laugbr80

Thanks for all the advice guys, I can't use guest as I do want them to be using a class account, but I'll look into DeepFreeze!

I'm not going any further with this @seawolf, looking back on your previous posts!! Anyway, thanks for clarifying what you meant, I think maybe in future you might receive more favourable responses with a more constructive question. Just a thought!

This was me misunderstanding the IT Manager - he was talking about hotels that return their macs to ground zero each time a guest checks out. So I'm looking at about once a month. But @seawolf, can I just point out that this is a community forum, so is there really any point commenting when someone wants help with "What's the point?". Maybe someone would want to reimage their Macs daily for a week while they have a course where they're training people and need a blank machine each time they come to use it. Comments like this really make me quite angry, are completely pointless and very unhelpful.

We have 6 iMacs which have no way of being cabled, and would like to wipe them at the end of each day in an automated process. We use Casper to manage our Macs, which we can get a nice thin image out of, but is there a way to partition Macs and point them to the localhost to act as their own NetBoot server? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi Guys, This might be a bit specific, but we're working on a BYO network where our Macs are enrolled into our Casper Suite and Windows are bound to the domain. We're running our Sibelius Licensing Server on a Windows Server and I'm looking for a way to either manage the licensing logs, or at least extract the number of checked out licenses so that I can keep an eye on this and use it to limit the people who can install Sibelius on their machines... Any suggestions or am I being too vague about a quite specific situation? Thanks in advance, Laura

Thanks for the feedback so far, hopefully I can progress it and keep it worth reading! Ref the theme, it's just a tumblr theme that suited my needs, I was planning on getting around to designing my own theme as a section of the blog, and using that as a documented learning tool!! Also no, I'm not on twitter yet - good idea!

As I write all my lists down on word documents and invariably have no real date progression, I'm starting my own personal blog - feel free to shoot it down, or help me on with my wisdom. It's intention is only general how I try and do my job, and a collective train of thought. Obviously all thoughts are my own and I'm trying to keep it as none site specific as possible. Laura in IT That's me! It might lend to a few rants occasionally...but let me know what you think!!

Have you tried starting it without the actual laptop battery in, but plugged into the power cord?

This site has a lot of information that you might find helpful? IEP writer | Individual Education Plan writing

The Schools I've worked in have always used IEP Writer, which has done them fine by all accounts? I think Capita Sims do one to go alongside Sims too, depending on what MIS you use.

To familiarise myself with the new network, I'm going to base what I make sure I find out in the first week on the little handbook I wrote in the "A quick guide to being an ICT Techncian at [insert School Name Here]" The headings I have at the moment are: Who's Who Server Names/Roles Backup Locations Printing Information - Server, Software, User Management, Suppliers, Any Contracts etc Other Suppliers - Hardware, Software, Installations MIS and other school specific software, including any generic accounts Email System - Server, third party setup info, administrators, spam filters School Network Monitoring Software Antivirus Info Phone systems Map of school with switch rooms, points and numbers in each room, VLANS and WiFi Access Points Projectors and bits attached to projectors - Apple TVs etc What equipment each staff member and student is provided with, and what software is on said item. Job Description limitations as to how much we help with what Disaster Recovery Website and Intranet management Any school specific security implementations - whether it be password policies, specific onsite security concerns, external security companies attached to projectors SLA's for the IT team. Filtering Policies, forensics software, e-safety guidelines Exactly how much interaction IT has with pupils - that's varied greatly in each role I've had. Can anyone add to the list of things you think are essential to know in an IT Team in a school? Thanks

After a horrendous initiation into a new role in a different country, I still feel unfamiliar with large aspects of the network. What are your tips for getting a handle on how things are run, and establishing your responsibilities in a new role? Are there any procedures you follow to get yourself familiarised with what is where, who does what, and when what happens in a new environment? I felt settled within the first couple of months in previous roles, but that was probably down to good leadership...when you're in a "team" that has blurred boundaries in who's job is who's, what do you go for first? It's never cut and dry in education, I understand that, but I pretty much just got handed 3 sites with no location of information, and after a while you feel like you're nagging...so in a role where you cover everything with a plug, but can get in trouble after you've used initiative because you've unintentionally stepped on someone's toes, or done something that's "Not IT's Job", what would you do to avoid confusion? I have to be careful this doesn't turn into a rant, but I'd appreciate all your input...so I don't make the same mistake again!! Thanks in advance, Laura

Hi Everyone, I really am stumped at this point. Anyone who could offer any advice, please please do!! As of 3am on Friday, users can no longer receive email constantly on their portable devices. Users were able to add their office 365 account to their portable devices before this time using Active Sync, but now users who have the accounts set up prior to this time receive an error - cannot connect to server, even though on their phone settings the device shows as ok, but with a successful sync time of Friday. If you start logging, the retrieval shows an error. Users who try and add their account since this time simply are unable to verify account information. The IMAP Server setting is correct - the same as showing in their mailbox settings, and for users who couldn't autodiscover previously, this setting worked - until now. On testexchangeconnectivity.com, my admin account passes the activesync fine, with no errors. A standard user now receives an error: The IMAP service is being tested. There was an error testing the IMAP service Additional Details Secured: CN=outlook.com, OU=Exchange, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US S: * OK The Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service is ready. [sABLAE4AUABSAEQAMAAyADEAMQBDAEEAMAAwADMALgBhAHAAYwBwAHIAZAAwADIALgBwAHIAbwBkAC4AbwB1AHQAbABvAG8AawAuAGMAbwBtAA==] C: 1 CAPABILITY S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4 IMAP4rev1 AUTH=PLAIN UIDPLUS CHILDREN IDLE NAMESPACE LITERAL+ 1 OK CAPABILITY completed. C: 2 LOGIN ########@mydomain.org S: 2 NO LOGIN failed. C: 3 LIST "" * S: 3 BAD Command received in Invalid state. Microsoft.Exchange.Tools.ExRca.Tests.ImapPop.MailProtocolException: 3 BAD Command received in Invalid state. at Microsoft.Exchange.Tools.ExRca.Tests.ImapPop.ImapProtocolTester.SendCommand(String command, String logString) at Microsoft.Exchange.Tools.ExRca.Tests.ImapPop.BaseProtocolTest.PerformTestReally() The successful test from my account is below - the only difference being that I use @mydomain.onmicrosoft.com rather than @mydomain.org Successfully tested the IMAP4 service Secured: CN=outlook.com, OU=Exchange, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US S: * OK The Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service is ready. [sABLAFgAUABSAEQAMAAyADEAMABDAEEAMAAwADEALgBhAHAAYwBwAHIAZAAwADIALgBwAHIAbwBkAC4AbwB1AHQAbABvAG8AawAuAGMAbwBtAA==] C: 1 CAPABILITY S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4 IMAP4rev1 AUTH=PLAIN UIDPLUS CHILDREN IDLE NAMESPACE LITERAL+ 1 OK CAPABILITY completed. C: 2 LOGIN [email protected] S: 2 OK LOGIN completed. C: 3 LIST "" * S: * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Calendar * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Contacts * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" "Deleted Items" * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Drafts * LIST (\Marked \HasNoChildren) "/" INBOX * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Journal * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" "Junk E-Mail" * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Notes * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Outbox * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" "Sent Items" * LIST (\HasNoChildren) "/" Tasks 3 OK LIST completed. C: 4 LOGOUT S: * BYE Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 IMAP4 server signing off. 4 OK LOGOUT completed. If anyone has any advice on this is would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks in advance...

Hi All, I've moved from England recently to work at a school down under (New Zealand), and the big bosses want to know what we do different up North than these down South...The kids and teachers have a lot of trust here - the basic filtering, if kids want to waste their time on facebook its sort of up to them, teachers aren't really monitored tooooo much - if they want to be local admins and the big boss approves then so be it, but it's out of my hands. What I'd really like to know is what you feel actually helps the teaching staff in the classrooms, and the kids progressing through the use of technology. It's a really general question I know, so I'll give you a feel of the setup at the moment. We use Windows 7, Server 2008 - all virtualised...got a few Mac suites and all the staff just got given iPads which we'll link to the board through apple tvs... We use sharepoint as the intranet and a custom written MIS and library software. Office 365 and Exchange email.. We also have fancy things like a couple of 3D printers and ultra short throw wireless projectors which have interactive functionality... When I rolled up at the beginning of January it seemed like a dream school from the setup anyway, but still they're trying to push forward. I don't know exactly what to say to them to get them to explore what they already have more and integrate technology into their school life more closely...maybe any apps people can recommend, any particular software..or good practice you notice by the teaching staff? Looking forward to any advice offered Laura

I've tried to have a look in the preferences folder in the library of a macbook thats running really slow...and there's nothing there. How can this be? I'm really confused!! Thanks Lora