Well.. I got delivery of three new servers last week and I finally had a chance to set one up yesterday.  I finalized some things on it today and moved all the network printers over to it so that I could demote one of the aging domain controllers on the network and turn it into a FreeBSD box to act as the local Intranet server.  The three new servers run Windows Server 2003 R2 and so far I like the Print Management Console but I haven’t had a chance to explore the other features of R2.

I also converted all of the Faculty over to Roaming Profiles last week as well as re-directed their Desktop folder to their home directory and so far logins are as fast as ever and no one has complained after the initial 1+ hour logins and logoffs the first day

My next objective is to start sorting through the Group Policy that is currently in place and restructuring the OUs in Active Directory so that I can effectively publish printers to the users that need them when they login depending on which computer they are at.  I also plan on using GP to roll out Firefox, Adobe Acrobat, and other programs that require way too much time to install on every computer after a re-install.

I still have a few issues on imaging some of the other machines that are in place on the network but I think I am close to a solution.

In other news I am very close to getting all of the users happy so things are looking up.  I am still working overtime but I have a vacation coming up that should be great.  I did get a bit of relaxation this past Saturday as it was the opening day of Dove season.  I was only able to hunt about 2 hours before I had to get to work but I did manage to get 6 and all of us together got 20 so it wasn’t too bad.  Hopefully I’ll get a chance to go a few more times next week.

This may just be the best tool for an administrator that I’ve ever came across.

It works like a charm!

DCPC

It allowed me to change all of the local administrator passwords on the domain at one time.. remotely at that.   Why did I need to do this you might ask?  For simplicity of course.. when I took this job I was given a list of 4 administrator passwords that had been used over the past 4 years and I even came across computers that didn’t have one set or used something different.. after about 15 reformatting operations I decided there had to be something better and I finally came across this.  I hope it helps someone else out in the future!

I hate the way that you have to manipulate a Windows installation CD-ROM to get it to take legal keys if the system is pre SP2..

I have OEM machines which has SP1a keys and I finally was able to get the Sp2 to slipstream into the original media which accomplished by using the information at the site mentioned below.

I am *hopefully* on my way to begin imaging those labs now that I think I have an installation cd that works.. I guess it is simple enough that you can change a few codes in a text file and make a cd do what you want but it’s still a headache and the fact that they changed the algorithm between SP1x and SP2 is just stupid.. why give us SA’s a headache like that? Really.. what is the purpose.. it’s not like it lowered the amount the software was pirated.. It’s a joke.. but still a headache.

I stumbled upon this site today and it’s just plain awesome..

http://smithii.com/slipstream_xpsp2

Props to this guy for his scripting.. but whats even better is that it uses wget which I had no idea I could get for windows.. that makes me especially pleased with this find!

http://users.ugent.be/~bpuype/wget/#download

Now I have to get back to imaging these two labs before Monday..

Well the day is finally here and it comes at the perfect time. School starts Monday and I finished up today. All the classroom computers work, the network is 100% functional, and I have documentation of everything. Today has left me with the biggest feeling of success since I started the job. This means that I will go to work at 7:30 and be able to leave at 3:30 every day.. that is just wonderful. I thought many times that I wouldn’t be able to make the deadline with everything that kept getting added to my agenda.. but in the end everything worked out great!

Also, my T1 will be delivered very soon, and I go to finalize all my insurance needs on Monday so I am ready to start installing customers whenever the get the backbone put into place..

As far as notes about the servers I will be working on that.. I am going to try and setup a wiki for some public info or just so I can put tech stuff up that I don’t want to forget or search for/learn twice.. I got that idea from a great book. I recommend it for anyone that manages IT for a living.. “Time Management for System Administrators” by Thomas A. Limoncelli the tagline at the top of the cover is “Stop Working Late and Start Working Smart” and it’s perfect!