kingswood

I'm charging enough so that I can cover the cost of that utility that Shane now says he doesn't want I'll let you in free though ;-)

That's a good game Geoff. I play it on OS X: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/simulation_and_sports/flightgear.html Worth a look. I also (I have to confess) bought the "Hacking the X Box" book whilst a member of a LUG at one time and actually installed Linux onto one of my XBoxes, but then got more interested in Linux for PS2. Have you tried that yet? Works quite well. Another reason to buy a PS3 (Yellow Dog). Paul

YOU: "Just thought, you know with hard drives that are about to die , not sure if its true or not but ive heard you can put it into a sandwhich bag ( zip locked ) and put it into the freezer for some time and then use it again to get the data off of it." My response: just use ghost (in a light hearted way). YOU: "I see grommit made a comment about quotas and users dumping there memory sticks onto the server and duplicating backups and I've read the rest of it and I am obviously missing something here as I still don't get how ghost comes into it but ok" You only see what you want to see. You thought someone had a strike against me and so wanted to join in. And now you patronise me with this tripe. OK. You wanted software (though you say not specific "X, Y, Z" unless it is Linux which you hardly use anyway) that can recover USB drives (not a big deal on our network anyway). You have had some suggestions. Take them and actually do something with them without trying to score some kind of ego trip on a public forum for goodness sake. Amd then do what you're supposed to be doing and learn to use Server.

If you wanted to play Flight Simulator X properly perhaps? Quite true. Looks good as well :-)

We are going to get them to use ghost and make an image of there memory stick(s) ? Prat. Read the responses I gave. One after the other. Slowly.

Why would that be? It's a piece of shareware. We get around two requests for USB memory stick restores in any given year. We *cannot* spend 30 minutes recovering one special file that should have been backed up to a network drive, when we should be taking that time and using it more productively. Staff *know* that we can only restore files they have backed up to network drives. In the example Shane gave it was simply a case of rebooting the system after USB drivers were installed so that the stick could be mounted properly. It took five minutes. The member of staff in question *knew* policy and when asked said that she had backed up most of the files on the stick anyway. It was just that she needed the stick home with her... Long story short: no. The school will not buy the utility. $40 shareware application from an American "supplier". Doesn't sound good for the auditors now, does it? But *I* am going to buy it so that we have it for use. That's where you jumped the gun. I'm not unreasonable- I just don't like people assuming too much. If it were left to Shane we would be buying tons of scripting utilities and little applications that can end up making spaghetti out of what should be a simple job (and Shane knows my sense of humour ;-) Thanks ;-)

Of course for memory sticks you could use this: http://www.brothersoft.com/utilities/system_utilities/memory_stick_data_recovery_46681.html But it does mean spending money. And I know you are loathe to do that. It *is* only around $40. Peanuts really. And no. The school won't buy it for you ;-)

Errmmmm...yeah...make sure you have a ghost image of the HDD and just restore it to its former glory. That way you don't spend two hours on a job just looking for scripts and stuff trying to fix the issue and get on with some real work...hehehehe...

Why oh why would someone *want* to get Vista even illegally? Where was that site again.... Edit: Joking Bill. I still want to come and play Golf next week with you. OK. I won't bring my MacBook Pro with me this time and show you how cool OS X is. Yes...I know it upsets you ;-)

My sentiments exactly. BTW- as Geoff said, quotas are good for making sure user areas are limited or that the administrator is warned about people misusing storage on servers. If you use Server 2003 R2, the new File Server Resource Manager snap-in tool has great reporting features that let you run a report on user areas and detail file sizes and total space used...I ran one last week and found a few surprises! Paul :-)

ROFL. That's brilliant. Just really cheered up my day!

By setting the Macs up on their own domain, do you mean installing an Open Dsirectory Master and making that authoritative for the Macs? If so, you will have to run these as two discreet networks- and put your users in twice (once in AD and then again in OD). A better solution (I think) would be to get to the bottom of the issues you are obviously having with the existing network and then binding the Macs to the AD, thus having only one central database of users to worry about. Have you run some diagnostics on the network? On a Mac, type: nslookup -sil The prompt will turn to: > now type: host -t SRV _ldap._tcp.domain.com host -t SRV _kerberos._tcp.domain.com host -t SRV _kpasswd._tcp.domain.com Where I have put domain.com there put in your single label namespace. If you don't see any entries, then OS X doesn't figure that they are *valid* entries. You can also tell Directory Services Plugin to run in loggin mode if you like and this can be helpful after the process fails to trace where the issue lies: sudo killall -USR1 DirectoryService Toggle it back again to turn off the the debug log- you will find it (IIRC) in the following place on your systems: /Library/Logs/DirectoryService The main issue is whether you are allowing dynamic DNS updates on your AD server. If you aren't, then OS X isn't going to be happy about registering itself on the server (well, effectively this would have to be done manually and this isn't helpful to you either). Check your DNS snap-in on your AD Server and look for SRV records and whether you are allowing Dynamic Updates. This will be crucial in deciding whether you can bind the Macs to this AD at this point. Back on your Macs, look at: man dsconfigad and read through it to get an idea of what is expected by the binding process. The plug in uses _domain.tcp.domain.com to find the DNS Server, which should return to your system a list of hosts providing those services I just said should be seen in your forward lookup zone on your AD DNS Server. If it can't find them, it just won't find what domain it's in or any authentication or registration services. OS X uses this information to build the edu.mit.kerberos (I may have that wrong) configuration file. Then it tries to authenticate to the new DC and searches for a domain and forest for a computer record with a computer ID that matches the one specified in the plugin. If a match is not found the plugin creates the new record and a password is attached to that ID. That's it bound to AD. But notice that it takes that registration service to finish the job? OK. All that said, in the Directory Access plugin make sure you have: The forest name AD Domain name (Are in domain name format) Computer ID Make sure your domain name is entered first in Network Preferences. Then go to a Windows machine (doesn't have to be your AD Server) and run: nslookup At the next prompt, type: http://www.apple.com Does it return valid results? See if any of that throws you in the right direction. Paul

Systeq do a great Job for us Tony. They hail from Peterborough- but if you need some details PM me and I will pass on their contact info.

That's what I thought. Some people like being geekier than others ;-) I got 86% by the way. :-)

Good points Norphy, I have to admit. Hey- if life is a lemon, suck it and see before asking for a refund ;-)

If I have to vote either/or with no option for OS X then I would have to vote Ubuntu. Vista is OK. Just OK. It isn't anything special, and not for the price they want to charge for it in any case. Ubuntu is great- it's a solid OS that lets me do most things I want. And yet, even though I chose Ubuntu I agree with another post that said Windows makes things so much easier because they are familiar. And this is the problem I have with Linux- there are *so many* ways of doing things (and of doing them wrong) that it puts people off. More power to Ubuntu then!

Single label domains. Oh boy. Try this: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060310075328878 ...(Edit) I need to qualify the link- what the poster suggests is rebutted pretty well by a post further on in the link above. That's OK, because I wanted you to actually see the rebuttal and be able from that to build an idea of what this will take to get working. Hope it helps in some way. ...(Edit2) Read this too: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300684 Paul :-)

I think Geoff what may have prompted the query about your point was your emphatic "..should point". This is only a third option in a list of three possible (and workable) methods of installing DNS on an AD network- as detailed on the KB article you linked to. I have installed dozens of servers with DNS on them using the primary DC with DNS installed as the primary DNS reference- as per most training materials (even MS Press) and never had my event log even hint at SRV records not being found (even that can be remedied). Im sure it probably happens, but I have never seen it. Good link though- thanks.

Yeah- Primary DNS Server (if it is an AD Server) should indeed point to itself. Paul

We use BT Broadband- but I wasn't aware that it "dialled" any number. All we did to move from the standard BT "modem" was buy a Belkin Wireless ADSL Router and plug the connection cable from that into the Microfilter at the telephone point. We then went through the configuration of the router as normal. The Belkin actually detected most of the standard settings for us, so all we did was put in username and DNS really, and then tell the router whether we wanted WPA or WPA2/WEP and set all those messy things. If it's broadband (or boredband as my kid calls it) then it's "always on". Those options you get that have to dial up the connection? They are (technical term alert) "naff". If you need any more help let me know and I will see if I can offer some up. Paul

Yeah- this is for Joe User who lives in normality: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Windows-Vista-Ultimate-DVD/dp/B000HCTYTE/sr=1-2/qid=1162368275/ref=sr_1_2/202-9997587-9725465?ie=UTF8&s=software Mmmmmmm...

The first DC in a domain is automatically designated as a GC in any case, so it's likely your old server is indeed a holder of the GC. For other DCs you can decide whether they will hold the GC or not using the Active Directory Sites and Services tool. Or- and this is quite good- you can just have a Windows 2003 Server with universal group caching enabled (normally best for remote scenarios but I know some big networks that use it locally). The rest of your plan (all of it really) looks good to me. But as advised I would make double sure as to who holds the FSMO roles before moving them.

Great thread guys. I was just reading the EULA this morning before getting to work after being tipped off about concerns over its censorship and restrictive attitude by some blogs I frequent. If you visit OSNEWS and The Register there are some very good rebuttals of Paul Thurrott's arguments. I have even listened to Paul on a podcast explain (well...try to) Microsoft's newly "clarified" position on licensing and Vista and I'm not impressed. Overly restrictive virtual machine rules (there's no technical reason for Vista Home or Premium not being used in a VM- it's a cost and legal thing), overly restrictive rules about moving your copy of Vista to a new machine, and censorship issues about benchmarking and .NET 3.0 make Vista look not only like a bad version of XP but completely draconian. And don't get me started on the price for Ultimate (around £390)! So to use Vista in a tool like Parallels would cost me £390. I could use Home or Premium Edition but that wouldn't be legal. And what about Defender? Have you read the EULA sections that mention this little application and what it *could* do to your system and applications? Makes for interesting legalese. No thanks. Linux and Mac OS are becoming the only option for a lot of us.

Good question Tony. We are moving towards a cross-curricular use of ICT rather than focusing on ICT as a separate subject. Even though ICT resources are used here by other departments it isn't happening as much as the Head would like, and I kind of agree. My personal opinion is that we need a balance. We need specific ICT lessons and resources for those lessons but we also need to be seeing more use of ICT through other subjects. Specific lesson in ICT because then we can teach students about ICT rather than linking them with the myth that ICT is all about Office!

True. The imaging tools look very nice. But slapping the OS on straight after release would make me blood chill. Let us know how it goes