ITWombat

Convential wisdom would be to RIS a vinalla build with machine specific drivers and then use WSUS for updates and GPO+MSI for apps. Now with over 50 updates post XP SP2 the WSUS stage will take some time. Might it be better to integrate as many of the updates into the RIS folder tree, leaving less to be done via WSUS. For laptops that use with dial-up (there are some people who don't have broadband at home) the update for KB 886185. Then again I don't suppose you'd let it out of the school until it had been fully WSUSed anyway.

Is that anything to do with foomatic filters

... after reading the release notes ...with up to date antivirus protection ...with a 3.5 inch floppy after pressing F6

@Mark It's a good thing that the Head has taken action to stop corridor ambushes or people just walking into the Tech office. The policy just needs slight refinement o work well. There should be an established SLA to allow the tech to automatically prioritise jobs that come through phone/mail/helpdesk. PC suite meltdowns gets a higher priority then printer jam removals. Manager's input should be retrospective, either day's end or end of week reviews. Then peopl e or departments making lots of requests will either have more attention to tackle genuine systemic issues or told to get a grip.

@john SST? Specialist School Trust? Do specialist schools get cheaper pricing?

The people who orginally created the bulletin board software that EduGeek runs on probably meant that this smilie 8O should say dazzled or spaced out. It seems, however, that as most members on here are British, we see something quite different. This 8O to us says very miffed. Someone just took another chip from our plate and it's getting annoying.

Link please

It seems strange to me that the Moderators caption is in bold while the actual name of the Forum is in a slightly darker blue than its background. I have sometimes had to scroll up and down the forum index once or twice before I found a prticular forum. OK it's not the end of the world but just seems eccentric colur scheme.

Well you'e used only the big names. Try some of the minor characters. I believe Odysseus. used a cleaner called Gladys when he was away from Ithaca.

For suites of full desktop PCs teachers can use Net Support/NetOp for control. What happens when schools use thin clients. Have things moved much beyond shadowing? Would you have a two part solution involving a proxy server box for the single room internet control?

Which MIcrosoft licensing scheme do you use? Is it right to say that Select + Software Assurance = Schools Agreement? TIA

Ok the PCs are protected from damage, enforced restart between logon gets rid of phish-ware and security best practice on servers as a given. Job done? What happens during lesson time. Do you still run NetOp/NetSupport? Why should a student bother with a tedious database assigment when they can hone their coding skills or play 3D snooker.Are your teaching colleagues quite so happy that kids can do anything and hit the boss key when teacher draws near. Also what about the situation when the school is not the target of cracking activity but a remote site. I take it that BorderMangager is the Novell equivalent of ISA/Censornet. Do you block all protocols apart from HTTP, FTP and RTSP/MMS?

Have a look at the eduGeek wiki under Essential Software and Network Management (Software Deployment) As others have said, MSI via AD is best way to go. There is also the poor man's option of psexec to run command line installers on multiple remote machines. WPKG is another avenue for doling out commandline installers. It doesn't appear to have a push mechanism if you are supporting Windows 98/ME.

I can't give you specifics but it's a question of creating a suitable LDAP query to select the required recipients.

...but it's the first ever episode of Heartbeat and it's such gripping crime drama

Now coems the fun of writing the resignation letter. Also, when you activitate the self destruct make sure it's set to bite around forghnight after you leave so it doesn't look too suspicious. Of course eduGeek does not condone any criminal action but one can dream.

LOL! Put my name down for a pre-order. I can imagine you in full Frankenfurter mode: "Well hello I see you've met my faithful ICT technician .... .... I am just a sweet Assistant Head with special reposnibilty for ICT provision from Transylvania

It seems that the year of entery is catching most people out according to Kevin's rules. Even using the exam numbers is not completely safe as any series will vary with the year groups as they are enter the school.

It seems I am the only one who has prolems with internal JetDirect cards Half a dozen in three years was unexpected from a tier one manufacturer.

I am glad it worked out so well for you. Remember us when you end up at some large IT concern producing the stuff that ends up in server rooms and classrooms

There has to be a catch with all those cheap lasers. Printer manufacturers aren't charities.

In days gone by teachers may have asked students to write about themselves and/or friends and familly for a piece of work. Considering the hoops we have to jump through because of the DPA these days, the question is now can/should teachers still do this?

Am I right in thinking that attachemtns and polls block anonymous readers (visitors) from reading a paricular topics. If the goal is to increase readerhip then then this polciy should be adjusted slightly. Visitors should be able to read such topics but banned form voting and downloading. More open threads also means higher googlability and hence increasing eduGeek's profile as a resource for IT pros. Just my £0.02

Eh .. not sure the school insurance would cover this even for a 'progressive 'school

I suppose that's feasible if the apprentice is just happy to do donkey work and maybe and hardware build work. Anything involving the data of or data bout other users is more difficult to deal with.