jmak

Our printers are so old that they don't have scan to SharePoint, so we have set up scan to email and a power automate flow to move the scans to a SharePoint folder.

There's also device based activation which doesn't require users to log in (unlike shared computer activation). It is part of your entitlement if you have A3 or A5 licenses. They do need to connect to the Internet to activate - but only once every thirty days. If you have a domain, you add them to an M365 group in your tenancy and set a group policy to spare the licence. There's a slightly different procedure of the clients aren't part of a domain, but I'm not familiar with that because a different team managed our Azure only devices. There is a licence which allows you 180 days between activations, but I've asked and our reseller took it up with Microsoft and they said it's not available to academic customers. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/device-based-licensing

And now ventilation in your home is controlled by ne'er-do-wells on the interwebs [emoji16]

It's F12 for one time boot menu or F2 for BIOS setup on Dell machines. SafeBIOS is a BIOS verification system and it shouldn't stop you booting from USB or safe mode. If they're not be machines someone might have set a BIOS password - but that's a separate issue.

Another thing that has come up quite regularly for us is the benefit of having a second MFA method. Everyone thinks they won't lose, break or forget their phone.... Some of you might have the capacity to reset immediately - in our organisation it's usually a two hour turnaround time.

I still recommend Latitudes. I prefer the 5000 series to the 3000 but we have got a set of the 3000s as a group set for students. Internals are much the same, but the cases on the 5's feel more resilient. Both are designed to be repairable/upgradeable. I couldn't claim they've been entirely trouble free, but we do have a lot and their support is second to none. Dealing with phone support can be slightly frustrating because you have to prove you've done the basic troubleshooting, but the technician always comes next day and has the parts. We also get a very good deal on 5 year next day onsite support - ask your reseller and check out framework agreements. I have bought two Inspirons for family members in the last year and have been impressed with build quality - metal case, nicely finished - as they needed 360° hinges. But for everyone else, work or personal, it's Latitudes all the way.

Shall we see how many times we have to respond in this thread before we get told off!? Sorry, what I meant to say was "Congratulations"[emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]

Picked up from a thread on here, so no credit claimed, but I've tested this browser extension on Edge and Chrome: https://authenticator.cc/ It also has a Firefox version and is available through Windows Store as well as from the website.

We've been free to choose what we use, but a couple of months ago were told to get our Google Drive storage within the free allowance by this weekend. We've just been told not to worry now that MS and Amazon have announced similar quotas.

I'd strongly advise trying to find a way of funding matching sets of machines with a decent warranty (I'd include refurbs in that definition). I also wouldn't take anything that isn't Windows 11 compatible at this point. I have been in the situation where I had no budget and the choice was free or nothing, so I realise it's not always that simple. If pushed, I'd look at putting Flex OS on old Windows devices, but only on the condition they were managed and that means running a Google Workspace admin console and buying management licenses for each device (around £30 last time I looked).

I set up Google and Microsoft tenancies purely for interest when the first free offering for schools came out. I then started sneaking functions into general use - the school website was a Google Site and we used forms and I ran various office systems based on Google Apps and introduced Chromebooks successfully. We made the decision to start a move to "the cloud" in about 2017 and I presented both options but recommended Google. At the time it wasn't quite as full featured as a hybrid MS solution, but it was much simpler to manage and I still think it has a better user experience. The school chose Microsoft because they believed it would be more familiar. Where I work now we have both and people are free to choose, but Google seems to be withering away. I still think it's more straightforward for users - Google Drive for Desktop integrates better than any of the mess of solutions that MS has and while their productivity apps don't have all features of the MS desktop apps, they do 99% of what 99% of users need. In your situation, I'd want specific examples of things that can't be done or are difficult in Google Workspace. MS does offer extra features, but unless you need them I still think Google works better and is easier to manage.

Most people seem to think the roof option is safer, but I prefer the convenience and better fuel economy of tow hitch mounted. I upgraded to the type that has "trays" for the wheels to sit in as it holds them firmer and copes better with different shapes of bike. I went for an Atera out of a very small choice* that would hold 4 bikes (most are 3) and has the (very useful) feature that it will swing out of the way to give access to the boot with bikes in place. *When I bought it - wider choice now

Couscous is a quick alternative: pour boiling water over the couscous, mix in stuff you like: sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, olives and plenty of dressing or yoghurt. Or pasta leftovers/pasta with "stuff". Both better made the night before. I also sometimes cheat and cook a supermarket pizza to take in cold - not as cheap as making something, but a lot less expensive than buying take away.

Start 'em young. My first teddy was called Nicholas Woolley (it was knitted and I had no idea about Radio 4 at the time, but that's the level of indoctrination I was exposed to). Comedy is the easy way in - the problem is that the evening comedy is followed by the Archers... You could try picking out programmes from BBC Sounds based on your partner's interests. Or try Feedback - it often has snippets that listeners have written in to recommend that I wouldn't have been aware of and go back to listen to. Failing that: if you're driving, take driver's prerogative and control what's playing and if you're not driving just go to sleep [emoji16]

A valuable lesson for the rest of us - unfortunately too late for you. I have fought against statements in process documents before on the basis that while it's a nice aspiration and not necessarily a bad idea, if there no realistic chance of achieving it, it can only go badly. Check your process documents and if they have something in then you know you can't do, get them changed and authorised by governors.

You can also shop around - you're theoretically tied into there years with MS, but you can buy it from any approved partner. Phoenix are a good place to start. John at VeryPC is also a great font of knowledge (on here as @johnlevis)

Meanwhile.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66425524 [emoji1696][emoji1128]

I'm no longer involved with the school and I don't disagree in principle with comments above but the decision was taken under advice. The school was only a single storey building - maybe that played into the assessment. I mentioned it as I find it surprising even several years later.

At my governor school we disconnected the lightning conductor as not having one didn't increase the insurance premium, but having one and not obtaining a certified maintenance certificate annually invalidated the insurance.

I left school IT in 2019 but we'd moved to laptops long before that. I think teachers had got used having them before I started going back to the laptops for teachers time. At one point we tried classroom bound machines but most teachers had laptops and preferred to bring their own than log in to a machine that was already connected. I'm quite surprised there are any schools without teacher laptops after the pandemic. What did they use during lockdown? Where I am now laptops were provided for almost everyone during the pandemic and when they came back lots of the desktops were old and struggling. Where they had a perfectly good laptop, I pushed very hard that we didn't replace the desktops - they might have a lower TCO than a laptop in theory, but our users wouldn't give up the laptops "just in case" so we would have been supporting both. We've bought a lot of docking stations in the last year and as laptops were scarce during lockdown the specification was "whatever you can deliver this week" so some of them are being replaced already. We almost exclusively buy Dell Latitudes with a five year warranty. Special flowers sometimes get permission for MacBooks which I don't have a massive issue with - they're fairly well built and reliable. If only the users who choose them knew how to use them and that Windows only software doesn't run on them.

Are you certain it's a good idea to have your school documents automatically synched (downloaded *and* uploaded) between computers you have no control over and your M365 tenancy?

Probably not what's on your mind, but don't rush your recovery. A colleague broke some ribs last summer and picked up a box when they'd almost healed and it was then several more months before they could get on a bone again. From my memory of broken ribs, I'd say avoid coughing, sneezing, laughing and if at all possible try not to breathe. If you can avoid those, the pain isn't too bad. But I do remember them improving quite quickly so that I wasn't in pain all the time.

Thanks @PrimaryNetMan Travelling today, but hopefully will get a chance to take it apart tomorrow (might have left my torx drivers at work).

It's a C434T (14" 360° hinge) I've found a keyboard on eBay for £40 so I'll probably give that a go.

As per title. I am trying to help a family member with an out of warranty device. I think it needs a new keyboard and due to my clumsiness a ribbon connector to the sensor that turns the display off when you close the lid. I've had it apart, reseated cables and cleaned as much as I can so it's beyond what I can do. Asus want £45 just to receive it as an admin fee, so that looks a bit expensive. It's 3 years old but other than that fault is in good condition and under Chrome OS support for another 4 years, so seems a bit of a waste to throw away.