Koldov

Not just for gaming... some sage life advice right there! You could (and probably should) apply that (or a slight variation of) to a lot of life situations... Thing is we all know you can't 'please all of the people all of the time' and a lot of developers (especially ones who want to make good profits and are big enough to actually put out a decent game) are looking for market share. Gamer v1.0's aren't going to give that versus the amount of 10 year-olds with an X-Box. There are markets where an older generation with money to burn and plenty of free time are worth targeting, but I think in the grand scheme of things older gamers aren't worth developing new games for unfortunately. I like the graphics in CoD:Warzone, I like the gameplay of CS2, I also like the option of playing with bots... I'd also like the maps size to be somewhere in between the two... When there's only two ways to a bomb site CS can get a bit tired and some maps are very one sided (I understand given the type of game too many options would make it impossible), but the CoD and Battlefield maps are just huge (and have to be obviously) so having a CS style game in there could go on for hours and hours (maybe days). I do of course understand they are very different games, different style of gameplay etc. CS2 is more single mission based, small SAS style squad operation and Warzone's all about the fast shoot everything that moves style of play, so I'm not making comparisons in that (or any other) respect. Weapons and other equipment... somewhere in the middle. CS2 has the right amount of choices initially I think for realism, but could certainly do with some extras. Also the speed of movement (I know some balance had to be struck and a penalty for choosing heavier, more powerful weapons) as running slower with a gun drawn doesn't make sense if you put it away and run with a knife, you're still carrying it! I'm happy with the pick up weapons from dead enemies style, but the respawning loot chests full of endless weapon/equipment options just makes it a bit too bonkers for me personally. As @Dos_Box says having to learn so many commands and key maps for a game is just too much for my old brain and so many different weapon/equipment choices make it really inaccessible for those who can't spend hours every evening glued in front of an X-Box and 60 inch TV... In something like a free for all FPS game though of course the opposite is also true, nobody really wants something so simple any n00b can pick it up and own you on the first game, there has to be some sort of learning curve and 'reward' for controlling things like the recoil pattern of a gun, being able to aim precisely (for a headshot) and less reward for just charging around shooting full auto/spray 'n' pray etc. I like the freedom of playing something like CS2 against bots, it's computer controlled obviously and has its flaws (watching a bot try to make an impossible jump, or even get through a doorway for 2 minutes when they're the only one left alive is annoying) but I prefer that to the linear 'you must go down this path and defeat these enemies at this point' type. There will always be things somebody hates/loves about any game because we're all different and there's too much to be said about any particular game. I've installed, played and uninstalled all of those in my previous post and always come back to CS, I just wish it was slightly.... more? - - - Updated - - - True of a lot of things.... if you don't use it, you lose it!

I do! I even set up a separate non-networked PC (and was so paranoid I even bought a new copy Half Life/Counter-Strike) at one point and downloaded some of them to test... never having been a cheater it was shocking to say the least, a real eye opener. I used to play on the [sHITE] clan servers, a really friendly bunch, it had a good atmosphere and it was a lot of fun. Cheaters lasted 1 round at most!

I haven't really 'gamed' for many years and recently after a half-decent PC was gifted to me, decided I would try out a few from my Steam list that have never seen the light of day (plus a few free ones I added)... I was a massive Counter-Strike player back in the day and was reasonably good, although I never clanned or played in any leagues. Whilst I had a brief period messing about with configs, skins and other modifications I generally always played with everything on default. Anyway, although I do like the CS2 with upgraded graphics (I mean not really stunning by todays standards it's still a big jump from the CS 1.4/5/6 era, which is the last time I played it) I decided to try the free Warzone 'mod' from CoD. Now, I'm used to having 3 or 4 buttons to deal with (apart from WASD), small maps with strategic planning of the 2 or 3 routes, sneaking around and defending/camping if necessary, single shots or 2 or 3 bullet bursts of gunfire to control recoil, 2 main types of grenade (there are others now but only Flash and HE being really worth it), also only 4 or 5 guns being really worthwhile etc. Well, I picked the wrong game (and format I guess) to try and transition into!!! After I managed to actually work out (mostly) how to land the skydive without either floating around too long and getting shot out of the sky or plummeting to the ground and certain death... I started to slowly work my way around the huge maps, sneaking from cover to cover, building to building so I didn't get snipered from a distant rooftop :peek: picking up so many items that I don't know how to use or even if they're worth using... not knowing how to change anything or which buttons control what was also getting pretty frustrating... so I was hiding in a house, in a dark corner behind some boxes and a plant... However, that lasted about a minute or two when literally out of nowhere another player appeared, dressed in some weird space type glowing skin, with coloured guns and doing some strange kind of slide/run manoeuvre... I went to aim at them and by the time I'd brought my crosshairs up and tried to move to evade them, they'd killed me within a split-second and disappeared just as quickly... this was basically the theme for the next couple of hours... I watched whoever killed me in spectate for a while skidding, jumping, wildly pointing the crosshairs at random places and killing other players with a fully automatic hail of bullets (even from a fair distance), swapping guns and equipment in what appeared to be micro seconds, having two 'machine guns' instead of one and a side arm (and what powerful guns even early on in rounds), then I'd have to choose 'play again', leave the match and go through the whole joining another game process, watching the ridiculous intro video (which I have turned off in the settings)... I briefly had the image in my mind of a hundred 12 year-old boys on their X-Boxes in front of massive TVs, just being very rude and childish as most 12 year-old gamers are well known to be (well, that and from the brief snippets I heard as I hadn't found the mute setting in the beginning). What a baptism of fire and not very enjoyable (as I spent most of the time waiting or joining a match)! There doesn't appear to be any way to play with bots or any 'training mode' for Warzone (which is understandable and not surprising), or any server browser to look for n00b matches but at least it was Solo/Battle Royale where nobody knows you (or cares) and nobody relies on you to be a valuable member of a team. I'm not after sympathy or help (or even 'don't hate the player' or 'get good'), I just thought it was funny how old it made me feel (or basically just to remind me that I am). Also, I wonder if playing CS so much 'spoilt' other First Person Shooters for me... Not because it's better, but just because I am so used to how it 'feels' that playing any other game is always disappointing (I've tried other HL mods, Doom, Unreal, Battlefield, Far Cry, CoD:MW, Rainbow Six) because it takes so long to build a new set of muscle memories, learn new keys, new guns, new items etc. Also I don't really like the 'story/campaign' modes on a lot of them where you are forced to go a certain way and kill certain enemies at predetermined points.... Of course it could just be me... and that I only have an attention span of 3 minutes...

I'm getting too old for this... I've only just started using this software but I seem to be struggling with the most basic of baby steps... All I want is a simple backup and restore and although I appear to be able to backup most of my servers (still struggling with the most simple - file shares) now I am trying to test restore. I have an old Dell T5500 Workstation specifically built for testing Veeam restores, I installed Server 2019 (not domain joined or networked), enabled the Hyper-V role and installed SQL 2016 (what I had quickly to hand but it shouldn't matter?) and Veeam 12 B&R (everything is set at defaults). I'm not sure if all that was necessary, but I couldn't see any other way I was going to be able to restore backups without having all that (if someone knows different please shout)... I have the backup disk (USB) attached and thought I'd just be able to click a button and test restore whatever I wanted, but it seems it's not that simple. First, there is no 'restore' menu item which most guides tell you to click... so I can't even find the backups through the Veeam console but I'm wary of going through the add repository wizard as I don't want to mess with the USB disk as it's a repository for the actual backup server. So I went through Windows and double clicked the .vbk file and this started Veeam and got me to the restore process. Choosing either 'restore whole VM' or 'Instant Restore' ended with errors about "Restore job failed Error: Failed to set {string} value to {Boolean} property 'GenerateNewSystemIdentifier' or some issue with "Hyper-V Integration Services" Neither of which I can find any information about on the web (actually that's a lie there is one hit, in a cached Facebook group in German, but I can't find the actual post)! I have finally managed to get it to work by restoring the individual VM files to the Hyper-V folder on the new machine and then importing it into Hyper-V manager, which proves the backup is working I guess but it should be simpler than that I hope...?

Yes, thanks.... unfortunately this is where the off topic 'my god man, why are you doing it like that' posts start... because now I have to admit that the file share is a legacy monster I haven't got round to dealing with yet and it is sitting on a 'drive' on the actual physical server and isn't a VM. I know most people only see Veeam as a VM backup solution, but I thought it did everything... maybe I should just go back to 2008 and use WSB for the file share? At least I know what I'm doing with that and it's partly what it was designed for.

It must be something to do with the backup job as there must be something in the settings or config that's confusing it, or even the type of job. The disk also contains another partition for the OS job and the 2x Hyper-V jobs and all of those completed with no issues. They are obviously different types of job so maybe not directly related as the options for each job are different, but it's number 4 that's failing.. 1). Server OS - Windows Agent Backup = Volume Level Backup (OS volume) - Retention policy: 1 days (I think this is incremental - there is no way to set anything else so it is at the default, whatever that may be). 2 & 3). 2x VM - Hyper-V Backup = Reverse Incremental - Retention policy: 1 days 4). FILE SHARE - File Backup = Files and Folders - File Version Limit 1 day (I think this is incremental - there is no way to set anything else so it is at the default, whatever that may be).

How do you tell Veeam which disk is attached, so it knows which job to run (Disk 1 or Disk 2), or do you have a fixed schedule (Monday runs Disk 1 and you have to have Disk 1 attached, Tuesday runs Disk 2 and you have to have Disk 2 attached)? I'm all for making things simple and that sounds like a plan, I even thought about having one permanently attached and then just attach the other in the morning (or whenever) and copy the disk contents to the new one (unless there is an 'automatic way to copy the backup off) and then remove it for off-site. Sorry, I thought I'd addressed that in my previous post in answer to @pete - Veeam has a setting where you can specify the backup is on 'rotated disks' and from reading the article in the link, I presumed it would create a full on each disk and then increment whatever was not on the full. As in, it would not refer to Disk 1 when Disk 2 was attached, it would only need to know what had changed since the last time it (Disk 2) was attached and what it needs to backup, then when Disk 1 was attached it would not need to refer to Disk 2, only what had changed since it (Disk 1) was attached. I do get your point though that there must be some way for it to know what was on the last backup and for it to process what has changed, but I thought that information would be stored on each individual disk. Both disks are listed in the storage repositories

Hmmm... obviously possible and does make sense. I can't say otherwise, but from my reading the point of choosing 'this backup is on rotated disks' was that Veeam could handle the rotation of the disks? https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/rotated_drives_hiw.html?ver=120 Maybe someone can put that into plain English as it doesn't really sink into my old brain...? Maybe there's a configuration error, but I was expecting from reading that, it would create a full backup on one disk then increment until removal. Then, create a full backup on the second disk and increment until removal. When the first disk is reattached it would have to process what has changed since it was removed and back that up (it wouldn't need to know what is on the second disk, just what's changed since its own last incremental).

I decided just before the holidays to drag myself (kicking and screaming mind you) into the 21st and set-up Veeam. Previously I'd been using WSB and although it was usually fairly robust, it had a couple of little quirks (one of which was that it occasionally filled the storage and wiped all previous restore points)... Anyway, as everybody here seems to rave about Veeam I thought I'd put it on the main server and have a rock solid, reliable back-up solution... It worked fine over the holidays and dutifully emailed me everyday to tell me it had completed, but since then it's started giving me errors and not completing the back-up. Now, part of the problem may be that we use it in a slightly unconventional way (I say that, but I mean 'legacy') as these are backed up onto rotating removable USB disks for off-site storage, however I researched this aspect and found that it was something that Veeam was able to do. We have the following backup jobs set: 1. Server OS - Windows Agent Backup 2. VM1 - Hyper-V Backup 3. VM2 - Hyper-V Backup 4. File Share - File Backup So, the main issue is that since returning from the holidays I have swapped the disks (obviously the previous disk had been attached for just over a week) and one of last nights backup jobs (File Share - File Backup) failed with the following error: "Error: Failed to perform incremental file version check" I'm not sure if leaving the previous disk attached for so long has meant that Veeam is unable to process the 320GB of files to check for incremental changes, but I'd presumed it was up to that task and also there wouldn't have been many (if any) file changes in the staff share over the holiday. I've put that error into Google and come back with zero hits, so either I'm the first person to ever have this issue or everybody else managed to sort it out without asking the internet... I've done a 'Health Check' and it didn't report any errors, but this is my first big server back-up experience with Veeam, so I don't really know what I'm doing... I've manually retried the job multiple times this morning but had some strange and varied results (all ultimately failing). 03/01/2024 19:36:57 :: Backed up 225 files and 144 folders (515 MB) - 03/01/2024 19:37:00 : Error 0 of 225 files processed : Job finished with error at 03/01/2024 19:36:59 04/01/2024 07:44:58 :: Backed up 0 files and 41144 folders (0 B) 04/01/2024 08:02:55 :: Backed up 2 files and 2 folders (330 B) 04/01/2024 08:09:24 :: Backed up 0 files and 2 folders (0 B)

Was someone a little bit exited to see what Santa had brought?

Just to add (as it's too late to edit my previous post). The original 'faulty' (but now apparently not faulty) Corsair case cable came this close >< to going in my WEEE collection pile, but I saved it at the last moment (because, you never know)! Good thing too as the collection driver chanced his arm on an earlier collection time (08:00) than we were originally given (09:00) as he was on 'job and finish' and we were his only collection for the day. I wasn't at work yet and the site agent let him in... shame really as I wanted one last pick over the bones! Couple of things I'd decided to actually keep and a couple of things that really should have gone in, but didn't. Ah well, time to start hoarding for next time!

Just to bring this to its ultimate conclusion (and for anyone else that searches for answers and never finds them)... https://xkcd.com/979/ To answer this I'll share a couple of other posts and whilst not a definitive answer (I gave up searching after I saw them and realised it was very likely true), they seem to suggest that this motherboard from HP (ms 7826 ver 1.0 - KAILI) uses a 'unique' pinout for the USB 3.0 headers and only the cable that came with its original case will work, any aftermarket cable or case using the standardised pinout for its front USB 3.0 ports cable probably won't. Unfortunately I only found these posts after I'd purchased the replacement cable (thinking the one supplied with my Corsair case was faulty) and found it didn't work either, giving exactly the same symptoms! https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktops-Archive-Read-Only/KAILI-MS-7826-USB-3-0-ports/td-p/6074682

So, what is the problem with has been suggested? Their AD account will be disabled, their laptop will be returned and wiped, their iPad will be returned and wiped and the Google account will be moved to an OU with no access to anything other than their GMail account. We don't use Google as much as some other schools and we don't have it integrated with anything, or have any staff file shares on it (in fact we barely use it at all, only for some computing lessons as the 'consultant' who provided all the computing curriculum resources/planning decided that's the way we should go)... so, no 'safeguarding' information. Although I understand there's guidance to stop the wholesale opening up of sensitive data to 'all and sundry' and in the most extreme case of a data breach that can be traced back to this users email account I guess we would be in trouble, but in this case I'm not seeing any reason for the spectre of Ofsted to be mentioned and I don't see them suddenly swooping in like an FBI sting operation to hang a big 'inadequate' banner on the gates (I mean there's nobody sitting in a van outside monitoring all our communications)... Oh, who's that outside the window... Wait... FLASHBANG!!!! Sorry... too much Counterstrike last night...

Long story, but as the title says I'm looking for a way to 'downgrade' a Google Workspace account to email only. A member of SLT is leaving this week, they've been here 16 years since starting their teaching 'journey' and so this is absolutely massive for both them and for the school (they are well liked and bring a great deal to the school in terms of leadership, T&L and general school/teachery type stuff)... However, I reminded them that on the day of their leaving all accounts would be deleted including all their work, both on the server and in Google also that their laptop and iPad would be collected and wiped... Well this brought about a mini meltdown as they pretty much have their whole life's work on the server and on their laptop (I understand they are under a lot of stress to get everything done and sorted before they leave and they do have quite a lot of responsibilities). Anyway, we've pretty much got it all sorted and then I dropped the bombshell about them not being able to access GMail either... well the thing is they are in the middle of mentoring an NQT and have quite a few loose ends with various other organisations. Unfortunately having spoken to the Head I've been told to leave the account as is because of the above (but it's against policy so I'll get it in a written confirmation). I thought about forwarding but their new school hasn't set-up an email account for them (maybe I could move their account into some sort of OU with only GMail enabled?). I can't even suspend their account, because I don't think you could suspend a user and still have their mail forwarded?

Until everybody who wants to stream films this week reads this and their switchboard gets jammed...

Yeah, I'd forgotten about it but as the end of term approaches the streaming of films (can I use my Disney+/Amazon Prime/Netflix account etc.) is becoming a heavily requested thing (come back laptops with DVD players)! I've emailed them and used the 'contact us' form with no reply...

Anyone?

Not sure that's feasible for those of us without Data Centre licensing. However, having said that, SQL sever seems not to need any activation and although it has a serial key, it comes preinstalled in any MVLSC download. Although I don't see it listed separately on our VLSC and I can't see any 'activations' for it... I've recently had to install a 2nd SQL server version for Veeam on a server that used to host SIMS (and still has the original SQL 2014 installed but dormant). Seems to work OK so far although the SIMS SQL has been 'turned off' so YMMV. Also MS says it's fine from the skim read I did on this help page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/install/work-with-multiple-versions-and-instances-of-sql-server?view=sql-server-ver16

Just trying to get my head round what I 'need' to download here as there's now quite a bewildering (to me anyway) choice... Servers = 2019 Clients = 1809 On the DC if I create a 'Windows Update' GPO, in 'Configure Automatic Updates' I have the following options: These I presume are from the Central Store.... If (still on the DC - or actually any other client) I run GPEDIT.MSC and go to the same policy setting, I get these options (notice an added No.7): These I presume are from the local computers Group Policy settings. I kind of like the sound of No.7 and want to push this setting out to my servers, but if it isn't an option I'm guessing the local clients have ADMX that are updated and so I need to get these from MS and update my central store. Checking on the MS site the latest ADMX specifically for 1809 are these: "Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 October 2018 Update (1809)" But I'm pretty sure I've updated the central store in the last 5 years, so why do my clients seem to have other options in their local ADMX than I have in the central store? Should I just always update the server's central store with the latest Windows 10 (Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 2022 Update (22H2)) ADMX even if I don't have any clients on that version?

Yeah the whole buy a new one debate is another thing though... I enjoy getting old hardware up and running mostly from parts I have lying around (apart from the odd unique connector/adapter) so it's worth £3 over £20 if you see what I mean, not that I don't have the money... but it's not about that. It's more of a hobby really and just to see if I can... I actually miss the days of computer building as it's where I started really (don't really miss the troubleshooting random issues though lol), so the last few have been prebuilt/refurbished etc. Also, for this machine out of 5 SATA data ports, 3 are used up by a 'storage spaces pool', 1 for the OS disk and one for the OD. So I'm swapping out the SATA OD for an old IDE one (that only has a Molex power connector) to free up a data port because I want to add another disk to the storage spaces pool.

I'm trying to get a few old systems up and running with various parts being moved around and I'm stuck with a DVD ROM/RW which needs Molex power and a PSU with only SATA... Searching on the web and the first few results are about being very careful as these connectors are known to burn down your house! So, not going for a £0.50 no brand version from Ebay, I found these (I'm leaning towards the socket type from Scan, but I'm also thinking the wired version on Amazon looks better than some I've seen and would StarTech really risk their reputation - such as it is - on something potentially dangerous?): https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-Molex-Power-Cable-Adapter/dp/B00GK8SYCW https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-rb-413-sata-15-pin-to-4-pin-molex-converter-adapter

Yeah I'd just done a little bit of 'research' (I'm not spending too much of my evening worrying about it though, just wanting to get a bit of a head start) and found a post that seemed to suggest it's quite a mission to schedule/create a meeting link on the web version... https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/how-to-create-a-teams-meeting-in-outlook-web-app/ebf6d7fb-1495-4134-9e84-79f8cce9c76a

After school today I received an email from a member of SLT saying that one of teachers has a university assessment on Wednesday. The strange thing is they have asked the teacher to create a Teams link for the professional discussion... We don't use Teams as a school although we do kind of have an O365 tenant (not used in anger though) so I guess it's possible. Years ago I made the effort to install it for the one or two users that needed it, but since then I've told them to use the web version as mostly it was just joining other people's meetings. So, I looked into deployment and it got a bit confusing. Teams classic or new, msi or exe, machine wide or user install...? I guess that although the teachers laptops are quite locked down, the per user 'appdata' install gets around that and won't need admin, so do I just create them as a user on our O365 tenant and let them get on with it? Or is it just easier to use the web version to create a Teams meeting link? At least I got a whole days notice, which is better than the usual 5 minutes, or we need this now...

Ah, yes it is in there as you said. I'd just found it and came back to add this when I saw your reply! I was looking for how to do the 'Online Service Activation for Open programs' and stumbled across this: Your Products > Volume Licensing > View Contracts > Three Dots next to appropriate 'contract' > View Product keys

Thanks! So... Your Products > Volume Licensing > Contracts (View Contracts) > Click 3 Dots (because that's obvious) > View License Summary > 'Your License Summary is being prepared' > View License Summary.... Ummmm... I have to say, it's not feeling that intuitive to me... EDIT: Is the 'activation' amount somewhere on this page, think I'm missing something?