BlueSkies

University

Not sure if it's related but about 10 mins ago I had one user who was getting an ESET anti-phishing blocking message in their browser for any Google searches they did. Only on one machine and a reboot seemed to solve it.

I called and complained and also mentioned that there was no option to downgrade on my account ... hey presto the next time I logged in, the option appeared! Also, I mentioned that some companies charge for Wonde Integration ... which surprised the Wonde person I was speaking to! Do any of you pay an additional amount to companies for Wonde Integration?

Am interested in this - have you received any monies back at all? Most of our stuff would be antique, so not sure it would be worth anything! But interested to know if they do pay out for some things.

Hi there, Does anyone here have experience of migrating from Integris to Arbor? If so, would you be happy to share your experience - be it positive or not! Thanks :-)

Hi, yep these are assignments from the last three weeks so videos would have been uploaded ages ago. It's just so odd that it's only happening on the ones from the last few weeks ... I can go back to all the others prior to that and play them with no problem. It's melding my head a bit!!

Ooo thanks for this - I will give it a try. - - - Updated - - - Thanks - I shall take a look. :-)

Hi there, We seem to have a curious problem which has recently started to affect assignments where pupils upload (turn in) videos as part of the assignment. We have two Google Classrooms which set weekly assignments for pupils to upload videos into. Up until the beginning of March this has always worked perfectly. The videos are usually a mix of .mov and .mp4 but for the last two/three weeks, every time anyone tries to play any of the videos, it has a good think about it and then returns an error: "Couldn't preview file. There was a problem playing this video". I get the same error if I try and play the videos from inside the assignments or straight from the Google Drive where they are stored. It is possible to download and play them - but that's a bit of a faff. The odd thing is that if I go back to any assignments in those Classrooms that were from before March this year, all the turned-in videos play with no problem. Has something changed recently with Google Classroom that might be causing this ... or has anyone else come up against the same problem? It's just a bit weird that if I go back to earlier ones, they are all fine. Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks

That looks exactly the stuff I need!!! I have been looking on Amazon but could only find stuff that was the size of a handkerchief! Thanks - that's brill :-)

Hi there, Our server cab lives by the side of a classroom and has a metal mesh door. Is there something I could line the door with to try and reduce the amount of dust ingress? I've tried googling, but get all sorts of strange results so just wondered if anyone here has any good ideas! Thanks

Thanks - I will take a look as I don't think that is what they are currently using, so it might be good for them to take a look at it :-)

Hi all, I think this has probably been asked before and I did do a search, but nothing jumped out at me ... so I thought I would start a new post. Our governors currently use a paid for Governor website to host their documents (agendas, minutes, etc) but they are not happy with the site - it seems quite outdated. They have asked if I could provide them with an alternative solution. I have been thinking of setting them something up on our M365 and am just wondering what options are available to me and which might be the best one. So far, I think the options I have available are: 1. Shared OneDrive folder - shared with their personal email addresses and managed by the Clerk to the Governors - I'm definitely not keen on this suggestion though (it was one suggested to me, rather than something I wanted to do)! 2. Sharepoint site which can be managed by the Clerk and have a Homepage with a noticeboard/calendar and document library. Each governor would have their own M365 school account to login with. If I went with this option - is there a way to control which governors have access to different bits of the document library? 3. MS Teams - with channels for different Committees so they can store documents and have "chats/conversations" without having to use their personal email. This, I guess, is the all-singing and dancing option but not sure if they would use it to its full capacity. Just as an aside ... If I setup M365 accounts for the governors, is there a way to restrict which email addresses they can see from the GAL? Ideally, I would like them to just be able to see each other and the main Headteacher email account. Has anyone set something similar up for their governors? Would love to hear any advice or suggestions! Thanks in advance

Thanks! Yes, ICT Direct are always my first port of call ... although even at their fantastic prices, we would struggle to replace all the kit that needs replacing! LTSC might be the way to go. :-)

Hi there, I have received some emails from various resellers regarding the MS EoL/support announcement for Windows 10 in Oct 2025. I know that the vast majority of computers/laptops we have here in school are not Windows 11 compliant and whilst we had plans to start a rolling program of kit upgrades, it hasn't always been possible due to financial constraints. Although the date is quite a way in the future - time has a habit of passing quite quickly in school, so I need to get a plan together! Just wondering how everyone else is managing this and is anyone else in a similar position with regards to finances?

Someone mentioned a product called iAMCompliant a while ago which might do the things you are looking for? It looks to be a compliance system which includes the abiltiy to share policy documents, training videos, etc with staff together with asset and contractor management. I've not really looked at it properly - but it might be worth a peek?

Can you run these with dual monitors?

We saw this in our school office yesterday when they were using Google Chrome. I suggested they try it using Edge ...and it worked. Not a solution ... but a workaround for now!

Thanks Tys. Sadly we are not a SIMS school and no Salamander either :-/ So I think I'm going to head down the shared mailbox route.

Hi, We would like to setup a shared school calendar in Outlook that all staff can view but only Office Staff can edit. From the reading I have done, it seems the best way to start is with a shared mailbox that is then also the calendar. Has anyone else set something like this up? Is the shared mailbox the way to go? All staff are happy using Outlook for their email, so accessing a shared calendar should also be quite straightforward. I have looked at using Teams and also Sharepoint but I think that a calendar that everyone can access via Outlook is the simplest option! Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

Hmmm ... it's just got even odder ... So if I login as Administrator to the local machine - the key works perfectly in Windows and I get / or ? displayed. If I login to the domain, as soon as I am logged in it goes all weird again and I just get + instead of / or ? #verypuzzled!

Hi Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, sorry I forgot to put in my original post that I had visited the Toshiba driver support site and downloaded the latest versions of BIOS and drivers that I thought might help ... but none of them seem to make a difference... I still get + instead of / or ? Odd!!

Hello, I have an odd problem that I just can't seem to fix and wondered if anyone here has come across this or would have some other things I could try? I have a Dynabook Satellite Pro laptop that does an odd thing when the /? key is pressed. It displays a + This only happens when logged in to Windows, as if I press the /? key on the Windows login screen in the Username box, the correct characters are displayed. I have tried resetting the regional settings etc but all are UK. I have removed the keyboard from Device Manager and let it reinstall but still the problem remains. If I bring up the On Screen Keyboard the correct characters are displayed when pressing the virtual /? key and if I plug in an external USB keyboard, the correct characters are displayed. Now I'm stumped!!! Any ideas of what else I could try?! Thanks in advance!

Thanks for checking this out :-) Yes, I am seeing a similar thing here ...but of course once the file is deleted from the Class Drive that's it and I lose sight of it. As I am a 'teacher' in my Test Class I can however still see the file in my 'Shared with Me' list - so I guess that's related to the pop up message about Collaborators still being able to view once file is removed from the Class Drive. So ...I'm thinking now that the only way to remove this file for everybody is for the student to delete it from their side of the assignment. Not ideal ..but it would get the required result! Is there any way of Admins being able to see inside student Drive folders? Thanks

Yes I also recall seeing this and would be wary about it - but there doesn't appear to be any way of removing files uploaded by student from inside the Classroom itself - hence why the teacher went looking in the Class Drive folder I think! It's just a bit odd as to where these files all 'live' ... I might have to have a little experiment inside a Test Class/Assignment.

Sorry ... I'm back! So when I delete a file from the Class Drive it gives me a pop up message to say the 'file will be removed from view. Collaborators will still have access' If I then have a look in the Trash ...there is nothing there - so now I'm wondering if all that's in the Class Drive is a link to the file shared from the student and not the actual file itself? Not sure whether I should be able to see this file in the Trash ...unless there is a different Trash can somewhere? Trying myself in a bit of a knot at the mo!