itschad

Dont do what I did this year. We were getting hassled because they didnt like an initiative that was going on and were being quite vocal about it. I was on stage at the welcoming cermony and said "Yeah well while you were off enjoying yourself, some of us were working. So even if you dont like it respect the work that went into it." Didnt go over so well. Tough audience haha

Greetings, We are looking into starting a 1 to 1 computer initiative in our district. The plan is to start buying laptops for incoming 9th grade students every year. The problem is we have to act fast while we have some extra funding for the next 4 years. We are also under a considerable amount of pressure to do this. So I know there are some major problems I have thought of and probably a ton I havent even considered. I am curious what everyone else is doing and what can be done to fix these problems. Problem 1) We are severely understaffed, 3 people 13 sites, 3700 computers, 22 servers and 5300 users. What recommendations do you have to limit the impact of this on my IT Staff? We have thought about wyse computing or some other thin client. I know that has its limitations. Problem 2) Keeping them charged. How do you keep them charged? We have debated all kinds of things, such as buying an extra battery with a charger that can charge multiple batteries at once. Problem 3) Teacher buy in. How do you make teachers embrace the change. I know from smartboards and other large initiatives that is the factor you must have and sometimes it is the hardest thing to achieve. Any suggestions? We are talking about providing the teachers with an identical laptop this year so they re used to their performance. Problem 4) Keeping them safe. What happens to laptops during lunches, school assemblies and such? Currently the lockers are probably not big enough to hold the laptops properly. Problem 5) The big one! How do I secure these? I figure I could install deepfreeze of compuguard on them to prevent viruses,w hile leaving a thawed space. However, there are so many other issues concerning this. What have others done about this? Whether I like it or not, it looks like these changes are going to be forced into action. Sometimes I sit back and wonder why they ask for my opinion. Apparently when you tell people things they dont want to hear they lose respect for your opinion but at any rate thats a topic for another day. Thanks for the input~

I had this exact same problem 2 weeks ago. I first checked the usb cable to make sure there was no electrical interference. After I did that I called Smart Tech, they had an actual name for this. It was something like "Jagged Lines". What I had to do to fix mine was unscrew the screws behind the tray, just to loosen them a little bit. It somehow was creating a metal interference because the screws were tight. This problem usually happens on a smartboard that is mounted to drywall that has a foil backing. However we were mounting to a cinder block wall using Tapcon screws. To fix this, we now install a rubber washer around the screws to avoid any additional metal contact. Jagged lines.pdf

Hello, I will admit to you that I am a tech guy that was thrown into network administration and have been learning as I go. One thing I observed and learned was that I could increase the speed of my computers log in to the domain was to edit the host files. What I dont completely understand is why. I know it can speed up things while web browsing by preventing DNS look up. I also know that I can use it to filter websites. However why does this speed up log in times so dramatically. I mean we are talking login times going from 7 minutes to under 1 minute. Can someone explain why?

Hello All I am working on a problem that I am not sure what the solution is. Here is my problem. I am having slow login for computers because each time a student logs in they have to wait for the computer to create their account and settings. We freeze our hard drives so even if they use the same computer it doesnt save the settings. Is there a way I can bypass the account creation for each user?

Hah I love it. My job title switches from "Network Manager" to "Technology System Specialist" to "Technology Coordinator" to "That friggin tech guy"

I was googling something that was school specific and came across the site. Fell in love with the idea and joined right away.

I think the best one around is the NECC that is in D.C. this year. I believe I met someone from your company in San Antonio last year. I would recommend going to the WV West Virginia State Technology Conference It is a small conference however pretty well attended by the state due to its central location. We were one of the first few to go to a Wide Area Network and I think many in the state are now moving. The firest thing I tell everyone of them is to make sure they have a filtering appliance as well as a packetshaper. You guys may need to talk to me sometime. We are using a Sonicwall but the price is begining to get at us now on the upgrades.

Yeah, I think things are slowly moving in the direction of technicians per school in my area. However, alot of states have went there. Its amazing to me that we were one of 2 states to get an "A" in technology rankings, and my district is in the top 3 in our state but yet I only have myself and 2 technicians for 16 sites...... However, they will eventually get it all figured out. I hope!

Thanks BMDixon I figure its going to take a while to fix something that was such a small thing to have done correctly. I have over 1000 folders I have to set the rights on.......I could only imagine having to do that manually. Chad

I appreciate the replies and really like the NTFSFix program. However, here is the problem. I do not have rights to the folders. I can get into the named folders, but not the "My Documents" or "Desktop" folders inside of it. Lets say a teachers login name is JSmith. They have a folder named E:\Shared\JSmith\ Inside these folders are a my documents folder and a desktop folder. I can access the JSmith folder but can not access the folders inside. So anytime I try to change permissions I get a message that I do not have the ability to do so. Is there something I am missing. Thanks Chad

I just came to the realization that my backup wasnt working correctly. I looked to see why and have figured out that I made what I consider a big mistake when I setup folder redirection. I failed to uncheck the "give user exclusive rights" option and now as an administrator I am unable to go in and backup the files. I just unticked the option in group policy. However, will this fix this issue? The only other way I can think to fix it is to go into each users folder and take ownership on their my documents and desktop folder and then give them full control. I just hate to think about doing this 600 times..... Is there an easier way I am missing? Thanks Chad

I have looked at a product recently named account ability. It worked with our student information system to automatically create student accounts, manage student drives and assist teachers in creating homework drives(Write only, no read ability). It also allows principals to disable student internet access. I am wondering if there is any other software available like this? I know I can do all this if I work hard enough with the tools provided. However I would love an easier solution. I am a bit overwhelmed but need the functionality.

We currently use Ghost and its great and all. However I tried to upgrade to the newest version with remote imaging. They said it would cost around $60,000. I cant pay that. I am looking for something a little cheaper that would allow us to do that. Someone recommended Arconis. I have used their software in the past but only the home version. I am curious what people think of this product, and if they have a clue what each license would cost.

As some of you may know, I am trying to battle my workload. I have some money to spend to help, and I am very curious as to what software you use to help preform various tasks. For example, what do you use to help manage network users, Helpdesk software, inventory management, anything.In an earlier post I was given a heads up on software that I had never heard of. I am thinking that this software will serve a great purpose. Thanks for your help!

thanks box! I contacted them for a quote today....nothing yet but am anxious to see it.Does it cost quite a bit?

I am from the states and am really intrigued in comparing what technology one of our classrooms have versus what many of you have. In our typical classroom we have smartboard, ceiling mounted projectors, 4 computers per classroom a teacher computer. Each 4-6 classrooms are networked to one printer. Every 4-6 classrooms share a classroom set of hand held GPS units. Software: The normal: MS Office, Windows XP SP3, Odyssey, United Streaming, textbook software, google earth, gis software, Macromedia Studio 8 (Upgrading soon), Centurion compuguard control center (Like Deep Freeze), and AB Tutor.

See this is great, its a simple thing however I didnt even think of this. Thanks alot!

I am looking to something exactly like this. Could you provide me with some guidance of how to set this up. I made a vb program, but I would love it to be on a website.

I agree with most of what is said here. I think its a very fine line, and I sway back and forth between locking things down in a healthy manner, and being overly aggressive. We use Symantec Endpoint Protection which does a fairly good job of finding things on the flash drive. However, I maybe need to research if it is possible to scan upon it being inserted. Let me put this disclaimer out, I am not a huge Symantec fan but it is provided for free....

Currently our policy is to allow students to bring in flash drives. Each core area teacher at the begining of every year is to instruct students how to properly scan for viruses. However, I am now convinced that not one kid is scanning them. I know its important to allow flash drives to be used to bring data from home. However what concerns me is what else they bring in from home. I even had one kid bring porn in and sell it to other kids. He would then copy it to their flash drive. When we were given the bad citizens flash drive, it had over 22 viruses. I hate to block flash drives, but I am looking for any help in what to do about them.I am curious how you all handle them. Chad

Thanks, these are good answers and go along exactly what I am doing. We are the all too controlling computer department though. I wanted to make sure that I wasnt out of line in my way of thinking. My favorite is that they always assume bigger districts are better with technology. I hear "Well in (Insert District Here) we were able to buy our own printers and scanners. They supported them." I appreciate this site so much. I hope I dont annoy everyone by asking a ton of questions right now. However I am figuring out changes for this next upcoming year.

How do you handle when a teacher brings in some unknown strange ink jet printer they bought somewhere for a little or nothing and asks you to install it? Do you have a policy against purchasing hardware. I have a somewhat large problem with this. I am thinking that we are going to make a list of "Recommended/ Supported" peripherals....I love when teachers buy technology. I hate when they buy some random program or hardware and then look at us and say "Make it work". Like we are supposed to be the supreme being of know all and understanding. Haha, thanks for answers.

Thanks for the ideas. I am not familiar at all with Microsoft System Center. I dont know how I missed it but it peeked my interest some. I am working on what I am calling "The New Plan" for this coming year. I really appreciate all the help. I had looked at thin clients in the past and to be honest wasnt impressed. We currently use an Xtenda setup in about 50% of our rooms. This allows one machine to run 4 computers. I am also under the understanding they can run about 30 off of one server in a thin client like atmosphere. However, we always have problems getting software to run correctly. I appreciate all the comments I will put them to use.

I currently set a schedule every Friday. As you all know, by Monday morning it usually changes but it gives us an idea. I prioritize work orders every day, and have my techs prioritize at each site they visit. It sometimes slows us down because sometimes more travel is involved. I really believe alot of days we would make it if it weren't for the inevitable emergencies where I or someone else has to travel to another school to take care of something. The funny thing is I actually have a decent budget. Actually in all honesty a good budget but the way the money is defined I can not use it to hire people.....It sounds silly but they vote on a levy to help with things and all the money has to be spent on hardware/software. No money was provided for help. So I am not opposed to spending some money if it is going to help me. I think we got the ok to hire some contracted help. I am working on that avenue. The sad thing is people know the differences we have made. In fact we are in the top 3 departments in our state. The things we have going on are great, everyone knows the potential but its like they stop as soon as we tug at the purse a little and ask for another person.