Slow machine? Check this...

We've noticed a few machines are not connecting to the right server, so the connection is running very slow.

To check this, right-click the red N at the lower right-hand side of your screen and select "Novell Login".

In the Novell Login window that appears, click the Advanced tab and the window should appear as shown:

Make sure the information in the "Server" field matches the campus that you are located at (ie: BPE_SERVER for Bridge Point). If it does not match, let us know and we can make sure you're connected to the right server for your campus.

One-on-one with slow machines...

Andy and Paul, our imaging specialists, will be fanning out today to a few piloters who mentioned incredibly slow machines. They'll investigate and work on them and try to find common problems so we can address them quickly and effectively.

Users being visited today: Pat Northington, Dara Frazier, Pam Ricker, Robie Clark, Sherrie Johnson, Martha Hansen, and Laura Haneman.

We'll update everyone on our findings soon!

Single Sign-on working?

We're had a few mentions of the single sign-on feature not working properly (Laura Haneman from HCMS just mentioned it).

Could you comment here if you still have to log in to Novell (the actual client, not GroupWise) separately once you've logged into the machine?

Thank you!

More applications being deployed today

GroupWise, Firefox, Internet Explorer 7, and Open Office are being sent to the application window.

Everyone with the ZENworks window should be able to access these by tomorrow...let us know if you don't see them.

As always, please post your feedback here!

Sluggish machines: Part II

We're busy looking into the sluggish machines issue and whether or not it is related to ZENworks or caused by it or if it is totally unrelated :)
Sherrie Johnson (FTE) mentioned she sill had to log in twice...anyone else?
Emily Molina's (HCMS) machine is running verrrrrrrrry slow...we've got our Network Coordinator looking into it now.
Please email, call, or post here if/when you experience issues! We'll updated everyone when we know something definitive!

Sluggish Machines?

We're looking into it and will do so even more on Monday.

We have had reports of sluggishness on numerous machines that ZENworks wasn't installed on, but if you notice a marked difference, let us know by commenting here or emailing/calling us.

Network problem?

I am able to get to the Abode Reader in Zenworks, however my computer is no longer able to access the network drives. Any idea if this is a Zenworks issue? Any suggestions? Also it seems that the computer is slower in loading once I tried to restart it (FYI).

Zen windows close to being 100% deployed

Nearly everyone should have the ZENworks application windows by this evening. There are a few stragglers, when computers weren't turned on and such, but we're pretty close to 100% deployed.

For now, there's just Adobe Reader in there. Double-click to open it up and you can test it that way, or when you go to open something in Reader, it should default to this test version. If you encounter any problems, please post here or email us.

We plan to have a few more applications for you to try out sometime next week. We'll post that information here and on our website.

Wesbite updates page

Please view our updates page for the latest information on the pilot!

We will post more information as we progress...

Active Directory Integration

We decided at the last meeting that Zenworks testing should be done on computers that are joined to the Active Directory domain; the integrated login is much simpler than having to use multiple logins.

This means that for test computers, we will first join the computer to the domain before pushing the Zenworks agent. We copy the local "EISD" account to the "default users" profile so that any new user profiles created will have the same data as before, with only a couple of differences: 1) the background image may not automatically get applied to the new profile; 2) desktop icons will all be there, but probably not in the exact same locations.

Last call for computer names!

Please submit your computer names (if you haven't already) if you would still like to be a part of the pilot to jringersma@eanesisd.net or desktoppilot@eanesisd.net.
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All the computer names we receive by 2:00 pm today will receive their test window tonight. Details will be posted this afternoon here and on our pilot updates page!
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Don't worry...this is a lot of communication for what will essentially be an easy task...to use the programs you already use and let us know if anything doesn't work properly.
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*reminder*

Please leave your workstations powered on when you leave work today!

Computer Name requests sent out!

Email requests were sent for everyone's computer names - these can be found on your machine at: My Computer>>Properties>>Computer Name. If you haven't already, email yours to jringersma@eanesisd.net.

 

We are asking for these so we can target where the test window for applications gets sent.

 

Just a heads-up, we'll be sending out another email on Wednesday to ask everyone to leave their computers on Wednesday when you leave so we can be sure your machine gets the test window!

I am here

Just let me know what I can do to help out. I will be assessing, grading, and then doing more grading in the meantime. But love to help out with technology.

MS Office 2003 Package

We had some problems Friday with MS Office, though only on the older image. The installer was failing trying to configure what appeared to be 'voice recognition'. We rebuilt the package this morning, removing any references to 'voice', and it no longer gets the same errors. But it still opens a new installer EVERY TIME you open an MS Office app. One of the items it is currently trying to configure seems to be 'Handwriting recognition'. So we are working to remove those reference from the package now.

We do not have these issues on all computers, and only on non-reimaged computers. This will not be a problem this summer because every computer will be re-imaged, but it may cause some issues with our testing (we will not be re-imaging for most of the test computers).

PowerPoint issues with test computer

From Debbie Smith at CCE:

"What we noticed today when a student tried to access PowerPoint on computer Gg is that it took an inordinate amount of time to open. She was trying to open a PPT file that her teacher had had her drag to the desktop and simply clicking on the file did not open it. So, she had to open PPT and navigate to the file which then took a long while to open. Meanwhile, the rest of the class is well into the project."

Reply from Andy - Desktop Imaging Team:

"We rebuilt the Ms Office package this morning, trying to fix a problem with it running the installer every time it opened. That is probably why it took so long to open, it had to download the new package. I just checked and MS Office is working well on the GG computer now; though the 2nd computer is still getting an installer when any office app is opened. We are trying to fix that now.

Rights for everyone! Yipee!

It loooks like Janice has given us rights to post new topics. I am thinking that as you find things that need to be considered on the new image that you create a new post with the title of the post relating to the issue. This way we can all comment on the topics as they are posted. Just an idea for how this blog will work to help us get the images ready for next year. A naming convention of some sort for each post - like the program name first so we are not duplicating posts.
Just an idea!

Welcome to the EISD Desktop Imaging Pilot!

Welcome to Google Blogger, if you haven't already given it a whirl!

We hope to provide an easy-to-use format for you to tell us how the applications are working (or not working) out for you.

You can link to this site from our EISD Desktop Imaging Pilot website or directly, if you choose.

Issues? Questions? General well-wishes? Click here to contact Janice and let her know!

Have fun with this pilot and have a great rest of the year!