Gongalong

And on the topic of ads... Microsoft has been caught testing ads in the Windows 11 File Explorer

We have an app/website for the parents where they can check and update details, but it was more a question of whether it was a specific requirement or not.

Hi folks, Our main server UPS failed this morning, which was fun (it won’t switch on, so it remains to be seen if it’s completely terminal. An HP R/T3000). What was plugged into the UPS is now into mains power pending a replacement – not ideal, but not much choice. The UPS itself is coming up on 7 years and due for replacement in the Summer. We were told by the supplier that 7 years would be fine (our previous UPSs were used for 7 years), and no alerts were showing on the UPS prior to this. We have had some electrical work done here, including downtime of power, but we were careful to shut down servers and the UPS so it wasn’t drained flat. Just wanted to pick brains as to whether we could have done anything else to predict this? Was leaving it 7 years too long? Thanks

Yes, our MDM provider (Mosyle) said it can't be done via a profile, but potentially via a custom script. They just don't have any examples of scripts for doing it.

Is there a way to set the default keyboard as this for all users? I've checked with Mosyle, who provide our MDM, and they say it's not possible. I spotted that if I add the British - PC keyboard for my account, and remove the Mac British keyboard, other accounts still have the Mac British keyboard as their default.

Ahhh, that explains it! Thanks, that worked. It's called "British - PC".

Hi All, Is it possible to get a wired UK Logitech (K120 in this case) keyboard working properly with an iMac? When connecting the keyboard I get a prompt to specify where the backslash key is. I've insured that under System Prefs > Keyboard > Input Sources, the keyboard is set to British. However when typing " I get an @ symbol, and vice versa. I can't spot anything useful via Google. Is there a way to get it to work? Thanks

@TheRobins Can you encrypt the backups? I'm guessing yes, but just to double check. Thanks

I've checked and it's not enabled. For the two PCs in question I did refresh DHCP and DNS, and could see that both showed a record for a particular desktop, but a laptop I was trying to deploy software to had the IP address. I checked IPCONFIG on the laptop and it showed as having received a DHCP lease from the correct server. I didn't check at the time whether the desktop was still switched on, but its lease was valid to something like 22nd Dec.

Hi folks, I inherited the DHCP/DNS setup here, and for the most part it's been fine. We have a single (Windows 2019) DHCP server, and two DNS servers. The only issue I had previously was that DHCP didn't have any credentials to update DNS, which caused issues updating SIMS clients, but that's all fixed now. I've just spotted an issue today though that a lease was given out to a laptop, but on the DHCP server the lease was shown as given to another (desktop) PC, and isn't expiring until the 22nd December. This caused issues with deploying some software. Questions: 1. Is an 8 day lease time fairly standard? Perhaps I should be reducing this to say 1 day. We haven't hit the scope limit as far as I'm aware. 2. Should I enable Name Protection? This is currently disabled, although I don't really see this as the cause of why a current lease was given out to a different computer. 3. How do I troubleshoot how the laptop was given a lease that was already showing for this different desktop PC? Thanks

I think that the Maths teachers are saying it's the last few days/weeks, but I'll double check with them.

Hi folks, Anyone else out there using Hegarty Maths? We’re finding the site unstable e.g. sometimes pages won’t open, videos won’t open or pause partway through. Initially I thought it was our Smoothwall, but I get a similar albeit perhaps somewhat better behaviour on a non-Smoothwall internet connection. (I’ve tested on the Smoothwall by whitelisting hegartymaths.com and also added test PCs as exceptions, which doesn’t seem to make any difference) Hegarty say they’ve had no other reports. Thanks

Battery Group seem to get reasonable reviews. The pack itself has a few YouTube reviews, albeit mostly in the context of coupling with solar panels for charging, but they seem positive. I think we'll give it a whirl.

Hi folks, Any experts in non-fuel generators out there? We would like one to power a few items at an outdoor theatre, and this is the favourite https://batterygroup.co.uk/batteries-by-application/motorhomes-rv/supply-batteries/11952/ecoflow-delta-portable-battery-power-station-1260wh I have asked those involved to add up the power ratings of all that they need to connect to double check it's the right thing. Any other recommendations? Thanks

@TheRobins Does it allow you to narrow down to which Teams you want to backup?

Are you using Active Backup, and do you think it's ransomware proof e.g. allows you to restore a Team's files back to an earlier point?

Hi folks, I'm looking for a cheap and cheerful solution to backup 365, essentially Teams and OneDrive. Essentially it's for recovery in a disaster situation, such as a ransomware attack. Is anyone out there using a Synology NAS with Active Backup for this? I wanted to be sure it's capable of recovery post-ransomware i.e. it can revert back to an earlier snapshot of a Team and then restore it easily, and/or are there any other gotchas with use. Thanks

I installed 365 Current Channel on 1809 LTSC and it works. I contacted MS Support, just to check that I wasn't missing something, and their adamant that 365 is supported on LTSC. They even sent me the above link which says it's not, so I pointed this out to them, and they replied back again to say it was supported ♂️

Thanks. I've gone back 7 days (which seems to be the maximum, but the only thing showing is a "Register Device" activity.

Hi Folks, I have a recurring issues with the 365 apps license is "disappearing" from random student accounts. I get a report that the student can't login to an Office app, I check the admin console and... the license has become unticked. Anyone else getting this? Not a disaster so far as it's only affected 5 out of around 1,000 students, more just annoying so far. I'm not aware of any mechanism the students could use to remove the license. Thanks

I've not tried to install 365 on LTSC, so I don't know whether it actually prevents it, or there's just that risk of instability (or do you not get security updates?).

Seems crazy to me that they don't support the Office 365 apps on *any* LTSC build of Windows 10 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/office-365-system-requirements-updates

Microsoft updated their release information page to say that the 2032 date is for IoT only.

We used 4k UHD cables at a shorter length, and had problems from 5m+. We only need cable lengths up to around 7.5m, but the laptops won't push much beyond 5m+ in 4k. As above, we're only using full HD laptops, so when duplicating the screen would be quite happy to send at full HD. The problem is the laptop driver sends the image at 4k @ 60Hz.

Yep. So why not both 10 years, and why not report them correctly? Sigh.