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Adapting a Symantec Ghost 11 Dell Optiplex 760 imaging setup to 780 hardware using Boot Wizard Win-PE editor

2011/09/07 Leave a comment
  1. I have set up locally, and documented, a default installation of Symantec Ghost 11 (Ghost console version 11.5.1.2266) that can image a computer lab of dell OptiPlex 760 (not sure how I ended up with doing even this part).
  2. Trying to set to implement use of our new live@edu communications infrastructure in this environment,  I need to image a Dell OptiPlex 780 lab with this setup results in an error: “To Virtual Partition Drivers could not be found in the PreOS for the following devices:Manufacturer: "Intel", Description: "Intel(R) ICH10D/DO SATA AHCI Controller", PCI Vendor: 0x8086, PCI Device: 0x3a02, PCI Subsystem: 0x4201028”
  3. The institution has not produced any documentation on this adaptation, so here goes: You can get a complete set of MS-Vista 32 drivers (which is the OS version that Ghost 11 Win-PE uses ) for Dell Optiplex 780 from Dell’s Driver CABs Homepage, including a table of contents.
  4. You can expand this in Windows Explorer and look for the x86 storage driver, and you will find only one suitable: R222843, Matrix Storage Manager (OS Pre-Install Driver Only), A17, 8.8.0.1009
  5. In Ghost console / tools / boot wizard, You can add this driver (entire dir, as long as it has a friendly name for ghost – could you have done this with the entire dell driver cab of 300mb?) to the win-pe-780 (I made a copy of the default win pee environment which I still need to use for a different set of hardware) (which then compiles the win-pe image), and
  6. You also have to check the driver , to have it included (which compiles the win-pe image again – why? ).
  7. You have to set in Ghost console menu; tools / options / the win-pe as the default remote boot os (this will have to be changed for 760 imaging back to win-pe).
  8. Now, did this really “take”? SNAG-1454 
  9. This allows the reception-captureimage task to complete.
  10. Additional tasks reception-DeployImage and reception-Add to Domain&AD can be derived from the default installation.
  11. We can also deploy and manage Deepfreeze now from the Ghost Console, bypassing Deepfreeze Console.
  12. ghost-console-reception-deepfreeze-remote
  13. I hope this was my last trip down the “general computing” infrastructure Geisterbahn for a while. I was actually trying to apply productivity software infrastructure to a local business process,  and merely  to free up some time for elearning pedagogy…
Categories: audience-is-IT-staff, documentation, Glitches&Errors, hardware, software Tags: , ,

Film-studies educational community can get free Autodesk Software

2011/09/01 Leave a comment

Autodesk offers free software licenses to the educational community if you register (free), some of which may be of interest for film studies (see selection of software below). Make sure you check fit into the licensing conditions: “Important Note :The Autodesk Student Version software incorporates all the functionality of our professional licenses, but includes a print banner making the software inappropriate for professional, commercial, or for-profit purposes. Autodesk Student Version software may not be used in the classroom or lab for instructional purposes, or for commercial or for-profit purposes. Annual licenses of Autodesk student software are not eligible for product upgrade or transfer to a commercial license. View print banner sample.”

Autodesk 3ds Max

Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2012 software delivers inspiring new creative toolsets, enhanced iterative workflows, and an accelerated graphics core that together help significantly increase overall productivity.
Autodesk Maya

Autodesk® Maya® 2012 software delivers powerful new toolsets for previsualization and games prototyping; offers extended simulation capabilities; and opens the way for better pipeline integration.

Autodesk MotionBuilder

Autodesk® MotionBuilder® 2012 software delivers new tools for virtual movie-making, performance animation, and stereoscopic productions, and enhanced interoperability with other products in the Autodesk® Entertainment Creation Suites 2012.

Autodesk Mudbox

Autodesk® Mudbox™ 2012 software delivers enhancements to the painting toolset; innovative new UV and topology-independent workflows; practical posing tools; and improved performance and large dataset handling.

Autodesk 3ds Max Design

Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2012 software delivers powerful new rendering toolsets, accelerated iterative workflows, and enhanced interoperability that together help increase overall productivity.
Autodesk Softimage

Autodesk® Softimage® 2012 software delivers innovative new creative toolsets; enhanced interoperability with Autodesk®

Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS X

Autodesk® Smoke® 2012 software offers a timeline-based, all-in-one creative toolset for editorial finishing that spans color correction, keying, tracking, paint, cleanup, titling and 3D visual effects.

Categories: Film-studies, software, websites Tags:

Just testing the post by email

2011/08/25 Leave a comment

This appears to be a Trados error. Does it appear on every startup? On each Coed434 PC? We have to investigate.

Categories: Glitches&Errors, Student-Computers, translation-software Tags: ,

Sanako Study 1200 Teacher Guide

2011/08/18 Leave a comment

teacher-guide

Taken directly from the Sanako documentation and posted here for your convenience (click on image for larger version), this practical cheat sheet is also available on the teacher podium.

Categories: all-languages, audience-is-teachers, documentation, e-languages, software Tags: ,

Sanako Study 1200 Workshop Spring 2011

2011/08/18 Leave a comment

Those who wanted to, but did not make it to my introductory training for the newly installed Sanako Study-1200 in LRC COED434 might want to have a look at the unedited screencast footage of the teacher computer that I recorded during this session (for Windows Media Player on Windows, if necessary, resort to LRC PCs).

Categories: all-languages, audience-is-teachers, e-languages, Screencasts, software, training, workshops Tags:

Our Office 2010 & Office365/Live@Edu/Live not yet @Edu/Ninermail Upgrade: A running log

2011/08/11 1 comment
  1. Just logging some notes, observations, issues, step-by-step instructions…
  2. Office 2010ff install (office2010-full-install-labadmn.wmv [all links are to the folder only, choose screencast by name):
    1. 0:00-2:00: you can easily install Office 2010 from the ISO file without physical CD media, if you first install the free Magic Disc, then from the system notification tray, mount the ISO file to the , open the pseudo-drive from Explorer, which starts the installer through Autorun
    2. 2:00-4:00: since we do not want frozen imaged lab computers to ask for the installation media “on first run”of Office features, we choose button:customize, tab:installation options: “run all from Computer” (top – level selection is sufficient, rest of video is looking around), then button:upgrade
    3. Lots of waiting ensues…
    4. At the end, 28:55, “Microsoft office professional plus 2010 encountered and error during setup”, also the installer complains once about another instance running, then 38:12 asks for rebooting,
  3. Office 2010 first run  (office2010first-run-excel-web-app-test.wmv): 
    1. after reboot, the installation seems to have completed
    2. changing Office update policies seems to be not allowed
    3. file /save&send / save to web / windows live / log in / browse to a folder / give a filename: office2010-file-save&save-to-web 
    4. type something, save and exit
    5. in web browser, open windows live:
      1. log in, go to menu:SkyDrive, browse to the folder, find the file, click on it to view in browser,
      2. from top menu, choose edit in browser, type something, save,
      3. from top menu choose edit in excel, wait for download to open, type something, save&close,
      4. go back to web browser, open the update document from the right users (lab staff).
  4. sharing with windows live
      1. first uncc-LRC needs to make some friends:
        1. eventually, we want the staff of the uncc-LRC be able to use these online  extensions of the most common tools in our work environment, MS-Windows and MS-Office. For this, we need to wait until live@edu/ninermail  is up, so that we can invite lab staff using their @uncc.edu email  addresses
        2. for testing purposes, I have invited myself and the lab coordinator using their personal Hotmail/live addresses
      2. friends need to accept the invitation email  – and even on Hotmail/live mail, look for them in their Junk mail folder (this has been one of the unresolved mysteries of inter-office politics at Microsoft since at least 2007). accepting-friend-request
      3. second, in SkyDrive, share your files with these  friends, and with the right permissions
        1. skydrive-setting-folder-permissionsa sharing policy, per folder, needs to be decided upon
        2. uncc-non-secure permissions: all view, friends edit: uncc-lrc-non-secure-permissions
        3. uncc-secure-settings: only friends view and edit (shall we limit editing to some friends? permanent staff?) uncc-lrc-secure-permissions
        5. skydrive-permissions-folder-secure-some-friends note that some granularity of permissions is already supported, like
          1. folder:”secure”- “friends”:”can add,edit,delete”
          2. folder:”secure”- “friends”:”can read”
          3. folder:”secure”- “some friends”:”can add,edit,delete”
        6. skydrive-setting-folder-permissions-public-cannot-give-edit-access-beyond-friends note that you can give read, but not write access to files beyond the circle of your friends (“friending” within the organization should, however, become are more acceptable option when/if live@edu will allow for @uncc.edu accounts, and interesting, since it offers disintermediation for office network admin tasks).
        7. skydrive-upload-files-standard you can add files through a standard web-interface, or a more advanced Active-x control (looks like your mileage may still widely vary outside of Internet Explorer which is even more confusing when the ActiveX interface is offered in Firefox, but shows glitches). Note, however, that opening a local file in Office 2010 and save&share to SkyDrive is more attractive – however, will you in MS-Office see the folders that are merely shared with you to add to? Does not look like it. Stay tuned… office2010-file-save&save-to-web-windows-live-skydrive. one can still upload the spreadsheet from the web browser, then, also from a web browser, click “open in excel”. From then on, one can open it ore easily from the excel File / history shortcut. I am still working on figuring out how to map SkyDrive folders to local drives (it worked for one set, but other mappings run into problems: Is this because MS allows only one windows live identity to be mapped to your local windows account?)
        8. To publish (possible embed in a web page) spreadsheets with Excel Web App, you can choose:
          1. SkyDrive menu: add files
            1. add an existing file
          2. or SkyDrive menu: “new”
          1. Excel web app ribbon menu: “Open in Excel”
          2. Copy/Paste your content and Save, Close
          3. Excel Web app menu “excel-web-app-menu-embed Share”/ “Embed”:i
          4. Adjust your options in this sharing dialog: excel-web-app-share-embed-options
          5. To embed, take the html-code (you can increase the max width beyond 640 outside of this dialog) and paste it into your web publishing program
          6. Gotcha: To be embeddable, the spreadsheet needs to be in a public folder, or else: excel-web-app-gotcha-public-folder
            1. To move the file, use the “move”option in the file details pane to the right: excel-web-app-gotcha-public-folder4-file-details
            2. This setting should  make it work: excel-web-app-gotcha-public-folder-workaround
            3. And interestingly, it does, automagically: You do not have to update the embed code. It seems the link within the embed code goes to a “file” which has the “folder” it is in not as a path (in the link), but as an attribute:excel-web-app-gotcha-public-folder3
        9. to share a file: Examples for MS-office live file collaboration
          1. MS-Excel
            1. Do not use the “embed” link from SkyDrive, e.g. https://r.office.Microsoft.com/r/rlidExcelEmbed?su=10634757809471938&Fi=SD25C841818181C2!133: this opens in read-only even if I am logged in (in Firefox and in Excel)( as a friend with editing rights)
            2. use the “edit” link from SkyDrive, e.g https://skydrive.live.com/edit.aspx?cid=0025C841818181C2&resid=25C841818181C2%21133: “edit in browser” attempts first opening in browser (Firefox – not asking for  permissions, since I am logged in as friend with editing permissions), unsupported features redirect to excel 2010, opening in “protected view“ – but can enable editing.
            3. Note that when opening in excel 2010, you lose the concurrency that excel web app offers – thus, only 1 LRC assistant can have the online spreadsheet open to make update to the film collection (we have one barcode scanner equipped PC only anyway, so use this one for editing the film-collection.xlsx)
          2. MS-PowerPoint
              1. here is a folder link from where you can click on ""open in PowerPoint":
                https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=0025c841818181c2&resid=25C841818181C2!115
              2. this may take time: open-in-powerpoint-2010-from-skydrive
              3. here is the ""edit in browser"" link  https://skydrive.live.com/edit.aspxcid=0025C841818181C2&resid=25C841818181C2%21146
        10. to delete a file on SkyDrive: skydrive-delete-file 
          1. in detail view, hover over the file row
          2. click on the blue info button at the right end of the file row
          3. in the property pane that opens up on the right, click “delete”.
        11. MS-Word
          1. Just in case you were wondering about the underlying WEBDAV: You cannot paste the “open in word” link into a MS-Word 2010 file open dialogue (you used to be able to paste WebDAV links form the Blackboard Content System into MS-Word’s File-Open, but those were fully qualified URIs to MS-Word-files without JavaScript trickery), or else:
          2. could-not-open
        12. As of 9/27/2011, I also now managed to get in to SkyDrive with my university credentials, for how, see here: Skydrive@uncc.edu
  5. Natural language features testing in MS-Office 2010 is being logged here.
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, documentation, e-infrastructure, office-software, Screencasts Tags: , , ,

Free screencast recording software from Microsoft

2011/08/02 Leave a comment

Teachers ask me about software for making screencasts explaining procedures to their students. I have not googled for free screencast recorders recently, since I have been happy for many years to use (or rather work with extensively, and recommend) Windows Media Encoder 9 on MS-Windows. Allegedly as of end of 2010, this software is not linked on Microsoft’s website anymore (but can still be googled and downloaded). Even though not officially supported on this OS any more, I have also used it successfully on Windows 7 (64-bit) (after Vista (64-bit) and Windows XP)).

The official replacement screencast recorder from Microsoft is Windows Expression Encoder (of which I still use the inexpensive Version 3), which is available here (Version 4 SP1) for free. Media Encoder is almost 10 years old, so Expression Encoder is clearly superior – however, the free version is somewhat crippled, most notably in this context I seem to remember the time limit for screencasts is 10 minutes.

Both Encoders are somewhat technical in nature. In particular, I suspect the reason why considerable experts did not know Media Encoder as a screencast recorder (which is not the same as a documentation and training maker: its post-editing capabilities are limited and not specialized for documentation, unlike e.g. Camtasia), was that its default settings for screencast recordings are low quality.

To “uncork” the real possibilities of this software, your first need to alter the compression settings within the WME configuration file that your screencast is based on (you can do this from within Windows Media Encoder itself). Moreover, for this change to stick, you need to alter an underlying PRX template file also. This file is hidden away in the depths of the Encoder install directories; after installing Windows Media Encoder, search your programs folder for a file named schia.prx, it is an XML file that will open with the Windows Media Encoder utilities.

Categories: e-infrastructure, software Tags: , ,

How to enable screen cloning and switching between display modes on the LRC reception desk dual screen Dell OptiPlex 780 with WinXP

2011/07/26 Leave a comment

Short, non-technical answer: on the keyboards of the reception desk computers, press key combination

  1. ALT+CTRL+F10 to mirror the same image on both monitors;
  2. ALT+CTRL+F11 to return to extending the primary screen, i.e. showing something different on the second screen.
  3. if this stops working, restart the computer.

We do not use any more key combination ALT+CTRL+F10 to cycle through the different desktop configurations, which include cloning/mirroring the same image on both screens (also keep pressing the key combination, in order to get back to extending the image to the 2nd screen, for running an informational display (calendar, PowerPoint) to display on the 2nd screen after mirroring the lab assistant’s screen onto the 2nd screen when interacting with a client on the other side of the help desk counter).

Longer, technical answer: You have to configure this. But the Win XP dialogue: Display Properties / tab: Settings only allows for “extending” the desktop to the secondary screen. However, button: Advanced leads to another dialogue, with a tab: ATI Control Center, by the graphics card manufacturer.

If you also enable the advanced settings in this dialogue, you can get to the hotkey settings where, among other things, you can enter a key combination for cycling through Display Configurations, one of which being cloning.

reception-screens-hotkeys

In addition, you can save this configuration as such:

reception-screens-hotkeys-profile

Why all these minutiae? You cannot have LRC clients and staff at the help desk communicate with the help of a computer (and all the goodies accessible now, from intranet to interwebs) if they cannot easily share the screen (and, in order to both even interact with the screen, share keyboard and mouse, which are easy to duplicate, if you have some spare USB input devices lying around). If you can make them share, you have applied AI to business problems (compare dual screen system in the LLC entrance area here). If calling the after state “AI” sounds too lofty to you, you may call the before state  “flying blind” instead: I just care about the delta which remains the same.

Categories: e-infrastructure, hardware, Reception-desk, software Tags: , , ,