SteveMC

You can install the Exchange 2007 management tools on another machine - just run the setup from the CD again (and untick everything except the tools). That's assuming you're using a 64-bit version of Windows on your own machine; if you're only 32-bit, you can download the the tools in 32-bit form from Microsoft's site, and use the management tools in that. Another thing to note is that if you've previously had Exchange 2003 installed on your network, you may find some of the options are still showing up in 'Users and Computers', but they won't actually work. Stephen

One thing to be aware of though, the code above works fine if all your form inputs are stored in the main arrays as follows: which when submitted, creates PHP values as: $_POST['input1'] ...but if you're doing anything clever with form arrays like this: which get turned into: $_POST['myform']['input1']; ...then it won't remove the slashes from the value of those inputs. It should be possible to adapt the code to recurse its way through if there are nested arrays if required. Stephen

There doesn't look to be a 100% surefire way to sort things out, but one of the examples posted on the page I linked to should be enough for your form data: if (get_magic_quotes_gpc()) { function stripslashes_gpc(&$value) { $value = stripslashes($value); } array_walk_recursive($_GET, 'stripslashes_gpc'); array_walk_recursive($_POST, 'stripslashes_gpc'); array_walk_recursive($_COOKIE, 'stripslashes_gpc'); array_walk_recursive($_REQUEST, 'stripslashes_gpc'); } ?> If you put that in a file that gets included in every PHP page (such as a config file, or library) then it'll sort out the form values. When you move to a server without magicquotes, the above code will leave the $_ variables alone, but for now it will run the stripslashes function on each element of the four input arrays. You'll still need to use the escape functions before storing data in the database though (if it's mySQL, then use mysql_real_escape_string() rather than just 'addslashes' - which of course you are doing already ). Stephen

It's probably due to the PHP settings on the server (in the php.ini file), - if the 'Magic Quotes' settings are enabled, then PHP automatically tries to 'make safe' any input from forms. The PHP developers now recommend that the Magic Quotes options are disabled, not least because it can encourage programmers to be lazy, and assume their inputs are safe (not in your case though!). There's more info on this at the PHP manual (including ways to work out what the current setting is, and how to work around it). Stephen

Hopefully it's sorted now - after a careful application of some IPA, we've managed to get an ISO image from our original disk Stephen

Unfortunately we've not got a volumee licence agreement ourselves, the school in question buys their licensing through Ramesys (and therefore don't have download access to the ISOs either), and there's a media kit on the way from there, but I was just looking to save time I've actually located the DVD now, but it's somewhat worse for wear - I'll try polishing out the scratches tomorrow Stephen

We're about to do an install of Exchange 2007 Standard for a school, however we've mislaid our disc pack with the volume licence media (and of course it's one of the ones that we've not copied onto our ISO server yet!). Does anyone know whether the media that comes as part of the Microsoft Action Pack is the same as the normal volume licence one? We've ordered a new kit, but that'll take a few days to arrive. Stephen

At least some of the lecturers were courteous enough to provide PDFs of the presentations on the Intranet, so we could all have an extra hour or so to sleep Stephen

Yeah, that's looking like the only way forward - it's really a case of whether they want the data badly enough to spend the time setting it up... Indeed, and SBS 2000 too, which is even worse! Still, it's the weekend now, which means I can pretend it doesn't exist until Monday Stephen

We've just been asked if it's possible to recover mailboxes from an old Exchange 2000 information store, - without having the Exchange server itself available (due to various things a few years back, the old SBS Server 2000 was demoted, so Exchange will no longer start in any shape or form). I've had a look around, and there are some solutions available but only from about £600 upward!. Just wondering if it's possible to either import the .edb and .stm into a working system? or to extract the mailboxes into .pst files? (can't use exmerge, as that requires the Exchange server infrastructure to be present). Stephen

Worst one I've had to take to bits was an Apple G4 Powerbook, - I think there were around 50 screws to remove before I could replace the hard drive Some of the best are the HP/Compaq ones, as pretty much all the service manuals are online at HP's site - makes life a lot easier, as you actually know which bits are *meant* to come apart Stephen

You may well find that a fair number of NHS IT jobs are actually out-sourced. Our local Primary Care Trust has their own team at the hospital, but support for the GP surgeries is provided by a third-party (who actually sub-contract us, as we're on the Isle of Wight). The actual out-sourcing company used by our PCT has gone through a number of mergers recently, but I *think* it's currently Servo (IT Service Management - Servo) - may be worth seeing if they have any jobs in your area. Stephen

A lot of the options depend on what speed your link is between the two sites, - if it's a slow ADSL link, then TS may be the only way you can do it. If you're in an area which is serviced by a cable company, it may well be worth speaking to them about using their network. We've got two sites using a local cable company's ducting to provide a direct fibre link between sites, - there is an annual rental, but it's tiny compare to what BT would charge, and they get full use of an 8-core fibre for that (currently providing 3GB/s). Stephen

Essentially MS have disabled the upgrade option when going between pre-release versions of 7, and from the RC to the final release. They've not tried to prevent people using workarounds as mentioned earlier in the thread. Very little testing (ie probably almost none) has been carried out for upgrading, as they're focussing on upgrades from Vista, which will be the situation for most people come release. They've also decided that upgrading from XP won't be possible either, as there are simply too many differences between the versions (you'll still be able to buy an upgrade licence, but it'll require a clean install). Stephen

Also, if you've previously had a complex config on the switch, it may well be worth doing a factory reset (assuming you've got documentation on the config to allow you to re-establish it afterward!). Stephen

It's also worth finding out what setups other schools are running - especially if they have close links to your establishment generally. That way, you may well be able to exchange assistance without having to call on RM Support / other-external agencies. Great as this place is, sometimes it's just good to be able to commiserate face-to-face with someone else that has first-hand knowledge of the particular issues you have! Stephen

Thanks for that - of course, budget constraints mean that it's the installation of the infrastructure this summer, but it'll probably be April next year before they are able to buy the Netbooks, and by that time, everything will probably have changed Stephen

I'm currently having a hunt around, but just wondering if anyone knows of any Netbooks that have dual-band 'pre-N' standard wifi built-in? Essentially we've got a school that's implementing a site-wide network, in anticipation of purchasing a year-group's worth of laptops at some point in the near future. It'd be nice if the new machines were able to use the 5GHz 'N' signals - as they've got a fair amount of older kit using b/g in the 2.4GHz. Stephen

Indeed, - I reckon that for small to medium-size schools, the Netgear ProSafe kit is very competitive - once you start getting into the intricacies of multi-cast routing and other more complex setups though, spending more on the HP or Cisco kit does begin to make sense. I just wish they'd bring out an 'N' version of their wireless controller (and yes, I know it's actually Aruba kit rebranded). Stephen

It's always a tricky one, - we've got a tiered scheme, so if a school uses us on an 'ad-hoc' basis, they pay slightly more, but if they've got a contract, then the hourly rate is lowered. There is definitely a world of difference between a self-employed person providing the service, and a small business, just a couple of the additional costs that spring to mind are: 1) Business premises - we've got an installations office with a workshop and garage, and a support office 2) Staffing - we need to bring in enough to cover the admin staff salaries, and to cope with the inevitable 'slack periods' when the work drops off Plus there's the fact that with a single person providing the support/consultancy, if they are ill, or take a holiday, then it's often tricky to get cover (I know some people manage to do it though). I tend to view the role of external support/consultancy as supplemental to that provided in-house by the schools, and in fact we often get called in to train up school techs on particular areas (such as Exchange, or Group Policy stuff). Stephen

My office machine (running a P4 Dual core system, on an nForce 4 SLI chipset) used to have exactly that issue with Vista, and still has the same problems with Windows 7. I think it's probably down to a flaw in the actual chipset, as my laptop (Intel GM45 chipset based Fujitsu T5010) has no issues. I've taken to hibernating the desktop rather than putting it to sleep, as it's pretty quick to resume. Stephen

Exchange tends to use as much RAM as you make available, - I think it'd try to fit your entire information store in RAM if it could! (SQL Server's another service that likes to do this, so don't mix the two, as they'll just fight!) The 32-bit edition is solely for evaluation purposes, although as mentioned elsewhere, you can install the management tools on a 32-bit server to manage a 64-bit one. In fact, that's probably a good idea, as they can run somewhat sluggishly on the main Exchange server itself. Stephen

It's an Intel feature - certain Intel chipsets have it (not sure which ones - Intel® vPro™ Technology for Notebook and Desktop PCs has more info). Essentially it allows various remote management options, including on some laptops, the ability to remotely wipe the system (handy if the device gets stolen). Stephen

The SUS will definitely save time and bandwidth on the downloading front, but the client machines won't actually install the updates by themselves. Apparently (though I've not tried this), if you've got Apple Remote Desktop, you can run the following Unix command on the remote machines: softwareupdate -di That ought to download and install the updates from SUS. I don't think it actually restarts the machines though. Stephen

Unfortunately there's no good solution at present, not until Web Downloadable Fonts are more generally supported anyway (see this article for details). Really, your only options are to use one of the web-standard fonts, or to convert the text to images (this only works if it's just used for headings, and even then you'll need to make sure you've got the alt text attributes set). Stephen