our ftp for the website however, but this leaves us with another problem. We're not sure how to make sure that the most up-to-date image gets posted, and to make it update automatically every five minutes (when a new image is captured). Any help would be amazingly fantastic. =D

Thank you so much for your help! I've spoken to our headmaster after the comments everyone has left and he's agreed to take some action in the form of liaising with the LEA so that we can get going with something.

Hey, I suppose specifically I want to be able to deploy Windows updates using the WSUS program. It looked like the answer to spending hours using up bandwidth to download Windows Updates on new computers - which I'm doing a lot of at the moment, but I'm aware that if I can get the two 'talking' then I could do a lot more. The LEA server is doing everything we need it to for use in the school. We have files on there, user home drives, users profiles. Not sure if there's a web cache. Both servers run 2003 as far as I'm aware - at least I know our 'second' server is running 2003. (All our computers are running XP) We're a special school, and have about 200 pupils.

Hi everyone! I'm still learning a lot, about everything here - so perhaps if you know of any good books to read on the subject, or websites I'd be grateful! Basically, we have a server which is managed outside of school by the LEA. We used to have control over the AD, however now we do not - and the Head Teacher here is keen on keeping it that way to protect us 'should it all go wrong'. What I do have is a second server, which is all ours. At the moment we have a door security program on there, and the wonderful SuccessMaker, although we do have trouble with that alone, and the pupils are required to Map the drive that it's on (using a script, we don't expect them to do that themselves) before they can use the software. I've been working on trying to make everything run much more smoothly, and coming up a myriad of problems, including Microsoft Update! Which is an amazing tool, but the time that it's been taking to update one computer alone is driving me slowly insane. So, I had a look and found out about Remote Server SQL, and then started wondering about how to use that, and then started thinking about whether I could use Spiceworks (for their error reporting, too! People in our school are afraid to write things down and hand them to me it would seem.) I suppose, what I'm asking is if anyone has any suggestions, has had to do something similar before, or can offer and advice and help on the matter! What do I need to do to make the two servers work together well, is it feasible, and worth the time to do it? Thanks! ~Ollie.

Thank you! This worked perfectly.

Hi Everyone! Long story short - Most of our pupils have difficulties with the need to press ctrl, alt & del before they get logged on. Does anyone know which settings I need to change to just have an 'ok' box, or no box at all - so it just comes up with the dialog box asking for username and password? Many Thanks in advance!

Thanks for all your help. I'm about to see if switching settings in BIOs. I had a look through the windows downloads and couldn't find anything - did however stumble across a link to e-mail Microsoft directly. So I've done that. I'm reluctant to download from any website that isn't Microsoft, only because if it gets back to the Head-- well, I'll be in huge trouble. =D

Hello~ I seem to be coming up against brick walls everywhere. The XP Installation disc that we own as a company is not-functioning 'as it should' when I attempt to reinstall Windows on any computer from it, by the time it starts to analyse the hardware the computer blue screens. What I haven't tried yet is to clean the disc, mostly because my boss suggested trying to get my hands on a new one, however - he won't let me download an .ISO (so helpful) Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried looking at the Microsoft website, and you can download a setup disc to load up onto a floppy, but none of our machine have floppy drives, and this seems a little 'tedious'. Their help and support threatened charges, and I'm pretty sure I'd end up having to pay those. Thanks, Ollie.

Oh man, I've already seen people on FB who have done this. Aren't I glad I was feeling too tired to be bothered to do it myself at the time?

We use something a little different. For pupils, we start with the year they were born, their initials and something simple like 11, which is handy when you have kids born in the same year with the same initials. So, Harry Potter, born in 1999 is 99hp11, then is Henry Potter joins, and he was born in 1999, he'd be 99hp12. For staff we just use the domain abbreviation. "st" the initials "hp" and "11".

I have to say MASSIVE Thank yous to everyone who commented, I've just written my first piece of script and now there's no fussing having to go round every child to enable them to print. I'm so incredibly thankful, happy, excited. YAY.

Ah, apologies for the lateness of the reply! We're running Windows Server 2003 - at the moment I'm used to using AD to create new users. We currently have group policies, but I'm not sure how to go about editing them. (Or, indeed which bits to change!)

Hello everyone! I have a lovely problem that I really cannot work out. Basically, what I'm trying to do is ensure that when a person logs onto any of the networked computers around school - they can automatically print to any of the 3 networked printers we have without having to 'add a printer' every time. I have tried adding printers to each computer using the network admin account, and the computer admin account, but every time you log off and back on again - the printer isn't 'saved'. I do have access to the Server, and can edit policies but I wouldn't know where to begin with that! Any help/advice would be appreciated!

Hello again~! I've actually got a problem with my personal laptop. The connection has gone where the power lead goes in. When you look at it it's clear to see that the metal inside (or whatever it is) has been worn away. Does anyone know if I can replace this myself somehow, or if I'll need to send it in to be specially repaired?

Hey guys~! Hope you're doing well. I've got yet another problem! Joyful. One of the teachers here has come to me with a startup issue. hal.dll is "missing or corrupted" great. -_- The school runs Windows XP throughout. He's got a Compaq laptops for teachers laptop, which is password protected with an admin and user account. So, I've attempted to do a repair, and the computer is not having it. After a little searching I discovered that I can fix the problem by using the following command in the Recorvery Console. "expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32" Which is when I get another blockade~ "access denied". So, I had a look around and most people were saying that before they got to the C:\ prompt they had to provide a password. When I start up on this machine, and go through the boot from disc, and to recovery console it gives me a C:\ prompt right away. My boss said something about possibly using a DOS disc, but I've only been working with computers since '99, so... I'm a little oblivious. Any ideas?

Wow, thank you for the quick responses! I'm going to try Skeep first, and I'm familiar with UltraVNC!

Okay, So I can remotely access another computer in the school to install software/make changes, however I've been asked by my boss to find a way to be able to remotely view pupils sessions. I have looked on the Forum, and found software like RM Tutor, and a few others - made a big mistake of installing one on the server - which then had a hissy fit, so I had to uh, restart that. I think we don't have the rights to actually change anything on our server. Anyway, I have no idea how I could go about managing this without installing anything! Any help would be wonderful~ Many Thanks~