Koldov

We haven't used that site (but haven't needed to reset anything or get passwords). These sites are still up, do they not have what you need? https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk and https://techsource.computacenter.com/en/login

Thanks for clarifying, we don't do exams here on laptops (assessments sometimes but these are done on the IT suite computers) and certainly nothing in the realm of destroying futures and getting sued if something goes wrong! If that were the case I'd have them all plugged into their own UPS and that directly wired into a fused spur...

Interesting @Arthur although I note that in both of these cases the defendants were prosecuted for assault/battery/ABH (which I believe in general spitting on someone is anyway) etc. Rather than for any crime specifically relating to knowingly attempting to spread an infectious (potentially life threatening) disease. I literally couldn't think of being bored by having to stay at home for a week but then I am more than happy to amuse myself, I spent the whole of yesterday just working on my music (and I could happily do that for a week/month/year/rest of my life)! I will admit I struggled in the first lockdown (as the OH will testify to), not with boredom obviously but it was more to do with abruptly losing my routine... with no warning or time to prepare (I didn't think I would need to as my risk was minimal because the school was only open for front line workers at the time), I was just summoned to the Head's office and told to go home! Also made worse by the fact that within a day I was emailed and asked to set-up a full Google Workspace from scratch (luckily I had actually done a little prep)...

How long are these exams? How many students are taking exams on laptops at any one time? Are the batteries not to be trusted in those laptops? Would it not be worth buying brand new batteries and having them fully charged?

To be honest problems like this annoy me... It would appear to be fairly common and therefore you'd think by now enough people would have dealt with it and it would have a specific and well known point of failure and a fix (apart from slap it) even if that is replace the screen/mainboard, which should be widely advertised and at least be in the first few Google* search hits! *other internet search engines available...

OK, so I'm not going to say I Googled that for you.... but I did. https://www.google.com/search?q=ipad+screen+faulty&tbm=isch&ictx=1&tbs=rimg:Ca7s9xt8m8i3Igiu7PcbfJvItyoSCa7s9xt8m8i3ESXAYHG6VsNn&hl=en-GB&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwii3eeV27P2AhXTlFwKHdqjA6AQiRx6BAgAEAQ&biw=1263&bih=881 Not saying you haven't already, but just to note that it seems a very common problem. As in the 'slap on the back approach' some do mention pressure on the rear case helps, but most say the fix is intermittent/comes back once switched off/clears itself after a while. Can't see any software approach helping what appears to be a hardware/component issue (might not even be screen, but mainboard related)... If I saw this on any other screen I would presume it was and no point unless it was still worth it to you.

Had a bit of strange situation with my OH's friend recently... Two weeks ago my OH and her friend were supposed to meet up but a couple of days before, the friend messaged to say that her husband had tested positive. She had tested negative but cancelled anyway (obviously). A week later she still tested negative, so they rearranged for the following week... However, she messaged again a couple of days before the new date to say she had tested positive! Now, there's no way to prove 100% she contracted it from her husband (she's very careful when out and about), but if so, it just goes to show that with the full incubation and infectious periods (x + y days as estimates vary) if you get infected from someone right at the end of their infectious period and then incubate it yourself for x days, it could be up to 2 weeks after someone in your household tests positive that you start showing any signs of having contracted it (unless you are asymptomatic)... and then at least another week until your infectious period passes... She is vaccinated, but is also feeling quite rough unfortunately.

Yes, the Dell ones do seem to be specifically built for the job! "Latitude 3190 11 Inch Laptop for Students | Dell UK "An 11.6-inch laptop that provides a cost-effective solution for student-led learning, built with the best-in-class durability to withstand every school day." Not a lot of love for them in previous posts... small display and 64GB eMMC Hard Drive...?

Similar to this thread from @localzuk ...? http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/226607-installing-windows-10-acer-travelmate-p214-53-m-2-ssd.html#post1942776

I got the email at 13:43 yesterday, luckily sitting at my desk at the time and had ordered by 14:00 (it only took that long because I needed to remember all the log-in details as the BM usually does it, but I knew I couldn't hang around). It did say whilst ordering it would be checked against stock and may not be available, it also has the disclaimer on the order confirmation (so not counting my chickens just yet)...

We also have 2 x APC 1000 SMART UPS on our servers and switches, both are now over 11 years old (as I've been here that long and they were here when I started). I've had to replace a couple of batteries, but these are big chunky stand alone units not rack based.

A bit like the more horrible tasting a medicine is, the better for you it is...? But actually I wondered about this... as in would that mean if you actually caught Covid, you would end up like one of those who got it really bad (as in the body's immune response causes a lot of the damage)? I know there was a lot of hearesay/old wives tales/conjecture/urban myth in the beginning about this sort of thing, I wonder if there's enough evidence now to prove it one way or the other...? And as usual the interwebs have conflicting 'facts' but... "Scientists haven’t identified any relationship between the initial inflammatory reaction and the long-term response that leads to protection. There’s no scientific proof that someone with more obvious side effects from the vaccine is then better protected from COVID-19. And there’s no reason that having an exaggerated innate response would make your adaptive response any better." https://theconversation.com/no-vaccine-side-effects-dont-tell-you-how-well-your-immune-system-will-protect-you-from-covid-19-158728 But possibly due to a previous infection... "A stronger response may indicate evidence of an increased immune response." https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/vaccine-after-effects-more-common-in-those-who-already-had-covid

Great, sounds like my kind of thing!

Got another email yesterday for a few more devices (only Windows laptops and Chromebooks available). Went for the Windows laptops, so HP 245 G8 - 14" - Athlon Silver 3050U - 4 GB RAM - 128 GB SSD Looks like that might be the last of the scheme...?

Only seen a quick trailer... anything like 'The Boys/Doom Patrol/Jupiter's Legacy but on steroids...?

We struggled with this for a few years after our ICT Co-ordinator left and nobody really wanted to take up the challenge... We had previously bought a series of books from Rising Stars called 'Switched on Computing' (formerly Switched on ICT, but changed to reflect the 'computing' curriculum I guess). The trouble with them was the fact that they required quite a lot of random software to be sourced and installed on the machines (with different software/programs for each year group) and by the time we got to using the books, some had stopped being freeware/required license installation, changed version (so now instructions didn't work), or just plain didn't exist anymore. Now, we all know that at the best of times even 'educational' software can cause numerous headaches to get working in an educational environment. So, it was a real pain to deal with for the teachers as none of them were particularly IT literate and although the books had instructions, if you don't know the software dealing with issues becomes a chore. Anyway, I could rant about that for a few more pages but suffice to say we went down the 'all in one' web based learning platform route and subscribed to Purple Mash. The Head knew we didn't really have anyone to take ownership of the subject and really just wanted a 'paint by numbers' experience that everyone could follow to satisfy the computing curriculum with the least amount of hassle. So far, I have only been called to the ICT suite once (as the little darlings had entered a code to play a sound 500 times and it crashed the machine - YMMV), so it's a winner for me!

Everyday I kick myself just a little harder for not signing up for a new fixed rate a couple of months ago when it was £80 per month, because I thought that was too expensive.... I've got to just forget about it as it's doing my head in and just resign myself to the fact that all my hard earned savings will be gone in the next year or so... I guess I'd got too relaxed and forgot that I should be living like there's going to be a war/famine/flood/pandemic around every corner... Still could be worse... First World problems.... Eh? Oh, yeah, those are becoming First World problems now too aren't they... EDIT: Just checked and the latest offer for a fixed rate is £180 per month...

Funnily enough I was just trying this on my laptop (as it DOES NOT have the reg edit) and experienced the same thing! Sometimes it goes to the video, sometimes it goes to the 'Your browser is up to date' page... even without the reg edit! Then I tried with the suggestion from @raspberryhead and that worked... and then adding back in the ?v= it still worked everytime... So 100% some sort of caching going on.

This... Posted about this sort of thing yesterday! http://www.edugeek.net/forums/behind-red-door/86953-request-week-439.html#post1942787

I would normally say something like 'Grabs Popcorn' at this point to sit and wait for the outcome, but seriously I'd be waiting like...

7 times in a row, so far... still going!

Very clever, that's a great simple, manual solution (and reasonably quick and easy to do)! @cheaptonersucks - Now you can pass this back to admin/teaching staff... it's not even remotely an IT job (not that it ever was), still hope you get points for finding out a solution!

Interesting read and discussion points: https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o461

I've put no, but it comes with a caveat... We use Kyocera MFDs, but these are through a 3rd party provider and they don't seem to have an issue sending us 'compatible' toners. Or maybe this is why they are sending compatible toners...? We haven't needed any parts fixed/replaced recently that I know of, but the 3rd party supplier also supports, so I'm not really involved. If something goes wrong one of the receptionists/admin staff call them and they just come and fix it.

Loopback, this is for GPO policies that only have a computer setting that you want to apply to a user? Will a Computer GPO with loopback show as a User policy in RSOP/GPRESULT...? Sorry I've never used loopback, all my computers are in Computer OUs with Computer GPOs and users in user OUs with User GPOs... Never really knew why, but I've just always done it this way, it's very basic I guess, but just easier for me (and we have a very small uncomplicated network). I haven't found anything that I've needed to make it more complicated yet, I don't even use WMI filtering.