adhutton

44...but I still have all my own hair!

If you have a Smoothwall web filter you can set access so students/staff are only allowed to view the schools Youtube channel, which you can manage by adding or removing videos. Andrew

I have used them for a few years now and never had any bad problems. Had a couple of faulty items which they have replaced quickly, but nothing really serious. I buy from them all the time and find their delivery good and prices pretty keen. Andrew

Just over three weeks ago i fell on a broken step at work and fractured my ankle. Off work with a pot on my leg. Just wondering if i should put in a claim for damages? Would i lose my job if i did? Has anyone any experience of this? Andrew

Hi - I am not at work today so I cannot check, but as far as I remember we blocked http://messenger.live.com for students and that effectively 'broke' their ability to use MSN Messenger online. They can still use Live@edu but MSN Messenger doesn't work anymore. Andrew

Has anyone had any problems with the Use Conversations option in Live@edu? This feature is confusing our users and I would like to switch it off (or default it to not use conversations). Anyone managed to do that - maybe via Powershell? Andrew

Air France have a terrible safety record for a major airline. Avoid!

I have tried your suggestions and I did get a bit further...but the macBook cannot see the Windows CD and it just spits it out of the DVD drive after a few seconds! Do I need a 'special' copy of Windows install cd for a Mac or just the usual install disk? Andrew

Our Deputy Head's wife has a MacBook which has both the Mac operating system and a Windows Operating system (XP I think). The Windows part is broken - damaged registry I suspect: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM - missing or corrupt. I can start the Mac operating system, but cannot do anything with the Windows one and the machine is set to boot to the Windows partition as default. You could write what I know about Macs on a grain of rice.....but Windows I can usually fix:) Any ideas people about how I can repair the Windows side of things....bearing in mind that I don't seem able to boot to a CD or even get a command prompt??? All help/suggestions welcomed. Cheers - Andrew

Not sure. I need to check that. Thanks - Andrew

We have just implemented Live@Edu email in our school for Staff and Students. In order to get it to work for students they need access to the live.com domain (it was previously blocked on our web filter). However, I have just discovered that by unblocking live.com it allows them to log-in to on-line MSN Messenger!!! I have already disabled MSN Messenger from within Live@Edu using Powershell, but that doesn't stop them going to the live.com website and logging-in to MSN with their own account...aaagghhh!! Any solutions/suggestions people? Thanks. Andrew

Is anyone using the Connected Accounts feature in Live@Edu? I have set up a connected Hotmail account for a member of staff and it seems to have worked ok and downloaded mail from her Hotmail account. However, new inbound emails to her Hotmail are taking ages to appear in her Live@Edu Inbox and she is not very happy... Does anyone know if this sytem only polls the external Inboxes hourly/daily/weekly? If so, can that be changed? Any help/advice welcomed. Andrew

Win FF maybe - that seems able to convert most things: WinFF - Free Video Converter Andrew

Gets in to school this morning with a report that PCs in Science cannot login to network. After much investigation the problem appears to be affecting about 40 computers. Verified that switches/power etc. are all ok and we have plugged in our laptop which gets network connection and can login to the domain on various network ports. The affected Dell 360 PCs are all reporting their (on-board) network connection as being disabled. Have tried to re-enable the network connection, but that fails and gives error. Have tried uninstalling network hardware in Device Manager, updating drivers, resetting BIOS and various other troubleshooting things, but no joy. I suspect we have had some sort of 'power spike' which has destroyed the network circuits on the affected PCs.....but I am not 100% sure!! Has anyone had any similar problems to this? If so, any advice or information greatly appreciated. I am at the point now where I think we may have to go out and buy 40+ small form factor network cards in order to fix this Andrew

Try VLC - we used it last year for the World Cup and it worked like a dream. We recorded/time-shifted matches and then streamed them (a few seconds behind the live feed) across the school network. VLC Media Player - Download our Open-Source Media Player Software Free Andrew

Does anyone have, or know where I can find, any Moodle 2.0 demo courses that actually work? I have found a few on the web and tried to install them, but as they were produced with Moodle 1.9+ (despite stating they work in 2.0) they won't work. Any help/advice appreciated. Andrew

Quite a few other rooms have the same setup and this is the only complaint we've had. This particular teacher wears glasses and the glare seems worse with the glasses...I wear glasses myself and I would find it a problem I think, so I do have some sympathy with the situation. Andrew

Unfortunately our school has quite low ceilings and it is already about as far up as it will go. A

Yep, it is the stuff dreams are made of....I couldn't quite believe it myself when I heard....but I still need to find a solution to the problem - preferably a low-cost solution...! Any cheap ideas folks...filters....mirrors...??? Andrew

Hi all - We've had a complaint from a teacher that her video projector is too bright and it is giving her sight problems/headaches. I have been to have a look and I have to agree that it is bright...but gives a fantastic picture on the whiteboard. Have tried adjusting the lamp/picture via the projector menu (Sanyo projector by the way) but she says it doesn't make it any better. Have any of you come across this issue before? If so, can you suggest any solution(s)? Cheers - Andrew

Hi - I have the same problem. Do you have a current schools agreement with a software reseller? If you do, that is a good. They can run something called a 'Claret Report' (I think that's what it is called) via Microsoft to see exactly which licences Microsoft think your school already has with them and under what terms. That gave me a starting point from which to move forward. Andrew

Ok, let me check my understanding then. We were intending to install BackupAssist on one server and have it backup other servers, including system state, and copy the files to a NAS. We will also need to backup open files and an SQL server as well. If we have 6 servers in total, I will need to purchase 6 copies (licenses) of the core BackupAssist application, 6 copies of the Open Files Add-on and 1 copy of the SQL server add-on?? Is that right? Cheers - Andrew

Sorry if this is going back a bit...we are looking at BackupAssist and it looks quite good. Got the free trial, but a bit confused about the licensing. Does anyone know if we will need a license for every server we are backing up + SQL or just the server where the software sits? Sorry if that sounds a bit dim, but I am really not sure! Any help appreciated. Andrew

Someone from ITSS recently sent me this specifications sheet for SIMS (attached), it may help. Andrew sims_hardware_spec.pdf

We just got one of these and it seems really good - Cisco Small Business NSS 322 2-bay NAS Enclosure.. | Ebuyer.com Not the cheapest, but a free HDD at the moment and a nice piece of kit. Andrew