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Thread: Help-Local Authority IT support

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    Help-Local Authority IT support

    I work in a school and have recently tried to get internet and network connection set up in my newly opened unit. I have my own personal laptop which is needed to work the interactive whiteboard. I am currently using my own laptop as I am still waiting for the I.T support service to set up the four laptops that were ordered before the summer holidays.
    I have a few questions as I'm beginning to think that they're giving me the run around.
    1. I wanted access to the school network, installed and run by the Local Authority. In order for them to do this on my own personal laptop they told me they would have to wipe everything from my laptop and start again. Is this correct?
    2. We ordered four laptops from Dell before the summer. They have told me they have to get in contact with Dell to sort out the 'configuration'. They have also told me there is a problem with 'ghosting'. Could somebody tell me what this is please? There is only one network point in my unit as we don't have wireless free access so the only laptop that needs setting up for the internet and school network is the one that I will need for the smartboard, so surely the comments about configuration are redundant? My home PC is Dell and as someone without any I.T qualifications I was impressed at how easy it was to set them up from the box. Shouldn't this be the same with the laptops?

    I would be grateful for any help in this matter as I'd really like to have them up and running as soon as possible.

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    I work in a school and have recently tried to get internet and network connection set up in my newly opened unit. I have my own personal laptop which is needed to work the interactive whiteboard. I am currently using my own laptop as I am still waiting for the I.T support service to set up the four laptops that were ordered before the summer holidays.
    These jobs aren't that well paid usually - so they hire incompetents Or occasionally they are overworked. Sometimes both

    1. I wanted access to the school network, installed and run by the Local Authority. In order for them to do this on my own personal laptop they told me they would have to wipe everything from my laptop and start again. Is this correct?
    Physically - no, it's nonsense - but practically they may want to do this for security reasons as a quick way of making sure you aren't running anything dodgy on "their" network. For that to be worthwhile though, they would need to have someway to make sure you NEVER install anything dodgy. If they can't do this, then we're back to "nonsense" again

    2. We ordered four laptops from Dell before the summer. They have told me they have to get in contact with Dell to sort out the 'configuration'. They have also told me there is a problem with 'ghosting'. Could somebody tell me what this is please?
    They mean they are trying to install a laptop image they have pre-configured for other laptops and they have issues with the laptops drivers. See point 1 "incompetent"

    My home PC is Dell and as someone without any I.T qualifications I was impressed at how easy it was to set them up from the box. Shouldn't this be the same with the laptops?
    Not if they have a set image they want to install - which it sounds like they do have. They will effectively be erasing everything on the DELLs and replacing all the laptop content with "content they prepared earlier" sort of like blue peter

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    1. I wanted access to the school network, installed and run by the Local Authority. In order for them to do this on my own personal laptop they told me they would have to wipe everything from my laptop and start again. Is this correct?
    Ultimately

    Their network = Their rules

    Chances are your laptop would work if you plugged it into an existing socket on the network (and assuming the network uses DHCP - in laymens terms, automatic network address allocation) but undoubtedly your network security policies do not permit this. I'd recommend escalating your problem to someone senior within your management team who can apply pressure at a similar level within IT. It's a sad fact that those shouting loudest tend to get the most attention regardless of merit.

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    2. We ordered four laptops from Dell before the summer. They have told me they have to get in contact with Dell to sort out the 'configuration'. They have also told me there is a problem with 'ghosting'. Could somebody tell me what this is please? There is only one network point in my unit as we don't have wireless free access so the only laptop that needs setting up for the internet and school network is the one that I will need for the smartboard, so surely the comments about configuration are redundant? My home PC is Dell and as someone without any I.T qualifications I was impressed at how easy it was to set them up from the box. Shouldn't this be the same with the laptops?
    Ghosting is the process of applying a known, tested configuration to a piece of hardware - this should ensure that support is needed less and things work as expected as the combinations of software and hardware are already proven. It may be that the laptops you have ordered are not units that they have tested their standard setup on. Chances are with the addition of a few drivers (software that communicates between your operating system - likely Windows - and hardware) it would work OK but if your laptops are coming preinstalled with Vista and your corporate standard is Win XP then there's a potential problem.

    Without sounding too much of an apologist for your IT dept I think you also need to realise that setting up a single PC for home use is a much different thing to installing and maintaining a corporate network of machines.

    Robert

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    I work in a school and have recently tried to get internet and network connection set up in my newly opened unit. I have my own personal laptop which is needed to work the interactive whiteboard. I am currently using my own laptop as I am still waiting for the I.T support service to set up the four laptops that were ordered before the summer holidays.
    I have a few questions as I'm beginning to think that they're giving me the run around.
    1. I wanted access to the school network, installed and run by the Local Authority. In order for them to do this on my own personal laptop they told me they would have to wipe everything from my laptop and start again. Is this correct?
    2. We ordered four laptops from Dell before the summer. They have told me they have to get in contact with Dell to sort out the 'configuration'. They have also told me there is a problem with 'ghosting'. Could somebody tell me what this is please? There is only one network point in my unit as we don't have wireless free access so the only laptop that needs setting up for the internet and school network is the one that I will need for the smartboard, so surely the comments about configuration are redundant? My home PC is Dell and as someone without any I.T qualifications I was impressed at how easy it was to set them up from the box. Shouldn't this be the same with the laptops?

    I would be grateful for any help in this matter as I'd really like to have them up and running as soon as possible.

    Yup, sounds like a runnaround on some of the kit. I'm an IT bod specialising in networks / scalable systems. I also work for a company that primarily uses Dell Kit.

    Firstly, the true part.
    In all the companies I have worked for (I'm a contractor so I move about a fair bit) putting your own machine on the network is a major no no. As an IT dept, we are responsible for security of the WHOLE network. If you add your machine (which has probably not been corporate firewalled / anti malware / antivirus protected) onto the network we have no control over it.

    Ghosting refers the practice of making a clone of an orginal machine. i.e. Create a software image on one machine and then copy it to the others thus ensuring that they are all the same.
    This is a standard industry thing to do and unless you are using some wierd flavour of UNIX then ghosting should offer no challenges to your support staff.

    Even if Dell supply machines that have small changes in them due to manufacturing component runs (Dells can suffer with this) the original Ghost image build can be made to compensate for this.

    So, to sum up... they are kicking their heels or are technicaly suffering. But I wouldn't let you bring in your own machine to school either.

    P.S. Educational establishments are the biggest breeding ground for computer viruses. Are you sure you want your own personal machine there anyway?

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Robd beat me to it, same answer I feel

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    They have also told me there is a problem with 'ghosting'. Could somebody tell me what this is please?
    I assume they're using a "Ghost image":
    Ghost (software) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    and they have problems (somewhere) with that pre-defined image.

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    I would be grateful for any help in this matter as I'd really like to have them up and running as soon as possible.
    It sound like you'll just have to live with it, to be honest - I wouldn't use my personal PC either, you hear horror stories about this sort of thing

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by Balders1973 View Post
    ...
    If you add your machine (which has probably not been corporate firewalled / anti malware / antivirus protected) onto the network we have no control over it.
    ...


    One of the security functions of the network will be to check and update any anti-virus and maybe anti-spyware software. This relies in you having the same software [or them buying it for you for work purposes].

    However, depending on the security of the wireless, this would be a less problematic (more insecure) way in. However, it would not be supported and, should there be any problems, they might well seriously throw the book at you!! Far simpler to not bother. Get a business case for a laptop/palmtop, or, use a usb drive to transport work. [just be aware of Data Protection issues]

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Many thanks for the support and the advice. It gives me plenty to think about.
    The reason I am using my laptop in school is because they have had the school laptops for so long. Without me bringing in my laptop the smartboard doesn't work and it's very difficult to teach. I work with special needs children so the more visual the better for them. If I remove my laptop then I remove a huge amount of resources for their access.

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by dance cat View Post
    Many thanks for the support and the advice. It gives me plenty to think about.
    The reason I am using my laptop in school is because they have had the school laptops for so long. Without me bringing in my laptop the smartboard doesn't work and it's very difficult to teach. I work with special needs children so the more visual the better for them. If I remove my laptop then I remove a huge amount of resources for their access.
    Mmmm. But by supplying a "solution", you're removing any urgent incentive for the authorities to remedy the situation, aren't you? So the only person inconvenienced is you - and your welfare clearly isn't that important to your employers.

    I'd suggest vociferous and loud and continuous complaints to all the departments who should be supplying you with equipment - if you yell long enough, loud enough, and enough times, you'll get results.

    I definitely wouldn't go any further using your own laptop - it just seems the wrong thing to do "strategically", although I understand it's done from the very best of motives.

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    Re: Help-Local Authority IT support

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    Mmmm. But by supplying a "solution", you're removing any urgent incentive for the authorities to remedy the situation, aren't you? So the only person inconvenienced is you - and your welfare clearly isn't that important to your employers.

    I'd suggest vociferous and loud and continuous complaints to all the departments who should be supplying you with equipment - if you yell long enough, loud enough, and enough times, you'll get results.

    I definitely wouldn't go any further using your own laptop - it just seems the wrong thing to do "strategically", although I understand it's done from the very best of motives.
    Thank you for the advice and I do understand that what you say is extremely logical and sensible.
    I can do the loud and vociferous complaints- I think before anybody else says it, I'm quite good at that bit. I can understand how in most work places me bringing in my own laptop would result in serious questions being asked. However, I work in education, you know that essential bit of society that is at the bottom of the list in terms of getting things done efficiently and first in the list for being someone to blame. I think most parents are unaware of how much equipment in schools is actually provided by the teachers out of their own pockets. To take my laptop away is an action that has negative consequences for the children and I can't do it.

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