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Aston Tower Primary School are advertising this vacancy. (I believe applications close end of next week and interview before end of term to take up post in Sept, but check with ad.) Advertised by B'ham Council and on E-Briefing. Or email school [email protected]

Aston Tower Primary School are advertising this vacancy. (I believe applications close end of next week and interview before end of term to take up post in Sept, but check with ad.) Advertised by B'ham Council and on E-Briefing. Or email school [email protected]

Can I just chip in about this password? I too was a bit horrified when I first found out about it, but once I tried to type in my new password, it is simple. As long as your password has at least 3 letter and 3 digits (as mine already did "qaz123") you simply type it twice, once with the shift key pressed and once without.

Thought this post me be of interest here. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows/113238-i-take-back-windows-me-great.html

Have a look at this Phoenix barcode reader and QuickTrak software.] Junior Librarian is fine, but much too expensive for us. I haven't used the QuickTrak yet, but the reader is dead simple & just works as another keyboard with any software.

In a lesson recently I heard a teacher briefing her class (yr6) to do research (use google.) She very commendably warned them that they should think about what they found and not just copy it, because internet sources are not reliable (excellent so far) and particularly Wikipedia. This really grabbed my attention as I'm a great fan of Wikipedia. It is often my first port of call for non-commercial information and I use it so much that I even feel obliged to contribute to their annual appeal. I am well aware of the enormous amount of twaddle on the internet - I contribute some of it myself! But even if W is not all solid rock, I feel on firm ground with maybe the odd pothole, usually well signed. In fact I sometimes wonder if they're not a bit overcautious, when I see hoards of "needs citation" tags by things, some of which I've regarded as facts for donkeys years. Having spotted few errors in text books over the years, I'd thought W is at least as good as a public library. And if I can't relax at least a little bit in W, are there any web sites you do trust? What do others think?

Quick Q to M25man. Why 3 spatial streams in, " buy UAP Pros ONLY if you have 5Ghz clients capable of using 3 x spatial streams"? Are there no benefits of putting some users (eg iPads, which is 50% of my clients) onto a second radio and reducing the load on the 2.4GHz band? Is not 5GHz less subject to interference which reduces they effective capacity of 2.4GHz? I see the big cost difference and support his sensible frugality, but if the alternative is a fully managed or blanket system, then the cost of Unifi Pro still looks very attractive to me. I could replace every AP in the school with Unfi Pro for less than a third of the lowest quote for one of them.

I'm having a little problem in Explorer. My network places (on a curriculum domain machine) does not show our admin domain and can't browse to it. Fine, some do, some don't. But when I try to type in the domain to get the folder I want, Explorer just erases my typing (before I've finished) and puts My Computer again. It does not matter whether i put the name of the server or it's IP address. Sometimes it lets me type several characters, but sometimes it deletes it after the first character (\) I type. If anyone knows why it does this or how to get round it, I'd be grateful.

While you are all here, I have a much simpler problem. Where do I find the Shutdown Event Tracker records? I'm having a bit of a problem with unexpected shutdowns (on a Win 2008 server) so I'd like to locate these events precisely. But I can't find any relevant records in Event Log. MS Help is great about telling me how to record the reasons for planned shutdowns and how to record unexpected shutdowns when I restart, but no use at all when I want to find this information later. If it is in an event log, which? whats the ID? and what's the source? Please, anyone.

This is very helpful. We had several old promethean boards replaced about 3 years ago, but since we had no software (or anything!) with them, we continued using the activ primary 3 which was installed for the old boards. Now we are replacing the old pcs with win7 laptops, we need to install some iwb software and this looks like a good possibility. However, following the link to support.prometheanplanet.com gets a page which asks for our serial number. when i put it in, it always says invalid. I had assumed that the abv380pro board is a "type 300" board, but am I wrong? If I am, is there any software available for the 380 board? btw the contact technical support form appears to be temporarily out of order - it lets you fill in the form, but nothing happens when you finish.

As a result of replacing an admin server, I have a spare server machine which actually is better the the DC on the school NW. Therfore I would like to remove it from the admin domain and put it on the school domain, as a file server at least - possibly as a BDC. Since it is better in every way than the current PDC, I suppose the more functions I transfer the better. Question: what do I need to buy in the way of licences? It currently has 10 CALs just for SMT & admin staff: the school server has 150 per machine CALs. Never having had more than 1 server on a domain, I've never had to buy more than 1 CAL per client. For domains with multiple servers, does one need multiple CALs per client? School PDc is 2003 Server, as is the redundant admin server. (The new admin server will be 2008 Server and will have new CALs for that.)

Thanks. I did try putting on a .exe extension, but that did not work. Todays downloads came in different sizes, 68413kB, 71,625kB and 159.359kB. All did manage to keep a .exe extension, though the second added the usual [1]. The 159,359 one is the right size and runs as a .exe, so I'll try that. (It may be that the problem yesterday was due to downloading directly to the target PC. But it was odd that the files all got [1] added (in 3 different directories), all got the .exe removed and the one I tried would still not run even with the .exe put back on.)

Very simple question: what do they mean when they say "install" the software? We have some ABV378 boards which replaced older Promethean AP2 or 3 boards. They came with no software and people continued to use AP2/3 or non-Promethean IWB programs. Now a teacher has come with some ActivInspire flipcharts from another school and wants to be able to use it. I found there was some free promethean software on their Planet wbsite and tried to down load it. Following their KB10416 instructions, I eventually managed to get as far as page 4/7, where it says, "Once you have downloaded the software, install it on your computer, and you are readt tc...." "To get started, open the software." After several attempts at downloading, I got several files, all named, "ActivInspireSuite_v1.5.33368_en_GB_setup[1]", 89.638MB, of type (though I think this is Windows being silly, as there is no real extension) "33368_en_GB_setup" This, I assume, is "the software", but I am completely baffled by the instruction to "install it" on my computer. I understand the concept of installation - copying various files to the appropriate directories in the file hierarchy, editing some of them with local data, making or modifying registry entries in Windows and sometimes running executable files contained in "the software" - but non of this seems applicable to this file. I don't know where to copy it to: the places I've tried, like "Program files", "Users", "C:\" hasn't achieved anything. I don't know what changes to make to the file or to the registry. I can't read the file in Edit or Wordpad. The file is not executable, even if given an .exe , .com or .bat extension. Winzip can't read it. ActivPrimary3 can't read it (it is apparently some sort of upgrade to AP3.) I'm getting to the end of my notion of installation, so when they say, "install it", what do they actually want me to do? It reminds me of what I think when I hear teachers telling pupils to "learn" something for homework. I know when I have learnt something, because I remember it. But I've no idea how or why sometimes I learn things and other times don't. So I often wonder what the teacher expects the pupils to actually DO in order that they shall have learnt whatever it is by the next lesson.

I've just started installing AEIPF on Win7pro laptops. Failed at first, but using compatibility setting for XP it seemed to install fine. Also Easiteach. But although they appear to work and bring up the right data on screen, they refuse to export to .doc files - in fact they don't refuse, they say they are doing it and have completed the export, but there is nothing there (not even an empty file. Nothing.) I thought at first it might be due to the non-existent directory it tries to put them into by default, but changing this makes no difference. No one has tried editing the plans yet, so I don't know if this works. For the moment I've just exported every weekly plan, activity summary and TA notes using an XP machine (quite a big job, but not impracticable.) Teachers copy the sections they use onto their laptops and edit & printout as they want. Totally nullifies the point of Abacus Evolve, but they are very happy with it, as hardly anyone ever used the features of AEIPF anyhow and now they get their documents much quicker.

(1)It's just that if the board itself had died, wouldnt the SVideo and sound still work?! (Little Miss) (2)Only the PSU's can go in here - the other stuff (SVideo / VGA / COM) are just a "link through" cables. ... ...it is extremely rare that the boards will completely die - normally, if you've no power at all, it is the PSU,(CmssBrie) No doubt it is rare, but if power is getting to the sound (from the PSU) surely it can't be the PSU at fault? Although the projector stays on come what may, the red/green light on the sound switch goes on & off as you connect / disconnect the PSU, but the board and the flame of learning stays stubbornly off. I think the projector is totally irrelevant - it has mains power, but no extra low Voltage DC. I think the sound is the key: if all USB / serial cables are removed (or connected only to the PSU), then power to the sound is only coming from the PSU. Therefore the problem is either the board or the connection from the sound to the board. What would be useful, would be a wiring diagram, so that one could check that all the cables are in the correct places. The flexes (and any cables) are so inaccessible that it seems unlikely anyone would move them, but on one of our height adjustable boards, as the board moves up and down, it pulls it's own plug out. The first time I spotted this, I just had a dangling lead and it was pure trial and error finding which of the empty sockets it went into.

I am in a similar situation to Darren and am considering fitting a SATA card & single 500GB drive. I did wonder whether it would be worth fitting 3 drives and a RAID card, but could not find a PCI card which did more than 2 internal drives. What I'm wondering is, does 2 drive mirroring work? If a disk fails completely, presumably one *might* be able to read from the other. But if one drive corrupts data, how does the controller know which one is right? When we asked for quotes to replace our existing server (with 3 SCSI drive RAID), no one suggested either SCSI or RAID (including the supplier of our existing server, who presumably recommended it 5 years ago.) I'm beginning to wonder why. Has anyone here ever recovered data from any RAID array with a faulty drive?

I have many laptop PSUs with damaged low Voltage plugs/leads. Since new PSUs cost anything from £20 - £70, I offered to fit new plugs @ £2. Our new school manager thought this was not a good idea from a legal liability poit of view. In the past I did all sorts of repairs and wiring. I've stopped mains wiring now, because by the time you've paid to have it certified, you might as well let a contractor do it and self-certify. But I had continued to do anything at Extra Low Voltage. I just wondered, what happens elsewhere?

For what it may be worth: We have bought 15 Toshiba laptops each year for the last 3 years. 2006 - Tecra A3, 2007 SatPro L20, 2008 Sat Pro L100. Only 5 of the L20s are still useable, due to broken keys. Two of the Tecras have lost a key, 6 L100s have lost one or more keys, 2 L100s have broken screens. I can't attach any statistical significance to this because the Tecras are mainly used by yrs 2,3 & 4, but the SatPros are used mainly by yrs 5 & 6 and staff! As a personal opinion, the Tecras are my favourites. The batteries gave 4hrs when new and still give 1 - 2 hours use after 3 yrs. The screens are matt and therefore much more viewable in unfavourable lighting than the horrible 'CrystalBright' screens on current SatPros. Their biggest fault is the wireless switch on the side, which is easily changed accidentally. All our laptops have the problem that the power socket is on the side. We have had to replace several power packs because the plugs get damaged (and cables cut, in one with sliding trays) as they are put into the trolley. (Two of our trolleys would allow you to put the laptop in sideways to avoid this, but then you can't easily see the leds to check if they are charged/charging/on.) A cupboard I have seen elsewhere avoids this problem, by standing the laptop on its side and leaving a decent clearance above or behind for the power lead: I don't know if there is a trolley with this design. Two of our trolleys have doors on opposite sides. One has a double door on one side, which means it can be placed against a wall or even in a corner: this is better for us, but if you can place it in an open space, you may prefer the others.

Thanks for the comments. I agree with what you've said. But I must apologise: I hadn't meant it seriously, just sharing my "what is the world coming to!" moment. Obviously I won't be saying anything to them, if I get an interview. The salary they're offering is so ridiculously high, they can be a bunch of chimpanzees for all I'd care! (In fact I know the boss, who's a pretty smart cookie, but I guess documents like this have been delegated several layers down.) Anyhow, I must get back to copying my application form data into their application proforma.

I am just looking at the person specification for a job I'm applying for. One of the items says, "Ability to communicate clearly and effectively both on paper and in writing" Can anyone tell me what they're getting at? It's the "both" that puzzles me. The only thing that occurs to me is they send text electronically, but pictures have to be printed out.

Here, Ranger does this for me (option tick box.) Previously I used a script, but did not have individual shares, so I'm not sure how I would do this. I guess adding a Net Share line to the script would do the necessary, but I've never used the Net Share command.

Are there any costs/benefits in performance, from having many shares like 1 per user for home dirs compared with having few shares on a server and using subdirs of a share for users' homes? In a similar vein, are there any reasons not to have many security groups to facilitate tailoring users' environments? I remember in earlier times being given dire warnings against having too many or too long ACLs in NT and against having large numbers of subdirs especialy in the root directory. I guess these worries have long since disappeared in the enormous increases in RAM and processing speed. But network response times still seem to be an issue, so I like to know the price I am paying for any changes I make.

Last year we reached IWB in every classroom, hall and library, so now we have started replacing the smaller ones with larger ones. No boards (TDS /Promethean) have yet failed, but several projectors have needed replacement and I expect more projector failures. The board replacement policy is a teacher policy. I am much more concerned to replace projectors: many (Sanyo SW 20,30,35) are deteriorating (misconvergence, poor & very uneven illumination, not improved by new bulbs) and I would like to move up to XGA resolution.

I have some sympathy with you. It is better to avoid problems if you can. But I have two fundamental principles: Firstly, as far as I am concerned, I am there to do what teachers want. Right or wrong, easy or hard (even impossible?) - I can advise, but in the end they ARE the boss. Secondly, the hours of tech support time are not mine, but the school,s. They can use them for whatever they want - that's why they pay me. I do think some of my time is wasted by poor policies and management, but teachers have a very difficult job and can't get everything right. When they annoy me, I try to remember that if they get stressed, they've still got to spend the day working with 30 kids: better for the kids if I get the problems and work on them quietly on my own. And moneywise it's probably better to waste an hour of my time than have a teacher spend 10 minutes of their time. Just like anyone else I don't always enjoy my job and doing jobs I think unnecessary or a waste is one of the bad parts. But when I worked somewhere IT was run by the IT "support", I enjoyed that a lot less. I have to agree with this, but still say, it is up to the teachers, not us,to decide what is best for all. As far as laptops for pupils are concerned, if they understand the issues and likely problems, they can decide whether that's the best way to spend their money. If they don't "waste" it on laptops, they may well waste it on something else: just look around your school at what they else spend money on. (I was looking for computers for a new computer room recently and worrying about a 20% difference in quotes, when I noticed that in the overall plan, the benches they sat on cost more than the computers and the refurbishment of the room cost 10x as much. I stopped worrying! They went way over budget, but no one worried.) Don.

Just listening to RI Xmas lectures and heard an explanation of data compression which explained how numbers 0-31 can be represented in 5 bits (this followed an earlier explanation of natural binary showing 0-15 represented by 4 bits and 0-1023 by ten bits.) Since natural binary represents 0-31 in 5 bits, this does not seem a very convincing explanation of data compression. Does anyone know of a good, simple explanation of data compression? Don.