TheGoodGuy

I love windows 8.1, things configure so much more easily and I find that connectivity and group policies being applied are also much better. Probably also due to us using 2012 on the server. Also find windows 8.1 to be much faster than windows 7, especially if you set the visual settings to "performance". You barely notice any difference except everything is much faster! Another big tip is to use the remove apps script, works much faster without those, at the very least turn the live tiles off. About half the computers in the school are now on 8.1, rolling out the rest soon. (I tweak each build for where it is being deployed before I deploy it).

I am just curious if people here deploy with secure boot enabled or not. I have read it can cause some issues..

So that´s how they managed not to receive my booking! Gotta chase that up when I get back from Brazil.

To be honest, I could see GPOs being replaced by integration into SCCM. The fact that SCCM has reporting means you could see if policies were being applied or not. I think Microsoft see SCCM as an integral part of the future and are trying to push it, to me it makes sense given the power that it has. I for one would be very happy with this, it would really centralise everything and with the ability to setup alerts it would be easier to keep on top of things. I think they would have to offer stripped down versions for small businesses though as the price might be too high.

For the network option you just put the database file on a network share and I believe there is an ini config file where you set the path.

Is it possible to schedule tasks to run on specific days of the week?

New plan: MSKLC, make my own keyboard layout and apply that!

I am also facing that task, we store the database file on a server share, it is just a case of is updated software needed and will it be compatible. Will be curious to hear how it goes.

If they really wanted to be annoying they could work out how to change their password to one with spaces in.

I just have to work out the codes I need for the registry. If only I had time for such a thing. (I support in class as well, hence why it would save my time if I can sort this out)

You can still use shift for doing caps....

I thought scancode changes were global once put into the registry? I was mistaken?

I am looking into something called scancode. I plan to use it disable the spacebar then use another program to reenable the spacebar once the user has logged in. I will probably disable caps lock as well.

Anyone know a way to prevent users accidentally putting spaces when typing in their username? It is one of the biggest issues for children logging in.

I found a hta launcher that I will probably modify. There are too many icons to go on the desktop and start menu. We have e-books that each have their own program and other software packages with loads of different programs. Having a launcher for each of these will make things much tidier. I want to make things as simple for the children as possible. Primary school children that don't have a computer at home need really basic and easy to find things.

Found the problem, I was missing a slash. Weird that it worked though when it wasn't in a task sequence

I am wanting to create a custom menu for running programs on the network. Ideally i'd like for this to be tabbed. If not I will just have to script something. Cheers.

I have set a task sequence to run a powershell script. I have created a package and put the file in that package. I have created a task sequence to run the powershell with that package and set the permission to bypass. If I manually go to the UNC path and run the script it works fine. Software Center is saying it installed correctly and while it runs it comes up with the status message saying running powershell script. Any ideas how to troubleshoot this?

If you really want to save money go ubuntu + open source programs.

Can the wake-up part work when computers are powered off?

Thankfully I have never had to restore from a tape. The cloud backup we use has a retention policy that we set ourselves (we chose 90 days but it can be unlimited). This means that ALL versions of a file are stored which gives extra protection against viruses etc. Also the company that we use will ship a drive out to us in case of a disaster. We just have to pay the cost of the courier or pick it up ourselves (about 25 miles away).

Tape backup restoration is known to have a high failure rate. I much prefer cloud backup due to the disaster proofing that it offers. However, I could see the potential for monthly archiving with the new 1tb disc being developed. 1TB per disc: Sony and Panasonic team up on next-gen Blu-ray | ExtremeTech

Cloud backup isn't THAT expensive, we pay 26p per gig/mth and the price should start to fall even more soon.

Be careful with tape, it is well documented that tape backup restoration can fail up to 50% of times! We use cloud backup just because of the extra redundancy and disaster proofing that it offers.

We use a cloud backup service, took me ages to find one that was great value though. I will PM you details of ours.