I spent 1/25/11 in Bradley, working on several issues:
Before heading to Bradley, I set up the conference room for a presentation that day.
They recently switched to Vexira Antivirus and were having problems with the software. Specifically, it would not auto-update. Since the tech is also a classroom teacher, she could not stay on the phone with tech support for long durations due to class conflicts. That's where I stepped in. The tech on the phone was very helpful, fixed a few configuration issues and got the software up and running.
Sidenote here: *MANY* districts in the state of Arkansas employ the services of one of their teachers in the role of Technology Coordinator for the district. Part of what I do as a State Technology Coordinator helps offset the times the tech is teaching classes. I am not the only State Tech Coordinator that does this, either. Without folks like us, small, rural schools would have ZERO support for thier teacher/techs.
After getting the AV fixed, I went to the elementary library to work on their book circulation software. Turns out the software is not Windows 7 "supported." They can try to run the software, but there is no support for it on Windows 7. The issue I ran into was a bit weird. They have a hand scanner for barcode reading. The device lit up and would scan a code (acknowledged by an audible BEEP" but nothing would show up on screen (the read code would not transfer). I called tech support, which is how I found out about the lack of Win7 support, and decided to replace the new machine (Win7) with thei old one (XP) until we could figure something out. That's when I saw the problem. The hand scanner is PS/2, as is the keyboard and mouse. There is a Y-Adapater that connects both the scanner and the keyboard together into the PS/2 slot. When moving things around, evidently the mouse and scanner had been plugged into the Y instead of the keyboard and scanner. Once I took care of that, the thing worked as designed - Windows 7 and all!
Next on the list, a pair of computers in one of the elementary classrooms. Dell had replaced a power supply and motherboard, but the computer would still not boot correctly. The tech said the problem was software related because the computer reported that Windows system files were corrupt. I booted (or tried to) from a Recovery CD and when the system got to the "searching for pervious versions" screen, things would come to a halt. I booted the computer to Dell's Diagnostics system and immediately received CMOS error messages. Once I got through those, the system reported that the hard drive was not functioning. Looks like another call to Dell.
The other computer in the room had malware on it. It wouldn't let users go anywhere online or access resources on the local network. On another machine, the local tech downloaded Malwarebytes and I installed it on the infected machine. After a full system scan, I cleaned the computer of the malware.
Several smart boards had issues that needed addressing. Unfortunately, removing the light bulb and blowing out the dust did not cure these ones. The projectors will have to be swapped out for new ones.
A couple of the laptops in the Distance Learning Lab were not working correctly, so the local tech and I worked on those to get them working again.
Once user has a new wireless inkjet in her classroom and wanted her laptop set to print to it. I installed the software and had her printing wirelessly.
During the day, I fielded a couple calls from the office about technology issues related to the presentation happening in the conference room. Luckily, I was able to find a spot outside where the cell signal managed to come through. You won't see the little Verizon guy anywhere near Bradley! No, he can't hear you now.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tuesday
NOTE: This was actually created on Tuesday, January 4, 2011. I don't know why it never posted. Gotta love technology...
Wow, you would think by now that I'd have some cool, creative naming scheme for my daily entries. No such luck, my friends!
Tuesday started off with setting up the CIV room for a small conference between our co-op and a handful of others. That was followed by a weird phone situation in which I had managed to connect the wrong extension for one of our offices. That was readily fixed, though. I love our new phone system layout: go into the tech closet, move a jumper from one extension to another and voila!
We've got a big Common Core preso here on Friday, so I set up with triple-wide room so that the computer image would be displayed on three projectors at the same time. The units we have feature a "piggy back" option and I think it may be time to look into making that a permanent feature. As it is right now, I come out of the presenter's station into a 4-way splitter. The signal is then split between the three rooms by cables running across the floor. It looks ugly. I am generally more of a "function over form" kinda guy, but this setup is starting to make me cringe a little. I'm adding the changeover to my 'to-do' list!
The Director asked me to help with some half-fold note cards, so she and I worked together to get the right feel and fit. That was pretty easy to do in Publisher. I'm not a pro at Publisher by any means, but simple things are fun to generate when the program makes it easy to handle.
Evidently, there are going to be after-work aerobics classes on the third floor. This means that I needed to install a DVD/VCR attached to the big screen TV we brought from the old building. Easy peasy.
I fielded several 'helpdesk' phone calls from a couple of the area schools. Once of these regarded login issues with the Ideas portal. I offered to call the AETN helpdesk to get the logins fixed, but the administrator said she wanted to see how far she got, but that she would employ my assistance if she hit any snags.
Another phone issue came up regarding several machines showing a BSOD. The only way to power down was to unplug the machine from the wall. After a bit of conversation, we determined that several folks had left their computers on during the two-week holiday and that power surges during that break mostly likely contributed to the BSOD. (A snarky aside: perhaps someone was lighting fireworks too close to the school, thus sending the computers into a tizzy... /re: thousands of birds falling from Arkansas skies/)
I helped that same tech with a wireless issue - namely, we downloaded the Linksys WAP54G setup spftware so that she could find wireless devices on her network and manage those from her office without needing to physically visit each one. It's nice in theory. The problem is that the software doesn't give enough time for the units to respond during the initial launch. The software then only sees a handful of units at a time. It is a bit frustrating.
After the PIA review with USAC for E-rate, I received a letter extending our refund request deadline. I now have to submit a BEAR form in order to get my discounted funding from our phone bills. I've never done BEAR before (we usually just get the discounts and do not fuss with reimbursements), so that is adventure unfolding before me.
Wow, you would think by now that I'd have some cool, creative naming scheme for my daily entries. No such luck, my friends!
Tuesday started off with setting up the CIV room for a small conference between our co-op and a handful of others. That was followed by a weird phone situation in which I had managed to connect the wrong extension for one of our offices. That was readily fixed, though. I love our new phone system layout: go into the tech closet, move a jumper from one extension to another and voila!
We've got a big Common Core preso here on Friday, so I set up with triple-wide room so that the computer image would be displayed on three projectors at the same time. The units we have feature a "piggy back" option and I think it may be time to look into making that a permanent feature. As it is right now, I come out of the presenter's station into a 4-way splitter. The signal is then split between the three rooms by cables running across the floor. It looks ugly. I am generally more of a "function over form" kinda guy, but this setup is starting to make me cringe a little. I'm adding the changeover to my 'to-do' list!
The Director asked me to help with some half-fold note cards, so she and I worked together to get the right feel and fit. That was pretty easy to do in Publisher. I'm not a pro at Publisher by any means, but simple things are fun to generate when the program makes it easy to handle.
Evidently, there are going to be after-work aerobics classes on the third floor. This means that I needed to install a DVD/VCR attached to the big screen TV we brought from the old building. Easy peasy.
I fielded several 'helpdesk' phone calls from a couple of the area schools. Once of these regarded login issues with the Ideas portal. I offered to call the AETN helpdesk to get the logins fixed, but the administrator said she wanted to see how far she got, but that she would employ my assistance if she hit any snags.
Another phone issue came up regarding several machines showing a BSOD. The only way to power down was to unplug the machine from the wall. After a bit of conversation, we determined that several folks had left their computers on during the two-week holiday and that power surges during that break mostly likely contributed to the BSOD. (A snarky aside: perhaps someone was lighting fireworks too close to the school, thus sending the computers into a tizzy... /re: thousands of birds falling from Arkansas skies/)
I helped that same tech with a wireless issue - namely, we downloaded the Linksys WAP54G setup spftware so that she could find wireless devices on her network and manage those from her office without needing to physically visit each one. It's nice in theory. The problem is that the software doesn't give enough time for the units to respond during the initial launch. The software then only sees a handful of units at a time. It is a bit frustrating.
After the PIA review with USAC for E-rate, I received a letter extending our refund request deadline. I now have to submit a BEAR form in order to get my discounted funding from our phone bills. I've never done BEAR before (we usually just get the discounts and do not fuss with reimbursements), so that is adventure unfolding before me.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Catching up...
Other than daily routine, here are some of the things I have been doing lately:
On january 6, 2011, the state techs met at The Ranch in Little Rock.
On the 10-11, our offices were closed to due the massive snow storm that hit our area. On the 12th, I took a personal day off because the offices were opened but I could not get my car out of the yard in order to get to work - still was snowed in!
On the 18th, I installed a new computer for the Prescott Early Childhood program. While there, I set up a local printer to print to a student computer they have. After that, I went to the office, set up the Bradley Early Childhood computer and then delivered that computer to Bradley. While at Bradley, I helped the teacher install various software programs on the student computers. I also had to fix the resolution of one of the monitors. The monitor and the video card were out of refresh-rate sync, so I eventually got them to talk to each other by using the advanced settings for the graphics adapter.
On the 19th, I worked with Blevins schools: We installed shared printers to various laptops (using the path-name method - \\computername\printer\ ) When installing a shared printer onto another computer, you'll know if something isn't working correctly because as soon as you type "\\computername\" the name of the shared printer should automagically fill in. If it doesn't, the most likely reason is that the computername has been mistyped. Double-check spelling to be sure. The other reason is the name of the workgroup or domain being used. be sure they match on both computers.
Blevins also had a SmartBoard with the "psychadelic" color wheel problem. After a bit, we figured out how to access the bulb (on the 455, er I think that is the model number), the access panel is on the bottom (that is, facing the floor) and you simply pull it off. Once that's done, use a small screwdrive to loosen the two BLACK screws. Lift the U-clamp and drop the lamp out of the socket (not onto the floor! Just slowly pull the lamp out). Use canned air to blow out the bulb and the entire cavity, making sure to blow off the fan at the back and the color wheel up inside. Put everything back together and fire it up!
We also talked about installing some video cameras for a basketball tournament they have coming up. Ultimately, we decided on two cameras to be routed outside to another building for viewing. I will get pricing for a couple different setups and let them pick the one they want based on features and pricing.
On the 20th, I went to Genoa to help them set up a VPN on one of their switches. As it turns out, we were talking about two different kinds of VPN. I was thinking segregated netowrks; she was thinking remote access. haha.. Well, once that was out of the way, we explored different ideas and ultimately decided to try one of the 'free for non-commerical use' programs to see how they like it.
On january 6, 2011, the state techs met at The Ranch in Little Rock.
On the 10-11, our offices were closed to due the massive snow storm that hit our area. On the 12th, I took a personal day off because the offices were opened but I could not get my car out of the yard in order to get to work - still was snowed in!
On the 18th, I installed a new computer for the Prescott Early Childhood program. While there, I set up a local printer to print to a student computer they have. After that, I went to the office, set up the Bradley Early Childhood computer and then delivered that computer to Bradley. While at Bradley, I helped the teacher install various software programs on the student computers. I also had to fix the resolution of one of the monitors. The monitor and the video card were out of refresh-rate sync, so I eventually got them to talk to each other by using the advanced settings for the graphics adapter.
On the 19th, I worked with Blevins schools: We installed shared printers to various laptops (using the path-name method - \\computername\printer\ ) When installing a shared printer onto another computer, you'll know if something isn't working correctly because as soon as you type "\\computername\" the name of the shared printer should automagically fill in. If it doesn't, the most likely reason is that the computername has been mistyped. Double-check spelling to be sure. The other reason is the name of the workgroup or domain being used. be sure they match on both computers.
Blevins also had a SmartBoard with the "psychadelic" color wheel problem. After a bit, we figured out how to access the bulb (on the 455, er I think that is the model number), the access panel is on the bottom (that is, facing the floor) and you simply pull it off. Once that's done, use a small screwdrive to loosen the two BLACK screws. Lift the U-clamp and drop the lamp out of the socket (not onto the floor! Just slowly pull the lamp out). Use canned air to blow out the bulb and the entire cavity, making sure to blow off the fan at the back and the color wheel up inside. Put everything back together and fire it up!
We also talked about installing some video cameras for a basketball tournament they have coming up. Ultimately, we decided on two cameras to be routed outside to another building for viewing. I will get pricing for a couple different setups and let them pick the one they want based on features and pricing.
On the 20th, I went to Genoa to help them set up a VPN on one of their switches. As it turns out, we were talking about two different kinds of VPN. I was thinking segregated netowrks; she was thinking remote access. haha.. Well, once that was out of the way, we explored different ideas and ultimately decided to try one of the 'free for non-commerical use' programs to see how they like it.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Back to work!
It's back to work after a two-week break!
I got to the office, grabbed the Math Resources hard drive and headed to Fouke. There, I trained about 15-20 users on how to access the information (over 4GBs!) and then I let them explore the drive on their own.
After I got back to the office, I worked with Trish Brown (DL Coordinator) to get a CIV scheduled for Tuesday.
I also installed a new MFP for my boss, among other general duties.
I got to the office, grabbed the Math Resources hard drive and headed to Fouke. There, I trained about 15-20 users on how to access the information (over 4GBs!) and then I let them explore the drive on their own.
After I got back to the office, I worked with Trish Brown (DL Coordinator) to get a CIV scheduled for Tuesday.
I also installed a new MFP for my boss, among other general duties.
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