PotNoodleTech

You just upload them to google drive and then they just work pretty much exactly as they did before. The days of all the text appearing backwards once you upload it are thankfully long gone. It's a non issue IMHO.

Well - I would say running 1000 chrome devices is about the same as running a maximum of 100 windows devices. Chromebook device management is a lot easier and the actual chrome O/S itself is ultra reliable. We only have to "wipe" one out of 1000 devices month roughly the rest just work day in day out. Same goes for user management. Same goes for app management frankly, if it's on the play store then it's probably gonna work fine. Windows is getting worse, all I hear about intune are complaints and horror stories. Would be worth considering both options carefully. We have some massive 1:1 chromebook academy trusts etc on here with tens of thousands of devices, hopefully they will chime in soon.

It's not stupid, it's a valid question - it depends where you are in your google journey. For me it would be a net saving as we already have all of our google chromebooks licences and already pay upgraded licence for teachers so actually dumping windows and windows devices would actually save us money. If you've got no chromebooks, no chrome licences, no teacher education licences etc then dumping windows is going to cost you because your gonna have to buy all of the google licences etc. Should be faily easy for you to come up with two cost figures which you can present to the SLT member that asked?

Office35 is free to schools? What money are you expecting to save? Or do you mean actually getting rid of all your Windows devices too? We have 1000 chromebooks and could actually dump microsoft if needed. Are you in that position? If not it's gonna be a lot of work and training for teachers etc.

Don't worry - desktop suites will come back into fashion soon and my school will be ahead of the game as i've retained 9 suites. Were 1:1 and IT suites still get used a lot. I know of many schools in the area that dumped their suites years ago and now have mostly trashed laptops and are looking to put suites back in to cope with the newer GCSE and A level ICT qualifications. /smug mode

She goes to BETT Show now too if you wanted to rekindle the old RM Romances I dont get allowed out to BETT any more so the romance is gone for me

For the teachers why dont you buy one or two and trial them with a couple of teachers to see if they really can do everything the teachers need them to do. (Ours can.) For the pupils if you get lenovo 100e ven though the lastest version is not as durable, at least you can get screens for them unlike many other makes and models. Avoid touchscreen chromebooks with a bargepole as they are often nearly unservicable, screens not availabe all glued in etc etc.

What a joke.

As many people have mentioned - based on long experience the best layout of an it suite is to have 36 computers all around the edge of the room and a central desking area so the room can be used for multiple purposes or even multi use within the same lesson (half doing something on the pcs half doing something else in the middle). Every IT room we've deviated from above has not been as good and the teachers have not liked it as much. Our favourate bookable room based on teacher bookings/feedback is the one laid out exactly as above.

Could be a power supply if you've got hot swap try swapping them over or running on one. But also could be the motherboard which will be warranty job.

Yeh I'd try and get bromcom to fix it first rather than paying for some more software!

In my 25 years experience rooms that you redecorate for no other reason that to look cool and get wow factor end up being a total waste of time and money and repurposed in 5 years back as a traditional room. I've seen some banging IT suite threads on here though I recall a couple of pics in a gaming suite thread that looked absoloutly amazing.

Have you edited the proxy server in surpass folder \configfiles\proxy.xml Have you unbanned the list of URLs on the web filter? In order to use SecureClient with a proxy server you will need to configure the proxy and/or firewall to not require authentication for communications to https://eal.surpass.com (Port 443). This URL should also be added to the safe list of any firewalls. Proxies should also be configured to allow ASMX, ASPX and ZIP file types. Please ensure the firewall allows access to the following URLs: https://eal.surpass.com https://eal.surpass.com/launchtest/ https://cms.surpass.com https://cmspublic.surpass.com https://cdnukshared.surpass.com

Running up to 9 metre USB and HDMI here for smart boards but I use certified cables e.g. hdmi certified. Anythting more than that you have to do over cat5/6 ethernet. Skimp on cabling at your peril if doing long distance.

I guess all we can do is just note these companies down and vote with your feet.

When moved email systems 5 years ago I removed outlook and everyone had to use the web version of office365. Becuase I did it as part of "big email upgrade" everyone didnt really notice. 5 years on every just uses it fine on the web on a daily basis, no difference - except it just works on whatever device they're on rather than all of the issues that full fat outlook brings. Of course when the world went to pot in covid everyone just accessed their emails on chromebooks as per normal - literally no issuses or pause in productivity. Overall I don't understand establishments that are clinging on to Outlook97.exe for grim death. The world is not going to implode if you open it in a chrome browser tab instead and infact it will make your life easier and the lives of all of your staff.

Oh wow I didnt realise Canva was free for education - will do that thanks!!

This is a task for your Business Manager/Data Manager/Data Assistants to compelte. It is not an IT support task, it is not technical support. There is nothing broken that needs fixing. If you delete a bunch of exam results that are needed your going to be in trouble I would steer WELL clear of it.

Remember mike that legislation is england only, education is devolved in Wales and I've seen nothing from Welsh Gov on this?

Excellent that's taken you off the hook. Make sure you've got the above in writing such as an email print it out and keep it for the future. Also discuss with your SLT whether they'd like to install dangerous sofware on all of the PCs and risk to lose the entire school's data, possibly have it forced to close for a month like hundreds of schools colleged unis and local authorities have had to do due to cybersecurity incidents. Get that one in writing too so your covered.

This thread is quite shocking. Sounds like Arbor have been talking the talk but are unable to walk the walk. Having basic stuff not working after a migration and then being ignored/unsupported is unnnacaptable.

VM - keep off disable the network card in it remove from domain make sure you got a couple of local admin accounts accessible and then keep it. It's probalby against the T&C's of cancelling your contract mind.....

One thing I have always done is bought £3k cars. You buy a £3k car the depreciation is already completed - you can probalby drive it for a couple of years and then sell it for 1 - 2k or 3k if your lucky so your only losing a bit. Good 3k car my mate just picked up is a skoda fabia. Small engine, great MPG, cheap to buy and can get plenty of the bits from the scrappy. Can't go wrong.

Working OK here

Ah sorry. In that case year you sure do need more than 64GB good luck!