FishCustard

Absolutely not - they'd be unlikely to notice the difference between i3/i5/i7!

Have a word with Chris at @CPLTD - got us a great deal on some i5 PCs, the i3 pricing will be even better if that's what you're definitely going for.

Oooh, what're you making?

Yes! I thought it was just me...

More info: in the test described above, I had the 'Remove this item when it falls out of scope' option ticked. I retried without that option ticked, and the opposite happened. Nothing was uninstalled, not even the item I actually removed! WTF is going on with my GP?! EDIT: Just tried the same thing on an OU outside the main tree structure, just in case of a GPO conflict. Nope.

Thanks for the heads-up @AngryTechnician - this will make one of our DT bods very happy indeed!

(Not sure what forum this belongs in, feel free to move it if this is the wrong one). I'm currently setting up and testing our new network, with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 7 clients. Installing MSIs via GPO works wonderfully, but here's the weird bit: if I remove a package (right click the package in the 'Software installation' section of the GPO > 'All Tasks' > 'Remove' > 'Immediately uninstall...'), all packages assigned to the OU uninstall when the machine is rebooted, not just the one(s) I removed. I can't see anything amiss in the Event Log... please tell me I'm not going mad!

What error do you get when you enter the KMS key?

Have you got a KMS key for WS2012/2008R2? If you're using Volume Licensing you can get it from the VLSC - use that. A Server 2012 Std key can activate Windows 8, 7 and I believe Vista too (as well as Server 2012, if you want to activate other servers via KMS). 2008R2 does 7, Vista and XP.

My thoughts exactly - SCCM is overkill for our network, and would add another management load (on the PCs, and our own brains!), something we're keen to get away from. I've been getting MDT set up, and think it'll work nicely. Now we just need to get WDS sorted (can't test yet as DHCP is still handled by the CC3 DC).

I know the feeling. Like keeping a sinking ship afloat long enough to reach the new one!

We (a secondary school) are still using CC3. However, over the summer it is being swept away (in glorious cleansing flame... *ahem*) and replaced with a vanilla WS2012/Win 7 x64 setup. To do this we're using four new (to us, they're second hand) servers - three ESXi units and one backup server. The SIMS server will stay as-is for now as it's supported by the LA, and perfectly adequate. We're also buying new PCs to replace various bits of P4-era junk. I'd be happy to have a chat with you about it if you'd like? (PM me!)

It'd probably be easier to use MDT (Microsoft Deployment Tools) to create & capture the image. Makes the whole process nicer and also has better logging for when weird things happen. Which they invariably do with OSD.

Can't offer much practical help (although yes, a reasonable-spec desktop PC should work as a server), but you might want to give this a look: MinecraftEdu :: Home

Ah. Yes, the 'balls, I've just screwed the network' moment of panic, I know it well. Why, you ask? Well, let's just say that plugging an Ethernet cord from one wall port into another wall port rather than the PC not ten centimeters away is not smart, and proves you shouldn't install PCs at 17:45 after a very long day. So you're not alone in doing things like that! How'd you update the GPs in the end?

I second @ICTDirect_Dave with regards to the HP 4200/4250s. I'm slowly replacing our random assortment of printers with the things, 'cause I know them to be reliable and cheap to run. Hint - get the 4250n if at all possible, because they can take the high-capacity toners. If someone needs duplex printing, there's the 4250dtn (duplex, extra trays, networked), and for really heavy users you can get a 4350n which can handle more abuse and yet takes the same cartridges! There's even such a thing as the 4350dtnsl, which has a stapler/stacker and looks like its well on the way to becoming a Gundam mech. (Yes, I know more than is probably good for me about the 4200-series...) PS - I'll be wanting more of the things soon. Dave, I'll call ICT Direct on Monday. EDIT: Also, I second everyone who has said something to the effect of 'RM = bleugh!'.

And pray tell, what does this GPO do?

I can't really help with figures, as we're in the process of standardizing our printers to reduce costs (costings from last year would be abnormal, way more than they should be). However, there's nothing wrong with running old, cheap-to-run printers. If the ones you've got are at the end of their lives, buy 'new' oldies from eBay. I've been replacing toner-eaters like Samsung ML-5510s with HP LaserJet 4250s - less than half the running cost and more reliable to boot. Sure they might not be 'ooh, shiny new' but they work, and that's all that matters.

This is what I'd do. If it's just one room that needs wiring, doing it yourself shouldn't be too bad (unless the cab is on the other side of the building or something silly).

Have a look on eBay. I got our 42u cabinet from there, complete with PDUs and everything. So it might be beige and say 'Compaq' on the front, but meh, who cares!

The contention ratio, I imagine. With regular ADSL broadband, you'll have more than one endpoint user sharing a particular line back to the exchange. This can affect the actual speed you get. With a leased line, the ratio is 1:1 (no contention), meaning you'll always have the bandwidth quoted. Example: 100 users on a nominal 2Mbit/s connection, all sharing a 50Mbit/s connection back to the exchange (this has a contention ratio of 4:1). If more than 25 users try to max out their 2Mbps connection at once, you'll get congestion, and users will not see the full 2Mbps bandwidth quoted.

Oh right, that makes more sense now. I thought it was for marking in-house exams, and wondered why they would try to stop you from working... at work.

Forgive me for asking what is probably an irrelevant question, but if Scoris is a tool for marking/managing exams, why would they say that you can't use it at work? That doesn't seem to make any sense...

Yeah, but that thing is for making two displays show the same image (like classroom PC monitor and projector), you want a separate, independent display.

That would make sense. I would go fishing to find out properly, but I'm trying to clear out CC3 stuff from my head, not get more of it in there!