Gibbo

I've just been sent this email: Colleagues, a number of our primary schools have been identified as having the W32.silly.DC virus on their curriculum networks. Because the virus is apparently spread when USB devices are attached to pc's I would like you to be aware that teachers from your schools who attend link / cluster / transition meetings may be exposed to it during visits, and so for the foreseeable future it may be safer for them to transfer resources by disk rather than USB devices. The limited access that many primary schools have to technical support may allow this virus to replicate before being identified and removed, so please be vigilant with any schools you support and if you can make a special visit to look for this particular problem, it would be appreciated.

You're at the same point as me. You can obviously modify the group policy templates to incorporate your mapped drive, but I find it illogical to share a drive just to hide it again.

But that's no excuse for poor support, or badly designed software. Take, for example, an earlier problem I had with the software asking for the CD. The reply I got was: The error message regarding disc availability is a known Macromedia Director issue that appears to affect some configurations of machine. To date we have found no work around other than to click 'continue'. The software has not been configured to expect a disc. EDIT: Oops, forgot to answer your original reply - yes it's a mapped drive. We don't normally use them as most of our network apps are web based or the shortcuts work with UNC. It seems that it is a permissions issue, but this is going to cause problems with my other shares. This post on another forum sums the matter up for me: Maybe this is a stupid question, but why can't this application use a UNC path? Network drive mappings are meant for the convenience of users...not computers, and if the user isn't going to be using a drive mapping to that share, why map one at all?

My emails have been ignored too. A shame that the IT teaching staff buy the software and we're left to pick up the pieces.

Drum life 89% (which is accurate as it was replaced a few months ago) but toner stuck on 11%. I've even replaced the drum and toner from a broken C5200 but it doesn't register the change.

Has anyone had any issues with an OKI C5200 (or similar C5xxx) printer where it reports a low toner, but upon replacing it's still reporting the same error? I'd normally just ignore the error but the magenta is coming out all faded.

My HOD has just given me ICT4Life to install. It seems to have gone onto the network ok, and staff and pupils can see and start the application. However, they cannot log in. If they try they get the error box "Wrong Login name or Password. Please try again". The accounts do work, if I log into the computer (Windows XP Pro SP2 / SP3) as myself or any other domain admin I can log in without a problem. The only account which works for staff and pupils is the admin account. But, when I got to "ASSESS" and then try any of the admin options, I get the error box "Please try to submit this later: someone is assessing this task at the moment". Has anyone else encountered issues with this software?

I'd just like to congratulate HP Support for a very fast resolution to an issue. Monday 10.30am - Reports of a Laserjet 2015 printer not working. Quickly identified to a broken shaft in the paper feed roller. 10.45am - Logged on-line with HP. 11.00am - Telephone call from HP confirming the part required by getting me to describe the part in more detail. Tuesday am - Part arrived from The Netherlands, fitted and printer back in service! (Although this is at least the seventh broken shaft I've had to replace in my career in educational IT support - I think a stronger material is needed for them!)

Is anyone using ePals? ePals Global Community Even if you're not registered or using it could you give the URL a try for me please? I'm getting the banner but nothing else, it just seems painfully slow. Thanks.

Just thought I'd update this. It is also on an XP SP2 machine, fully patched.

Trying to sort out a few logon issues, I've come across this in the event log on an XP SP3 machine every time a pupil logs on: Information Event ID: 11728 Product: WebFldrs XP -- Configuration completed successfully. This doesn't happen on any builds without SP3. I found something on this website: Security Forums :: View topic - WebFldrs ....and it sounds like it's something we don't need, so I followed the instructions to remove it. However, when a user logs on I now get the event log entry: Error Event: 11304 Product: WebFldrs XP -- Error 1304. Error writing to file: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Folders\MSOWS409.DLL. Verify that you have access to that directory. I have been looking into MS KB article 238441 to eliminate the "applying personalised settings" Remove Personalized Settings for New Users After Installing Internet Explorer 5 which does seem to fix it on the one machine I've tried.

Thanks for the replies so far. I've printed off loads of info for some reading tonight. It would be great if there was anyone local to drop by and look over the system and get some advice on best practices. The DCHP scope also needs looking at. Its a 255.255.255.0 network with just x.x.x.25 to x.x.x.254 available.

Yes, it was also running DHCP. I'm just trying to build a bit of redundancy into this really bad network just in case the server fails. I've got no funding and no support so I have to make do with what I can scrounge.

Yes it was. I thought the other domain controller had DNS running but it doesn't. Should it? Should there be anything in group policy? I've checked one policy (for pupil accounts) and that has just the one DNS server IP address in. Yet the staff policy doesn't

Not sure. DCs aren't my thing.

I've just turned off the "main" domain controller after some Windows updates and general Summer housekeeping only to find that the other domain controller isn't taking over and handling logons - I'm just getting "Domain is not available" on the client machines. Is there any kind of checklist I can refer to so I can find out why the other controller isn't kicking in? Is it something simple like a group policy entry or is there more to it? Thanks

Thanks for that guys. I managed to pick up a cheap Dagger AQ.

I've just started getting into river kayaking. Nothing extreme, just a gentle cruise down rivers and canals in the North West. If anyone has a kayak or a recommendation for a kayak suitable for a 16 stone 6 foot 4 lunk I'd be most greatful! I'm ideally looking for something second hand and I'm not too bothered about the condition, so long as it floats!

I'll probably leave it running for now until I know all is well and then demote it in a couple of months. Sadly your second sentence has gone way over my head, so I'll try and research this before the time comes.

I'm in the process of adding a new server as a domain controller, to supplement the existing DC and with a view to demoting and deactivating an ancient desktop PC which is pretending to be a server! I've done the DC PROMO on the new server and all looks ok - files created in the SYSVOL folder are replicating amongst all machines. Is this all I need to do? On the main DC I've opened DNSMGMT and the new server is there. But there's one bit I'm not sure about. In SERVERNAME - Forward Lookup Zones - _msdcs.DOMAINNAME - dc - _sites - Default-First-Site - _tcp there are entries for all three servers as Service Location (SRV), but there are also Host (A) entries for the two existing servers, but not the new one. Should I add it manually, wait for it to be added automatically or have these entries been added manually by someone in the past? DNS isn't my strong point and I've inherited a network that really needs rebuilding from scratch but I don't have the time or staff or support. I'd love to have the time to read up on this but I'm running around the school doing several jobs at once so don't get the time to read up without being disturbed. Thanks in advance.

Great stuff, thanks for the replies guys. I'd do without the MYSQL part, but I need it to run ClassRoom Booking System which I intend to deploy onto that server.

I have a server running nothing more than Veritas 11 that I'm thinking of adding some web services too for an Intranet. I was going to install WAMPSERVER 2.0, but the server already has Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on (for Veritas). Will the two sit side by side ok or should I reconsider?

How do you guys handle roaming profiles? Here staff have roaming profiles (they've always been mandatory at my last three schools) and the level of misuse is shocking. We have profiles of hundreds of MB, one is over 2.5GB! They store files on the desktop and in the My Documents folder, meaning they have their work squirrelled away in so many areas (these two locations, their H drive, the faculty areas and so on). I'm trying to enlighten them to saving to the H drive only but then there's the issue of accessing work from home (we have no remote connection to the school). I'm getting around that by using SYNCTOY from Microsoft, it seems to do the trick. I was going to make them use Mandatory profiles but many staff use Outlook and I assume that it's in the profile where it points to the location of the mail folders (now on their H drives). Aside from a couple of Group Policy tweaks to remove the My Documents folders, can anyone else offer any advice on the best way to keep the profiles roaming yet small?

Their latest email: The duration of the warranty for specific items / accessories can be specified by the manufacturer. if a manufacturer so wished, they would not have to supply a warranty of any kind with an item they sell, however as a responsible manufacturer most offer what they consider a reasonable period for items. In your case 1 Year Standard Warranty for the machine itself, and 6 months warranty with any accessories included with the machine. If you feel the problems you have experienced are due to an unreasonable fault and/or you require a refund , replacement or free repairs , then you must pursue the matter with your retailer. The warranty and your statutory rights are two separate things, when you buy goods from a retailer, you enter into a contract under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). This contract holds the retailer liable for up to six years after purchase (Limitation Act 1980), providing that you can show that the problem you have experienced is down to an unreasonable fault and not normal wear and tear

Only a six month warranty on all accessories. While it might only be a dead keyboard that can be replaced for a few pounds, its the principle of the thing. Other suppliers honour a full twelve months warranty on all equipment.