rednight

Hi there, We have a teacher who is posting attachments (files/photos/etc) into the Class Stream (and also in Assignments) to share with pupils but would like to prevent them from being able to download these attachments. Is there a way to do this from the Admin console? I can see there is a setting in Settings/User & Browsers - Chrome Safe Browsing - Download restrictions It has four options - one of which is "Block all downloads". I am assuming that this really would do what it says on the tin - so would probably tick the box of preventing students from downloading files posted into the Class Stream/Assignments ... but I am assuming it would also prevent them from downloading anything at all anywhere from inside their GSuite. I am not entirely sure they would be needing to download files anyway ... all their work is set on Google Classroom - and saved to their Google Drive when they edit docs etc. The only other thing they might need to do is to upload photos to accompany their work - but not necessarily download anything .. I think! So, would setting the download option to "Block all downloads" be OK - or has it a potential to cause disaster?! Has anyone else enabled this setting? Thanks

Great! This has worked for one of the students, however another one is unable to login to the Chromebook as a new person and their parent does not want them to be logged in without the Family Link restrictions in place! Now I'm not sure what the way forward is??!

OK, I will suggest that they do this. They have had trouble accessing Google Classroom all week, so hopefully this will sort it out! Thanks!

Hi there, Please forgive my lack of Chromebook knowledge! Lots of our students have Windows laptops at home with Chrome browser and we are able to advise them to create a new Chrome profile to use for their school GSuite account. This works fine as they just switch profile and can access Google Classroom,etc with no problem. Some of the students have Chromebooks at home and have come across a problem where they login to Google Classroom but cannot see the classes they have been assigned to. I think this might be because their Chromebooks are defaulting back to their personal user account rather than their school one (can see by the icon in the top right of the browser). Also, once they do get to see their Google Classrooms, if they try and access some of the resources, the new tabs open up and go back to their personal user account. There doesn't seem to be the same option of switching over to a separate profile like there is when using Chrome browser on a Windows laptop. Some of them have Family Link enabled and we have asked them to follow the Google Support info of adding the school account as a secondary account, but we still have the some problems - especially if the Google Classroom contain links to YouTube videos (which don't play and I think this might be due to restrictions setup with the Family Link). From what I can see, there seems to be two different ways of adding an account to the Chromebook - one as a secondary account and the other is to create a completely new "person" to login with. Which is the better option? Also, if we were to advise them to create a whole new person - would their Family Link settings no longer apply? I think some parents might not be happy about this! I'm not sure of the best way forward, so that they can access their Google Classrooms/assignments/resources but still keep the Family Link settings in place that their parents have set. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks

I am looking to start using WSUS and wondered what the best practice for installing it is? I currently have two DCs but have read that WSUS shouldn't be installed on a DC. Should I look to purchasing a new computer specifically to host WSUS and if so, what spec should I look at? ICT Direct have some nice Dell Optiplex 790s advertised on their website - would one of these do the job: Core i5 2400 processor, 6GB RAM, 250GB HD. I have 120 client workstations currently on the network. Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

I have found some info on the MS website about disabling SMBv1 on Windows 7 clients as follows: To disable SMBv1 on the SMB client, run the following commands: sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb20/nsi sc.exe config mrxsmb10 start= disabled Would it be possible to put this into a batch file that runs at login just in case I have any machines across the network that haven't been patched? It has to run as administrator in order to work ....how would that happen if it were part of login script? Or is this a bad idea to start with?!

Is there a quick check-list posted anywhere that I could use to make sure I have covered all bases? So far I have: 1. Checked that the March update is applied to servers 2. Performed an additional full backup on the server to an external hard drive and locked it in the safe (just as a precaution for Monday!) 3. Checked our cloud backup is working I intend to go back in today to: 1. Disable SMBv1 on servers (using Server Manager) 2. Learn how to use PowerShell to disable SMB on Windows 7 clients - would anyone be able to help me with this please - I've never used PowerShell before (?!) :-) 3. Check main Windows 7 machines in office to ensure all Windows Updates applied (pretty sure they are, but going to check anyway!) 4. Check teacher laptops tomorrow for Windows Updates (I do this as part of their annual MOT - so have already checked most of them) 5. Do I need to apply the Extra.DAT issued by Mcafee on Friday evening - or has detection now been built into the Daily DAT? 6. Is it worth enabling the Mcafee VirusScan Access Protection Rules to block the creation of the registry keys/files that Wannacrypt creates? (Although as this would only prevent infection from that particular variant I am not sure it's worth doing. As I guess as soon as another variant which creates different reg keys/file names arrives - the rule would be useless!) 7. Is there anything else I should do?! That's Sunday taken care of then!!

In my case, I am used to using mandatory profiles with XP as a way of ensuring a fresh desktop each time the pupils log in which contains all the program shortcuts/printers etc that they need. Previously, with Windows 95/98 I would spend half my day sorting out desktops, renaming/arranging icons and putting the Start bar back where it should be and making it a normal size again - so mandatory profiles were a god-send!! I have found with Win7 and GPOs/redirected folders that I can achieve most of the same functionality, so thought I could abandon profiles altogether .... but perhaps I do still need them after all ... I just need to see which settings I configure in the profile and which I do via a GPO/GPP. So, in answer to your question Ben - it's not so much that I want to restrict my users, I just want to give a consistent look to the desktop and to prevent it being meddled with ....

OK - thanks! Is there a general rule to follow of which settings are done in the mandatory profile and which are done through GPO?

Hi, I have migrated a few of our classroom pcs to Windows 7 and have set quite a few GPOs to configure them. I have implemented Redirected Desktop for the pupils who will be using these computers in the hope that I can just drop all the shortcuts they need into the redirected folder. I have configured their desktop background via a GPO and (hopefully) prevented them from making any changes to the desktop. My question is now: do I still need mandatory profiles as I used to have them in XP? Also, if I want to remove a shortcut from their redirected desktop - do I just delete it from the folder in the redirected shared folder? I tried this with one machine, but the icon remained on the pupil desktop even after I had removed it from the redirected folder ...?! Thanks

I am in South East ...

Hi, I have searched through some threads about disposing of old computers and printers and indeed have found a couple of companies who will take it away for free - but I wondered if there are any companies out there that would pay some money for all this old stuff (perhaps to then recycle it and sell it on themselves?). For instance, I have a couple of old laser printers which still work but might need a bit of pampering to get them up to scratch ... Has anyone made a few pennies for their school from selling old kit? Thanks!

Thanks for the tip! See ... I knew there would be pearls of wisdom out there :-) So, you reckon it's OK to leave the cable from the ac adaptor to the netbook all wrapped up and tied with velcro? I know that I have to leave the mains cables uncoiled - but am hoping it's OK to wrap the ones the other side of the adapter block. I have googled for images of Classbuddy, but strangely enough there are none which show it full of kit and cables ... hmmm I wonder why!!?! I will be mad if I get it all done and then the PAT chap comes along and rips them all out to test them ... grrrr!

Thanks coop! Did you let each power lead hang down inside the back of the trolley in a loop? I was thinking I would let the plug end of the cable hang free inside the back of the cab and then keep the bit of the lead that goes from the ac block to the laptop in a neat bundle with its velcro tie - and then somehow secure a bit of it to the shelf with a cable tie ... I have the 16 version so it's tall and thin ... so the theory of letting the power leads hang down the back will be fine for the first 8 shelves and then I will end up with a pile of spaghetti!

I have two of these shiny new trollies and am just about to start filling them up - but as I opened the doors and stared at the lovely empty shelves and bag of cable ties, I wondered if anyone else out there has one and if so, would they care to share a photo of how they have cabled it? I just have a feeling that I will spend a couple of hours feeding cables through it in a ham-fisted fashion to then find out afterwards there was a much simpler, neater way!! So, if anyone would like to share their trolley-wisdom, I would be very grateful! Thanks!

Hello SimpleSi, I know this thread is a little on the old side but I just wondered how you got on with the Epson printer? I have been looking at either a Epson Workforce WF-3010DW or a Epson Workforce WF-2510WF A4 Colour Multifunction Inkjet Printer for our Headteacher. They appear to be very reasonable on inks. Would you recommend them? Thanks! rn

Thanks for your comments. My main priority is to buy something that is going to last us at least three years without suffering from bits dropping off, battery nightmares (such as I have experienced in the past with some Dells) and general decline. I was erring on the side of the Toshibas - I am not sure that my current set of users would notice whether they had 2xxx or 3xxx - would it be that noticeable?! My main priority is to get the most robust and best machine for my money .... I have sat on the fence for far too long and it is now time for me to make a decision ... I need to place an order soonish! One more night to sleep on it ... Thanks for your advice. rn

Sounds interesting! Do your users like it?

Hi Ben, Yes, I have seen other people commenting on the trackpad .... what is the problem with it? rn

Thanks for your comments. Can anyone shed any light on the naming convention used by Toshiba for their laptops? For example is a L850 a lesser model than a C850 and what do the other letters and numbers mean (1DW/1FR etc)?! :-)

I posted a question about Lenovo ThinkPads the other day and had some interesting and useful replies - thank you! I found it really helpful to hear people's opinions and experiences, so I wondered if anyone would be able to share their thoughts on my shortlist of four prospective laptops for our teachers ... DELL Latitiude E5430 Core i3-3120M 2.50 Ghz, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD Toshiba Satellite Pro L850-1DW Core i3-2370M 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM, 500 GB HDD Toshiba Satellite Pro C850-1FR Core i3-2312M 2.10 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 500 GB HDD Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530 E530 Core I3-3110M, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD Hard drive size isn't an issue for us, so although the Dell is the underdog in that department I haven't ruled it out and *think* that it might be the strongest machine in the list .... Would anyone be able to advise on which would be my best buy? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your postings! Luckily, all my hardware is standard, so I have 30 netbooks all identical, 15 teacher laptops all identical - so once I have set one up I can clone to the others. Once the initial deployment is done, I hope to just keep the two images stored safely somewhere for a rainy day when someone has a disaster!

Hi there, I am looking for some imaging software to create images of teacher and student laptops. Years ago (1997 ....) I used to use commandline Ghost and it worked a treat. What are other people using for this job nowadays and how much is it likely to cost me? (or is there a free alternative?!). Thanks!

Sounds great! Did you purchase the additional Classview software that goes with it?

Thanks for your info. How long have you had the Learnpads? Which one did you go for? Is the issue with the lesson delivery a connectivity problem, or a hardware one? I have read some reviews which say that the Learnpads themselves are underpowered and can be sluggish - is this something you have experienced? I am just trying to gather as much information as I can, as we haven't seen these in action and the company no longer provides demo units - so if we go ahead with a purchase I want to make sure we are doing the right thing!! Thanks