[OPLINTECH] Solution for some flash memory drives not working on public computers?

[Chad Neeper (list)]

Vanessa, because this is still a relevant thread, I'm replying on-list 
so everyone has a chance to toss in their two cents.

I actually like Mr. Houghtby's setup better. If you have a posted policy 
(and, more importantly, the patrons obey it) to log off when you're done 
with the computer, just have the computer reboot at logoff.

However, at the libraries where I have the automated reboot, there is no 
such policy, and there are enough computers with moderate usage so that 
any individual computer has a decent chance of sitting idle for an hour. 
I've simply scheduled a task using the Windows Task Scheduler. The task 
simply executes "shutdown -r -t 2" when the computer has been sitting 
idle for 60 minutes. You can play around with the Task's configuration 
to meet your own particular needs.

For what it's worth, I also configure tasks to shut the public computers 
down each night and to display periodic warnings beginning 10 minutes 
prior to shutdown. To get more detail on your "shutdown" options, open 
up a console prompt (Start->Run->cmd) and type "shutdown /?". That 
should give you a clue into the various command line parameters you can use.

Hope this helps a bit,
Chad

-----------------------
Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer

Level 9 Networks
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

--   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
-- Specialized in libraries and schools --



Vanessa Bradt wrote:
> That's a good idea.  How would you go about doing that?
> Vanessa Bradt
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chad Neeper (list) [mailto:cneeper at level9networks.com]
> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 3:58 PM
> To: oplintech at oplin.org
> Subject: Re: [OPLINTECH] Solution for some flash memory drives not working on public computers?
>
> Just a thought for a setup like Vanessa's:
>
> If you don't already, you might consider adding a scheduled job to
> auto-restart the workstation upon x amount of minutes of inactivity.
> This might help reduce the chance of a patron's malware-infested storage
> device from contaminating the next patron's storage device. That
> strategy works very well with Deep Freeze.
>
> Chad
>
> -----------------------
> Chad Neeper
> Senior Systems Engineer
>
> Level 9 Networks
> 740-548-8070 (voice)
> 866-214-6607 (fax)
>
> --   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
> -- Specialized in libraries and schools --
>
>
>
> Vanessa Bradt wrote:
>   
>> Yes, we had that problem here too.  I think it's very frustration to patrons who come here to print a Word doc and they are encountered with a message they don't understand. I like to mimic the windows environment to what they would encounter at their home.  But unlike their home computers, we use both Deep Freeze and Full Control.  Our patron computers are stand alone with Internet access.  Full Control stops patrons from changing settings and Deep Freeze doesn't allow any changes. So we decided there really was no reason to stop a patron from installing a new program. So, in Full Control there is a setting to allow any program to run.  This has been several weeks and we have had no problems, in fact it really helps patrons who are novice computer users.  Less messages that pop up that say it's not allowed to do something. So, if a virus does get through, which they do, and patrons install some program, once we reboot the system.  All gone, back to the original configuration
>>  .
>>
>>
>> Vanessa Bradt, Automation Specialist
>> Norwalk Public Library
>> 419-668-6063
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Phil Shirley [mailto:pshirley at cuyahogafallslibrary.org]
>> Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 10:03 AM
>> To: oplintech at oplin.org
>> Subject: [OPLINTECH] Solution for some flash memory drives not working on public computers?
>>
>> With the security we have on our public computers, there are some flash
>> memory drives that won't work.  Some of these want to run their own
>> software, which doesn't work because we only allow the running of
>> certain software that's installed on the computer (Word, etc.), and I've
>> heard that even if we allowed the running of the applications on some of
>> the popular flash drives by adding them to our "run only" entry, some of
>> these programs would still have a problem because they want more access
>> to the registry than we should give them.
>>
>> Has anyone encountered and solved a similar problem with giving access
>> to flash memory drives on public computers, or does anyone have any
>> suggestions - perhaps at least a list of program names for these drives
>> to add to my "run only" list?
>>
>> Phil
>> --
>>
>> Phil Shirley
>> Technology Services Coordinator
>> Cuyahoga Falls Library
>> Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
>> 330-928-2117, ext. 109
>> pshirley at CuyahogaFallsLibrary dot org
>>
>> --
>> This message has been scanned for viruses and
>> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
>> believed to be clean.
>>
>>
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>>
>>     
>
> --
>
> -----------------------
> Chad Neeper
> Senior Systems Engineer
>
> Level 9 Networks
> 740-548-8070 (voice)
> 866-214-6607 (fax)
>
> --   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
> -- Specialized in libraries and schools --
>
>
>
>
>   

-- 

-----------------------
Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer

Level 9 Networks
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

--   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
-- Specialized in libraries and schools --

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