Chris_Jones

We did this before christmas with no issues, just a matter of doing the schema update then running the upgrade. We did the DC with all the FSMO Roles first, then the second box.

We're running Sims on Windows 7 on 6 of our boxes here, have done since before christmas - just made sure to start the installation using 'Run as Administrator' and it was away. The only other stumbling block was the first time it is run it must also be using the 'Run as Administrator' option, otherwise it cant write back the connect.ini file to the sims directory.

No Problem - obviously with an external card, you can only run an external monitor - may be worth trying the laptop with a monitor first to verify it is the card. TBH means To Be Honest

I'd think with the age of the laptop, it would be easier to replace TBH. Failing that, probably an external USB graphics card - Scan.co.uk: Scan USB2-VGAHRS USB 2.0 to VGA Adaptor for SVGA Monitor output (Max 6) supports up to 1920x1200 EDIT Just realised - you didnt say if the problem was with using an external monitor, or the built in screen. If its the built in the the issue is more likely with the screen, rather than the graphics card in which case it will need replacing, if it is only with an external monitor the graphics card I linked to above should sort it.

Pre-ordered, and (when I get a chance) playing online - also loving it, especially playing the new infected in versus, difficult to get the hang of the charger though - most of the time I end up charging right past the survivors and into a wall also, PEO as far as I am aware there isnt going to be a PS3 version - Im pretty sure Gabe Newall (head of valve) has said they dont like developing for the PS3, and wouldnt be doing any more games for it.

Another vote for Portal here, fantastic game, really forces you to think around problems, rather than other games that have you shoot through them.

I've got a mini-itx server, running Windows Home server - automated full disk backups on all my home pc's. It wakes them up at a specified time and shuts them down after., has support for XP and Vista, with Windows 7 support coming (beta version available I think). Plus theres a free trial version available from Microsoft.

We sometimes get similar issues with our Hitachi Cambridge boards - its always the power supply on the way out and not supplying correct/consistant voltage.

We use the most recent version of WSUS here (3.2) and have never had to seperatly upgrade the windows installer - any required updates are pushed out by the WSUS server.

Also check the settings on the Linux server as to where the apps look to authenticate - you may find they are looking for a server on a specific IP / specific name, rather than any available DC.

From the sounds of it the system could do with a rebuild from the ground up, though this probably isnt practical. What I would look at is 1. Seperate Server for Exchange Either buy/build a new server and move exchange over to it, or use a new server as a Domain Controller and dcpromo the Exchange box down to a member server (Disclaimer: I am not an Exchange expert so I dont know how feasable this is, or what problems may occur) 2. Ultimately a seperate server running SMS and all the other bits, so your Domain Cotrollers are just doing AD, DNS and DHCP. 3. Move to Mandatory Profiles for pupils, these can be used to give quicker logins and to control exactly what icons etc the pupils get. Combine with a shutdown script for the PC running DELPROF (ms utility) which will clean up profiles that havent been used recently (I think the default is 2 weeks) 4.Group policy /AD Have a good look at what policies are set, and how they are applied to OUs. Here we have policys for whole site (things like Proxy server, IE Branding etc) Pupils (locked down everything) Staff (less restrictive) Pupil workstations and Staff workstations. getting the Group policys right will save you a lot of trouble down the line - its probably best to build new policies then remove the old ones, rather than just add on and change existing. 5. Regarding Laptops with a variety of OS's - is there any way you can rationalise these? its a lot simpler from your point of view if you only have a few configurations to manage, than having lots of different combinations. Ultimatly the Hardware isnt as important in this as the software on it. 6. Finally re subnetting, I think your best making a seperate post on this in the network forum, with more details of your current setup. eg if you get your Internet connection Via an ADSL router, and dont connect to any other schools there is nothing stopping you changing to a different subnet, or expanding you existing (ie you could change to 10.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 and have 16.7 million addresses:) ) but if you are connected to other schools etc this wouldnt be possible. in summary - need more info I hope my ramblings are of some use to you, if you need any more info on a specific point let me know

Have you directly observed the shutdown? we had an Issue some time ago where teachers were complaining that PCs in one of our suites were randomly shutting down, however when we looked through the Camera recordings in that suite we found that the shutdowns were caused by pupils reacing over to another pc and pressing the power button - starting the Windows shutdown sequence!

Thank you

Hello all, Just updated my machine to Windows 7, and the Active Directory MMCs arent working. We're on Server 2008 here, but the only download I can find on the MS site is the 2003 tools. If anyone can point me in the direction of compatable MMCs for Windows 7 (x86) it would be much appreciated Cheers Chris

Good to know thanks.

Just to clear this up in my head, did the tool allow you to input the Key from the CoA on the laptop, or did it require a valid corporate key?

Possibly one of these boards LinITX.com - Intel DG41MJ Classic Series Mini-ITX Mainboard with either a Core 2 Duo, or even a high end Dual core Celeron would do the trick. If you do go for an atom board, I wouldnt go for an ION based one - the Chipset wont add anything to the server and it costs more (unless of course you plan to re-purpose it after the show into a media PC )

I've got one of these [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-Nettop-System-Gigabit-Integrated/dp/B002JCYUVC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1254315799&sr=8-2]ASRock Nettop Ion 330 System Black Nvidia DDR2 800: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo[/ame] As a Media Pc runs BBC iPlayer, Divx movies and DVD/Blu-Ray without a jitter on a HDTV well pleased with it -- In school we've also started using some atom machines that we've built from bits rather than buy pre-assembled machines - we can build them for £180 including the Windows Licensing. Using the Dual Core boards with 1GB of RAM and they run XP with office Internet etc without a hitch, also quite happy when used as staff workstations playing DVDs, running Whiteboards and using SIMS.

Got a Dual Core Atom box with 4x750GB Drives in Raid 5, running Windows Home Server

If you can hear yourself when the mic is unmuted, that suggests the input is setup as a pass through, try this to fix it. right click the volume icon in the task bar -> recording devices -> select the microphone -> properties -> listen tab. then check that listen to this device is Unchecked.

if you launch Wireshark and go to Capture -> Interfaces -> Options (for the relevant NIC) then put in the Capture Filter box 'broadcast and multicast' without quotes, It will only capture Broadcast and Multicast packets and ignore any other traffic to and from your machine.

Can you configure your UPS to do this? There should be a setting specifying how long to wait after Mains power is restored before powering up devices.

CHecked the CMOS clear jumper, and tried it in the other position (system wont boot) also tried a different jumper incase the supplied one was faulty

BIOS is already the latest version

Hey guys, Having an Issue with a personal PC, the BIOS doesnt keep correct time and will randomly change settings If the PC has been off for a short time, The time should be fine If its been off for a few hours, the time will typically be in the future (ie it says its october 2010 - all the way to 2055 once!) finally if its been off overnight the time will show as 00:00:00 on september 7th 2006 (presumably the Manufacturing date) additionally in this instance the onboard LAN will be disabled. additionally when I reset the time in BIOS the system will typically lose half an hour during boot, so the time is out on the windows desktop. in all these circumstances not all BIOS settings will be default - for instance I've disabled the onboard Serial ports since I dont use them and these will always be disabled. I have changed the BIOS battery for a known good one, with no difference in operation. This has occurred with both Windows XP (x86) and Windows 7 x64 Anyone got any Ideas?