AngryTechnician

This is definitely causing us to rethink our planned purchase of new boards this summer. I've got 9 Promethean boards coming out, but I'm not committing to an annual cost that high for upgrades, if this is the way SMART are going then it's clear they aren't going to keep Notebook 11 running on newer devices and future versions of Windows.

I've seen this error come up when printers are installed but no default is set (which should be impossible but I've seen it nonetheless). I assume that since reopening Word fixes it, this isn't the problem here?

OK, here's how it works from a user perspective: 1. I log into my Windows 8.1 machine with my domain account. 2. I go to Account Settings and have an option to connect to a Microsoft Account. 3. I type in my Microsoft account details and it links that account to my domain account. I still log in with my domain username and password, but when I access things like SkyDrive or the Windows Store, it uses my Microsoft account details to authenticate me to those online services. In my case, I have registered my Microsoft account to use my Gmail email address as the contact email and username, instead of having a new email address and inbox. This is just the same as when I register for a website using my Gmail address and then use that email as the username to log in. All of these steps have to be performed individually by the user, including setting up the Microsoft account.

Sort of. I wouldn't recommend it though. It's a separate account, just using their normal email address as the username. No data is shared between the two. Gmail works OK on the built-in mail account via IMAP, but you have to set it up manually. You can't access Google Calendar at all (except via the browser). And of course the password is completely independent of Google Apps, so they can be out of sync which may cause confusion. Logging in with a Microsoft account will also not get you access to any internal resources in your school such as your local file shares or authenticating proxy (if you have one) as the domain doesn't recognise them. As such you will also be unable to take advantage of user-targeted group policies, so you can't apply different GPOs to pupils vs staff. All in all you are much better off sticking with your AD accounts and linking the new Microsoft account (created using their existing email address) to the domain account, which you do in account settings once you are logged in to the machine.

If you create a standard Microsoft account using an existing email address (i.e. their school email), it won't create a new email account for them.

I have blocked the Windows Store for pupils but it remains accessible to staff. You need to create a standard Microsoft Account, which is not the same as an Office 365 account. You cannot use an Office 365 account to access the store or sign in to Windows 8. There isn't really any centralised management of these for your domain except for Windows Live Custom Domains, which you can only use if you aren't using Office 365 (even though they don't do the same thing - I know, it makes bugger all sense).

It came through automatically on mine. Are you synchronising the Service Packs update classification?

In the end I found what turned out to be a cheap, fairly easy, and very effective way of doing this. If you ever did Airfix you'll remember the decals they came with, where you soak them in water for a minute then slide the backing paper off and press them onto the model. Turns out you can buy the paper to print your own now, and they stick to most surfaces, including metal, so... On close inspection like this you can see the transparent area has a slight texture to it, and you can just about see the outline of where I didn't cut the logo out perfectly, but I think it's come out pretty well considering the cost. It's completely flush with the surface (unlike a clear sticker which was my next choice), and according to the instructions should even stand up to washing as if you use it on mugs/plates it's apparently OK to handwash them (just not put them in the dishwasher).

Check this thread and see if you have all the sites there whitelisted. I have a feeling the Microsoft list is incomplete.

The Windows print model from 2000-Windows 7 uses the GDI application interface for printing, the same as for drawing graphics on screen, so I'd wager it uses graphics driver functionality as part of this (probably to take advantage of hardware acceleration). In Windows 8 it uses Direct2D, so is probably even more integrated...

I've had this problem exactly once about 6 weeks ago, and assuming it was the exact same problem, it happened simultaneously with Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 clients, all running the latest updates for the time. My file server is running Server 2012 (not R2), and also had the most recent patches at the time. No other roles are installed on the server, it just runs File And Storage Services. For what it's worth, I do have the Data Deduplication role service installed, not that it should make any difference given that local access to files was working fine.

While logged in as the affected user, look in the Recent places view in Explorer, along with recently used file lists in Word etc. That should give you some good leads.

nosslsearch.google.com is still working fine for us, even when signed in to Google Apps. How do/did you have it implemented?

Not everyone wants to do that. I didn't do either of those things for our deployment and it's working out just fine. Not everyone is obsessed with shutting computers down either. I've been telling my users not to do it for years, in fact. All our workstations automatically transition to Sleep and then Hibernate on a timer. Hibernate uses practically no additional power compared to a shutdown on modern PCs, and they turn on faster as a result (last time I checked, users were somewhat fond of faster startup times). If you are determined to make everything work like Windows 7, then of course you are going to have an uphill struggle. If, on the other hand, you are interested in providing a modern computing experience, it's not as hard as most people are making out. Windows 8 has its issues, but it also has a lot of non-issues that many people are fixating on for no good reason.

The DM is actually the worst offender for PCC complaints (Daily Mail tops the league of press regulation code breaches | theguardian.com), but astonishingly their editor is chairman of the PCC's Editors' Code of Practice Committee. If this isn't proof enough that the PCC is a waste of space, I don't know what is.

Yep, the £45 from Timpsons was mostly prep cost - after the first item is done it's only about £10 for additional items using the same artwork. That one had occurred to me too! Looks like I will be going down that sort of route.

Yep, I have a Servers OU for exactly this purpose. Highly recommended. Just don't move the DCs out of the existing "Domain Controllers" OU unless you want a lot of pain.

This is going to seem like an odd request... but is there anyone here (either a friendly supplier or someone with an industrious DT department) who could engrave a logo onto a ring for me? My school does a World Book Day event each year where they ask pupils to come dressed as a book character. Staff are encouraged to join in if they wish, and this year I'm planning to go as Ford Prefect. As part of this, I want to get the Hitchhiker's Guide logo (the one below) engraved onto a ring, as a prop to represent the Electronic Thumb. Yes, yes, I know the ring version they used in the film isn't how it worked in the book, but I liked it, so sue me. Anyway, I've got a 10mm steel ring the right size, and I've got the logo in vector format, but having talked to Timpsons they want £45 to do the engraving. That's a bit more than I want to spend for a small costume prop, so can anyone recommend a way of getting it done a bit cheaper? Oh, and of course I need it done by World Book Day, which is the 6th March... Any suggestions (other than attacking it myself with a Dremel) gratefully received!

Despite what it says on the Apple website, only US customers can purchase using a PO at present. Everyone else has to use a credit card.

I am, and have been for many years, but I will say this: unless your current or prospective employer values you being a member, don't bother. The only benefit worth having is the professional status it provides, but so few employers even know what the BCS is that often all you will get is a blank stare.

Well, this all sounds VERY FAMILIAR, doesn't it chaps??

You can do it with System Center, but even this has caveats: 1. If you're not already using System Center, it's a massive and complicated sledgehammer that you'll need to set up to crack the nut of app installs (probably on a new virtual server, let's be honest) 2. It still means the user has to have a Microsoft account set up. 3. It still doesn't silently deploy, each user has to tap install. Admittedly those last two aren't much different from iOS, but it's far from ideal.

Meraki MDM does not have the ability to deploy Windows Store apps. I asked about it on the Meraki stand at BETT and they weren't even sure if it was on the development roadmap.

You're definitely entitled to the tax disc as that isn't part of the vehicle, but anything else is questionable. If you've upgraded the stereo then removing it and putting back a stock (or near-stock) version is generally OK, but removing parts and leaving empty space gets a bit iffy I think.

I'm guessing it is the only server. If it does come to that, consider installing a second DC first and transferring the roles over (if it will let you). That way you won't lose the Active Directory. If you have no hardware available, even on a temporary basis, you could virtualise the existing server and install the second DC on the same box. You wouldn't need much spare memory either; DCs in Server 2008 R2 can easily get away with 1GB RAM. I've run Server Core DCs with less.