Trav

Hi there Only know the LinkStation gear. We use ours for much the same thing as you are thinking of. Works well. BR Trav

Hi We have mini towers across the back of 17" flat glass fronted screens with k/b and mouse in front of that. We've found that it's the best way to maximise the amount of machines that we get into a given area so as to get one pupil to one machine as far as possible. We don't allow cd/dvd or floppy drives in any machine and disable access to usb drives ('drives' being the optimum word, not usb equip ie. scanners etc.). We have a printer in each room mapped by a script using 'Con2prt' with environment variables on each machine. We use standard plastic stools of heights dependant of year where computers are based, these are stacked at the end of last lesson in any day so as to allow cleaners to do best job possible. We have a teachers machine in each suite together with an I.W.B. where possible, this allows the teacher to display and do what they want the children to see and know about. We also have aircon in each suite to keep the little darling awake, as without it they tend to fall asleep towards the end of the day (not so bad now that we have flat screens therefor less heat). We are fitting a DVD player into each suite because you can get at least 2 classes into the I.C.T. areas so that they can watch appropriate subject material which releases a teacher to do other things or have non-contact. Can't think of any other info I can put in but it all runs quite well. Hope this info helps.

No, it's IDE. Not yet but I will when I look at it tomorrow. Thanks all for your suggesrions.

Thanks all. Done that but the DVD drive is still C: even with the card readers unplugged. Any clues?

Hi all Have new machine with 250 gig SATA HDD, DVD Drive and internal card readers (4 drives). Problem is that when I install XP Pro on HDD it is drive H:, the card readers are C:, D:, E: and F:, the DVD is G: and the HDD becomes H:. I've tried unplugging the card readers, renaming the DVD to D: which is fine then renaming the HDD to C: but this isn't allowed by XP. If I now plug the card readers in again the HDD returns to H: and the card readers are now C:, E:, F: and G:. Not had this situation before so need bit of help. What's to do chaps and chapesses please.

We have 2 seperate domains here as county advise this, because of the nature of SIMS and its data. When SIMS is on a domain you are restricted to what else you can run with it according to county, we are ok apparently with Office and a couple of other bits but thats about it. It makes life easier here to maintain 2 networks and I fail to see whats difficult with it. It also keeps the SIMS data completely away from pupils etc. Hope that helps.

CheeseDog@ Are you sure? Sure am, PapercutNG is a different beasty and pennies are needed for that one. Just the simple Papercut logger is free as several on here have found out as you can see by the comments.

@ Kearton ..for 5 or less users. It would have to be a *pretty* small school to fit in this category methinks... It's unlimited as a logger, if you want it to do more then you must pay... where's the problem with that statement Kearton

Hi folks Didn't know where to post this so have started new topic here. We had problems chasing about trying to find who printed 18 pages of something and who else printed whatever at times during the day. We discovered Papercut which logs all print jobs on the network and writes to a log that can be viewed and saved in a .csv etc. for later analysis. Guess what ................... it's brill and best of all it's free. Have a look @ http://www.papercut.biz

Our K/bs and mice are all Logitech models. We've got them all running on re-chargeables and they last for a long time. You can get 2700 and possibly 2800 mAh batteries now and fast chargers from http://www.7dayshop.com and there's no VAT as they are from Geurnsey. Hope that helps. Trav

We've got the Genee 6100, great little piece of equipment, got ours for £850 from http://www.interactive-education.co.uk tel: 0870 043 4024 Get a demo. Hope that helps. Trav

What a coinsidence!

Domino... I liked the idea of the Netgear ProSafe .... Anyone else played with this and whats the licencing probs and costs of using it.

There's bound to be a hefty price to pay Mr. Gates I would guess somewhere along the line.

Sorry ........ I should have said that I locked all the computer suites up at lunchtime on the last day of the year before the students leave. BR

I lock all the computer suites up at lunchtime even if someone has booked them to prevent damage, I tell nobody in school so the word doesn't get out. Over the years this must of saved me quite a bit of damage and hours in finding unplugged network cables, mice, k/bs etc etc. Try it ..... it works for me.

Now, Now then, steady chaps.

No posting can be called a waste! Congrats on your 100th anyway. BR

Fully agree, I won't have Shearston software at our place, as the leaflets come into school I file them under 'B'. I've got a few packages from a couple of suppliers that teachers have bought in the past that simply lay in the cupboard unused, if they are going to buy them why the h*** don't they get them on appro. Great idea to get something together to tackle this prob. BR to all

I've an external case with 160 gig 2.5" Fuj drive in and it runs on a usb cable with 2 usb plugs on one end, one for power and the other for data I think. Bought the case from ebuyer and the drive from my normal supplier, it works well and is fast for an external drive. BR to all

Try CPC Plc, they stock a large range of fans and as the one you want is most prob a generic one then they should be able to help but you do need an account with them. We buy headphones, mics and various other goodies so it makes it worthwhile us having an account. Hope this helps.

Using AG Neovo E17's at our school and have no problems, they're easy to clean, look good and are more resilient to damage with very little increase in cost which is easily outway'd by the above. We've bought from 2 suppliers who have given us great prices provided we bought more than 10 or so at a time (we usually buy 18, 20 and sometimes 30 at a time). I'd recommend the Neovo's to anyone.

I have problems with a Buffalo 500 that I bought to play with for backing up reasons but it keeps corrupting on me. Have re-installed with no success and updated the firmware still with no success. Am now thinking of sending it back to supplier but it has pupil data on it, although this seems corrupt, I can't send it back with it on. Has anyone else had problems like this or does anyone have any suggestions?

We sell all our kit off to parents by advertising in our newsletter. We wipe the HDDs with diskwiper and sell a complete base with CRT, k/b and mouse for £30 and the money goes straight back into our budget to buy more kit. I usually manage to make up kit from non workers and dispose of the odd bits in the rubbish bins bit by bit over time. It's worked well up to now but it's getting harder to sell it. I found one keen parent last time who bought all that I had so as to resell it on so I gave him a good deal and cleared everything, working or not, together with old network hubs, switches, NICs, servers etc etc. I can swing the cat in my room now but it won't be long before it collects up again, you know how it is. BR to all and have a good break. I've just realised I'm on hols and here I sit at 11:40p.m. on Sunday night talking about work, hows that for sad.

Hi again This system has worked well for me so I'm sticking with it for now but will keep an eye for something better and more secure which again doesn't involve me keep giving passwords out time and again. Hope you come up with something soon. Keep us all posted. BR Trav