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| Tip and date. | Details. |
| NetTool ethernet port tester 2/16/04 |
Keene Silfer says: Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 Desktop Services has purchased a NetTool handheld network tester: http://www.flukenetworks.com/us/LAN/Handheld+Testers/NetTool/Overview.htm Handy for testing network jacks (Phone, token ring, or ethernet? 10Mb or 100? What subnet is it on?). It also indicates jack problems like low signal. It is available for loan to CUL desktop support providers, but proper care and feeding will have to be observed, as it is a $900 handheld and easily-droppable device. ;) If you check out the info on the website, note that we have the "NT" (standard) version, not the Inline or Pro models. It's the same hardware, but the software features that you get (inline mode, ping) at each of the two upgrade levels are ~$500 extra a pop. We can look into upgrades if anyone wants to make a case for their utility... |
| NAV updates on boot-up 1/20/04 |
Colleen Gardner says: I open the start up folder in Windows Explorer, right click in the folder to create a new shortcut and navigate to the *VPDN_LU* file in the Symantec folder. That way I'm sure the path is correct. When the shortcut is created, I go to properties on the shortcut icon and add a /s switch to make it silent. |
| Creating PDFs 1/8/04 |
../pdf/index.htm |
| Windows Services 10/31/03 |
Q: What NT/2K/XP services should/could be turned off? A: Info. Oliver compiled 9/17/03: http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/win2k.htm
Found these seemingly relevant sites, too: http://www.henrique.bucher.com/windows_services.htm , which pointed to MS's Glossary of Windows 2000 Services: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/howitworks/management/w2kservices.asp |
| Thin Clients and D-LIT Oct. 27, 2003 |
../thin_clients/index.htm |
| Using 700 Clark Hall Oct. 20, 2003 |
../700_Clark_Hall/index.htm |
| Windows: Find actual HD space used. Oct. 20, 2003 |
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 07:35:19 -0400 From: Colleen Gardner <crg29> Subject: Tool for finding files on a hard drive Here is a great tool I found to help see how much space is actually being used on your hard drive and where it is. I have had at least 2 machines which had been hacked and Windows reported (in one instance) 16GB being used on the c: drive. When I added up the size of each file on c: showed no more than 3 or 4GB. The program is very simple to use and has a great user interface. http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/index.shtml Colleen R. Gardner [n.b. The freeware non-Professional version (currently TreeSize V1.7) may be all you need.] |
| Microsoft Product Life Cycle Policies (Support and
Availability) July 2, 2003 |
Windows Desktop Product Life Cycle Support and Availability Policies
for Businesses Other topics available from the above link:
"Top level" link, in case above links rot: |
| Cleaning HP printers May 9, 2003 |
Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 10:42:54 -0400 From: Amy Blumenthal Subject: HP8100 in DBQE Laurie, Gary, and I (aka The Three Stooges) spent an exciting 30 minutes
attempting to clean the DBQE printer. We followed the directions on this
page: Amy |
| Norton Anti-Virus updates and permissions. May 9, 2003 |
Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 01:05:17 -0400 From: Rick Lightbody Subject: Norton silent LiveUpdate: problem and resolution Today, thanks to Laura and Amy, I became aware that the NAV silent LiveUpdate shortcut in the Startup folder isn't doing anything on our standard cloned Win2K machines. Even though we'd tweaked the registry to allow a restricted user to manually do a LiveUpdate, the silent LiveUpdate at logon was continuing to fail because of permissions problems. (Dang!) So Amy, Joe and I began to research this. Laura had, apparently, already come up with a quick fix, but I wanted to try to understand exactly what was going on. So this evening I did some experimenting. Here's what I've concluded so far: 1) I confirmed that the registry hack we got from the Symantec site and have been running to allow a restricted user to do manual LiveUpdates also permits the scheduled LiveUpdates to run without a problem. (Whew!) That means the machines we've deployed that include this hack are in pretty good shape, since they're set to automatically LiveUpdate every day (usually in the afternoon). The only situation in which they're vulnerable is if they're left off for quite a while (as when someone goes on an extended vacation) and then exposed to a new virus before they've had a chance to do an automatic scheduled update. 2) Here's the best method I've found so far for making all three LiveUpdate modes work. (To review, the three modes are: 1-Scheduled, 2-Silent at logon, and 3-Manual) Run the registry hack (EnableAllUsers.reg) provided by Symantec at: Then add "authenticated users", with full control, to the permissions
list for the following registry keys: (Some documentation I've seen also suggests opening up the permissions
on Also, the permissions need to be opened up on the following folders: Also, for v.8 only, I thought it would be a low-risk precaution to open
up permissions on the following folder as well, even though I didn't see
this mentioned in any documentation: To open permissions on the above folders, I added "authenticated users" to each, with write and modifypermissions. (Full control didn't seem to be necessary.) I chose to add "authenticated users" on the registry keys and folders, rather than adding permissions to "users", because 1) its more comprehensive without (as far as I know) increasing the risk, and 2) it makes it easier to see what's been manually manipulated (since "authenticated users" doesn't seem to get added by installers). If anyone has additional insights into this stuff, please let us know. For now, at least, I think we've got a workable, if somewhat inelegant, fix. - Rick |
| Injury prevention using a computer 5/8/03 |
Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 14:10:36 -0400 From: "TIPS, Cornell Library" <healthycul> Subject: Workstation Self Assessment Have you been feeling like something is not quite right at your computer workstation ? Are you feeling pain that you have not felt before ? If so, here are a couple of ways you can help yourself. Do a workstation self assessment. Details on how to do this are available at the following web site: http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/cuergotipsintro.html If you identify a problem, or need more information, here is a site that has 10 steps for a good ergonomic workstation arrangement. http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ergoguide.html . If you have taken a self assessment, and just can't seem to get comfortable, or are having pain, you can contact Charles Curry. Charles is a physical therapist, and coordinates the Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program here at Cornell. A native Missourian, he earned his master's degree in physical therapy at the University of Southern California and has worked in numerous locations nationwide prior to arrival at Cornell in September 1997. Charles' services including individual or group training in injury prevention and work station assessment. These services are available to all Cornell employees as a benefit. Contact Charles via electronic mail at clc34@cornell.edu |
| Mysterious "Security" folder 5/7/03 |
Date: Wed, 07 May 2003 15:58:46 -0400 From: Keene Silfer Subject: my docs-->security Rick just asked me a question. He found a folder called "Security" in the My Documents folder of a computer he was working on. It has a "Database" folder in it filled with a few 0-size temp files. Sounded strange, so I checked my computer and found I had it too. I looked it up: http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBE/tip2300/rh2376.htm -- KEENE |
| Colts Supplement 4/30/03 |
Spreadsheet for tracking time card info. that Colts does not track: Suggestions welcome. Please send to Oliver. |
| Renaming Net-Print names 4/29/03 |
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:09:32 -0400 From: Rick Cochran To: (Laura J Heisey) Subject: Re: renaming a printer once it's installed Laura J. Heisey wrote: Laura, Good question! This has been bothering me for a long time. I found a procedure which seems to work, and documented it at http://net-print.cit.cornell.edu/netprint-docs/admin/ under "Operator Documentation" under "Advanced Installation Techniques". The direct link is http://net-print.cit.cornell.edu/netprint-docs/admin/advanced_installation.html. Good luck! |
| Public Computing Best Practices 3/14/03 |
Keene Silfer wrote up some of Desktop Services "best
practices" procedures we've developed for public computers. Some of
these ideas pertain to staff computers, too.
1. Disable Null BIOS sessions (so they can't get a list of the computer's user accounts and shares): http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/CIS/CIRT/help/netbiosnull.html Windows 2000 2. Set up an account lockout policy (so they can't do a brute force guessing attack to crack your computer's account passwords): http://security.duke.edu/securepc/acctlockout.html I have mine set at 5 attempts and a 60 minute lockout duration. 3. Password all accounts and use -good- passwords (so they can't get in on an account with a blank or weak password): http://www.security.duke.edu/password.html#3 http://news.com.com/2009-1001-916719.html You can also use local security policies on the computer to enforce minimum password lengths and complexity. |
| CorporateSync for Palm log 2/18/03 |
Tip from Peter Hirtle: Find the log of CorporateSync activity on your desktop. Available in the Start Menu's CorporateSync directory. Explicitly, here is where the log appears on Oliver's computer: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Steltor\CorporateSync for Palm\logs\EventLog.html |
| Finding CPU speed on W2K computer, without rebooting. |
Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 10:46:24 -0500 Hi Oliver and Rick, I remember you guys wondering how to find out the processor speed on computers. In Win 2K you can right click on My Computer and choose Manage. Expand System Information, then click on system summary. It tells a bunch of info about the system. Hope this helps you out. Chris |
| Scanner feature comparisons. 2/5/03 |
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 19:48:32 -0500 Chris, Oliver, |
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