markwilliamson2001

To ban on pen drives it might be worth looking at USBDLM. I found it a sinch to deploy and configure, and works a treat. This program combined with a path rule, allowed us to block all our problems. Not sure where I downloaded it from, but I am sure google would help you To ban from home directories, you need to use %HOMESHARE% (I think) and also a path rule. You can also easily block all vbs or bat files by using %HOMESHARE%\*.bat (which will also include subdirectories within the users home drive). HTH Mark

Its got G support, but how would I find out whether it supports WPA? The machine also has XP SP2.

I have one Procurve 420 AP. I am currently struggling with connectivity when WPA-PSK with AES or TKIP is switched on. With no security, the laptop connects first time every time. I have matched the Key on the AP with the Laptop, and also the security settings to the AP, but it still never connects.. I am using Windows Wireless Zero Config, but I never have this problem at home... What am I doing wrong? Regards Mark

Nice idea, but we already pay for and are licensed for Outlook/Office 2003, and probably pay for Exchange server as part of the school's agreement! I am trying to use all the software we pay for as part of the school's agreement, as my boss (network manager) always feels agrieved about the sum of money needed to pay out for the school's agreement from MS every year! I think the improvements of the calendar in outlook could really benefit us. I am also trying to reduce the amount of paper flying around our school, as our printer costs are HUGE, and using outlook could save large amounts of paper, toner and reliance on printers for paperwork within school. We will also have some new servers soon, so our current curriculum servers could easily run the email system without breaking a sweat.

We currently have all sorts of different systems in place at our school, for our email, calendar, memo's, website etc etc etc... I would ideally like to tie some of these systems together, to reduce complexity and to improve the school calendar as there are lots of complaints regarding its colour scheme, layout and also that the school email system is pretty average. We would probably start with email mailboxes for staff to begin with, but we already have lots of email accounts already in place for staff. What I need to know is: 1) How easy is it to transfer email addresses from an existing email setup to exchange (we currently use SquirrelMail on Unix which is provided by the LA). 2) How easy is it to tie this in with outlook 2003 (which is on every client in school) and active directory, so that when users log onto machines, email notifications show up almost straight away! 3) How complex is the calendar feature in exchange/outlook and can you setup a school calendar, as well as personal planners/calendars for staff? 4) We would also like to setup some sort of pre-organised address books (so that staff can send out emails to the leadership group, hods, heads of year very easily, as well as personal address books? 5) SquirrelMail provides web-access for staff at home, when they are not in school. Is it possible and easy to provide exchange access at home via a web interface (I have heard of Outlook Web Access)? Thanks, Mark

I have tried everything with this... first tried using the install manager with the original msi, but that gave the gay error message when I try and apply it to the msi in the GPO. then tried msiexec /a with the install and tried existing and new transforms but no luck. Then tried editing both a copy of the original and /a versions of the msi with Orca, after looking at the MST with MSTview.exe, and adding in the changes myself. This then gave validation errors. The deploy works fine without the MST, but I am not putting 120 keys into Laptops LOL and about 25 other machines in rooms. So for now I am waiting for a newer build of Notebook 10!

Hi, I am trying to deploy SMART Notebook 10 software on my network machines. I have 9.5 installed currently, and found out that the NEW smartboard drivers, remove old versions of notebook. This has worked fine so far. I wanted to do things properly, so decided to download there install manager tool. This created a transform (.mst) which I then tried to apply to the package when I added it to the GPO. It then came back with with the message: "The list of modifications cannot be applied to this product..." Anyone had this problem, and got around it? Cheers Mark

Perhaps I didn't explain myself clearly before. I don't have the problem with Office. It is any general dialog box (for Save As/Open etc), where my recent documents is a problem. How do you unlock My Recent Documents? Thanks Mark

I am trying to customise the Open/Save As dialog box. Using Group Policy I have managed to adjust the 'places' bar, (the buttons on the left of the dialog box), but I am trying to unlock My recent documents. It is currently locked down (I do not know how), but I presume it has been done by group policy. Unfortunately, because it is locked down, when a user clicks on the drop down box, it causes the program to crash, and lose all their work. This does not happen in Office 2003 since it somehow picks up settings from group policy. Is there a way to enable my recent documents using Group Policy?

found out it was my dodgy local vmware machine cocking it up. Managed to use a COPY script instead, which worked fine. The program worked okay as well, with locked down accounts. Cheers anyway Mark

Hi, having problems installing this using a startup script, through a silent install. I have given Domain computers full control on both the batch script, and on the Setup.exe and setup.iss files, but so far no joy. My script runs fine when logged on as a local admin, on a workstation, but fails to run at startup. I can post my script should anyone want to help me, please!!! @ECHO OFF ECHO Installing SketchUp "\\resources\packages\DEPARTMENTAL\TECHNOLOGY\gsketch6NEW\GoogleSketchUpWEN.exe" /a /s /sms /f1"\\resources\packages\DEPARTMENTAL\TECHNOLOGY\gsketch6NEW\setup.iss" exit Thanks for looking, Mark

No we are not RM backed...

Care to elaborate a little more.... Cheers Mark

Thanks for all the replies guys so far, but no-one has really solved the problem at its source (The USB problem)!! LOL. I don't really want to put any of your suggestions down, but it is not the drive letter, plus I don't have any other problems with usb sticks on any of my other imaged machines, so its nothing to do with that. I think either the USB Mass storage driver is F***ED, or that there is some erronoious registry entry that is causing this problem. No other teachers have reported this problem (on laptops, or dekstops!) Cheers Mark

I presume you can do this through GP? I remember doing it for Visual Basic users, when I installed Visual Studio 2005 (what a pain in the butt that was!)

Yes tried this and it works fine. Might have to show some screen shots for you lot to show what I am on about! Mark

This is fine, but it does not cure the problem completely. What happens if the user buys a new pen drive? The problem still appears! It does not do this on any other workstations around school, just this laptop. It seems that it allows installation of usb devices as users on our desktops, just not on this laptop. Mark

I don't belive this is the problem, since the driver (usbstor.sys) is digitally signed by microsoft. (I checked in device manager as admin, once the pen drive was plugged in!). Mark

No, it just says you need to be a member of administrators group to install this hardware: disk. Prompts you for user and password, (I presume for local/domain admin). If you click cancel, it then won't 'use' the usb stick at all... Only affect's this laptop... Have been through all policies and google... No luck as yet. Will keep you posted. Mark

I have a problem with one teachers laptop. When logged onto the laptop using a restricted 'user' account, it won't let them install and use the usb disk. It is not restricted to just his account, just his laptop (as I have tried with my staff tester with the same laptop). If I use the pen drive as an admin, it works fine afterwards, but if a different pen drive is used, it refuses to play with the staff accounts, only on his laptop. Any ideas? Cheers Mark

Hi I would like to redirect C:\Windows\Fonts to an invisible network share named \\servername\fonts$. Can this be done using group policy? This is so that if a student or child would like to use a new font, I can simply drag and drop the new font into the share and the machines will pick it up automatically? I tried copying fonts to all machines on the network using a startup script, copying the fonts across the network at startup, but this seemed to result being a bit hit and miss. Thanks Mark

Thanks that worked a treat! Mark

I am trying to free up some space on one of our curriculum servers. We have a lot of disabled staff accounts, of those teachers who have left. This means we also have a lot of home directories which could be removed. I am currently trying to use dsquery user to find out which accounts are disabled. So far success... dsquery user ou=staff,dc=chase,dc=local -disabled I now however wish to include the staff accounts home directory in the query, and have come unstuck a little. Is there also anyway of outputting the query results to a csv file or txt file? I know something similiar can be done with csvde, but again, I came unstuck at the LDAP query point... Any help much appreciated. Mark

I have disabled computer browser service on every machine, using Group Policy, but it hangs the first time you use the hyperlink hack in word. If you restart word, and try again, you can still browse the network!! I did actually disable the service using Group Policy, rather than just stopping it. I have also now started working on better security on all the shares on servers around school. Mark

Just to confirm, I have tried all those suggestions with no joy. I have checked the new policy (with the Office adm template) is being applied, and it is, so it doesn't stop the problem I am having. Stopping the computer browser service on every local machine only works once. Once you restart word again, and type into a document, a \\servername hyperlink, you can browse the network again. I have tried with users with mandatory roaming profiles, and local administrator profiles, but no luck stopping this gaping hole in security. I agree that we should have very good security on all the shares, but I have managed to lock down network neighbourhood/my network places in word/explorer, but it still appears in word/office apps!!! This sucks!! If their is a way to prevent access COMPLETELY to Browse entire network, I would like to hear it microsoft! rant over Mark