March/2001 Tech Notes

This Month:
"3.4 (d) In-school student access to on-line information resources including the Internet shall be under direct teacher supervision and guidance." - from Winnipeg School Division No. 1 Policy JFCBA Student And Staff Access To On-line Information Resources

1. Tip of the Month! In recent weeks, it has come to light that - under certain circumstances - the "Bypass Proxy for One Hour" routine has failed to re-enable the required proxy settings after the hour has expired. Techs are requested to:

a. Download and install a software patch for this routine from the shop ftp site; and
b. Review the process for bypassing the proxy for one hour with all lab facilitators.

Here is the correct procedure which lab facilitators should follow when bypassing the proxy. When you review this process with the lab facilitators, please ensure that you do so while logged on as Sysop. If you are not logged on as Sysop, you will not see the steps marked "Sysop only", and the lab facilitator may be unsure of how to proceed when they go to run this on their own:

i. Click the "Bypass Proxy for One Hour" icon in the WSD1 Sysop Utilities submenu;
ii. Wait while the routine processes the request;
iii. A screen of information will appear: "Your request to bypass the local proxy server has been processed..." etc.;
iv. Read the information and press the space bar to launch Netscape;
v. Wait for Netscape to load (may take a few seconds);
vi. Complete the proxy request form and click the SUBMIT button;
vii. After you see the message: "The information you have submitted was received. Your request has been entered into the database of requests", CLOSE NETSCAPE;
viii. (Sysop only:) A screen will appear indicating you must log off. Press the space bar to log off; and
ix. (Sysop only:) Wait for the system to automatically log off and on and off again. This step will take a few seconds.

It is also worthwhile to demonstrate the Manual Proxy Switch routine as well, also in the WSD1 Sysop Utilities submenu.

If a lab facilitator is concerned that the proxy setting has been changed to bypass and has not reverted to the correct setting, they can run this utility. It checks the current proxy settings and offers to change it. If the proxy is indeed bypassed, you can use this routine to enable it again. To see how it works, use the Bypass Proxy for One Hour routine as demonstrated above, log on again as Sysop, and run Manual Proxy Switch.

All Division staff should be reminded that student access to the Internet is governed by Division Policy JFCBA Student And Staff Access To On-line Information Resources. Regardless of whether Division-provided filtering software is enabled or bypassed, regardless of whether such software is working correctly, and regardless of whether proxy-bypass-switching routines are being used correctly, teachers are responsible for direct supervision of students' Internet access.


2. The October/2000 Tech Note #12 "Restricting the Number of Users on a Shared Program" included some helpful tips from Neil B on using KiXtart to restrict user access to network-shared applications for the purpose of complying with licensing requirements. Since then, Neil has done considerable work on this issue. In particular, he has addressed the need for a single standard script that can be used for all shared applications as well as a solution for the problem of shared EXE files which are inordinately large. You can download a copy of Neil's latest script as well as the complete documentation from the shop ftp site.


3. This Tech Note is not the WSD1IP FAQ and Revision History. That's posted at the shop ftp site.

In this case, "FAQ" stands for Frequently Asked Question. And that question is: "How do I get WSD1IP to not _________________ (fill in the blank with the symptom of your choice) ?"

The answer is simple: All you need to do is run:

WSD1IP /remove
either from an MS-DOS Prompt, or from Start ... Run ... in Windows 9x or NT 4, or from File ... Run ... in Program Manager in Windows 3.1x or NT 3.51.

There appear to be a few lingering misconceptions regarding WSD1IP. I'd like to clear these issues up, hopefully once and for all. The most important misconception to clear up is that WSD1IP is a permanent fixture on our computers. It is not. In most cases, it can be removed now. WSD1IP is a transition tool. Since the transition is now largely complete, the need for WSD1IP is largely gone.

WSD1IP was originally developed to assist in the rollout of the Division proxy server in 1999, when every building had a unique proxy server, and web browsers on all 5,000 of the Division's computers needed to be set correctly. That was in the days of ISDN connections and routers.

In 2000, ISDN was replaced by ADSL. With this change in hardware has come a change in IP addressing. No longer are different schools using different IP addresses. All buildings now use the same the IP address subnet numbering schemes. The original WSD1IP would not recognize these new IP addresses as valid WSD#1 IP addresses and therefore would not be able to set web browsers correctly. WSD1IP 2000 was developed to ease the transition from the old scheme to the new scheme.

Last summer, WSD1IP 2000 was installed by the techs working on the preventative maintenance program, and schools which were not visited during the summer had the opportunity for this update in the fall. Now that this work is complete, WSD1IP's usefulness is at an end. With virtually all locations in the Division now set up identically, and all workstations set up correctly, there is no further need for a transition tool.

This does not mean you must now spend all your time removing WSD1IP from all your systems. On most systems, leaving WSD1IP installed does nothing - no harm and no benefit. However, in some instances, there may be good reason to disable it. If this is the case, all you need to do is run:
WSD1IP /remove
either from an MS-DOS Prompt, or from Start ... Run ... in Windows 9x or NT 4, or from File ... Run ... in Program Manager in Windows 3.1x or NT 3.51.

Note that the /remove switch deactivates WSD1IP but does not delete any files. This switch - like /nocheck - deactivates the network check at boot. Unlike /nocheck, this also disables the registry update at logon. In Windows for Workgroups, there is no registry update, so WSD1IP /remove and WSD1IP /nocheck have the same effect for that operating system. In all systems, WSD1IP will still "run" after running /remove: in Windows for Workgroups, via the load= line in WIN.INI; in Windows NT, via the WSD1Environment service at startup, and in Windows 9x, via Automatic Hard Disk Maintenance (unless that, too, is disabled). However, because the network check is disabled, WSD1IP makes no changes to any settings. You can demonstrate this easily by first running WSD1IP /remove and then by running WSD1IP /webproxy (which is how WSD1IP is always launched automatically). You will almost immediately see the following message displayed on the screen: 
WSD1IP has been configured to not check the network at startup.
Run WSD1IP /renew if you wish to enable network checking.

Web browsers not updated.
You can further demonstrate that WSD1IP is not making changes by altering proxy settings in Netscape or Internet Explorer and rebooting. The altered settings will hold.

Finally, if you are planning to disable WSD1IP on any systems, you should be aware that there are still some routines which will automatically re-enable it.

WSD1IP is automatically installed and/or updated and activated when you run the WSD#1 Anti-Virus Installer/Updaters (Windows 3.1 version and Windows 9x version), the FREEWARE batch routine on WSD#1 Backup CD 2 (in \INTERNET\FREEWARE), or the WSD#1 NT Server Prep Update diskette. If you run any of these routines on a system which has WSD1IP disabled, you will need to run WSD1IP /remove again afterwards.

All the information in this Tech Note, and much much more, is available in the WSD1IP FAQ and Revision History which is posted at the shop ftp site.

The program WSD1IP is also posted at the tech ftp site.


4. Trevor and Bruce have this interesting information to share. As we all know, there are two standard types of mouse commonly used with PCs these days: PS/2 and serial. Both have been around for many years, but recently the PS/2 variety seems to be supplanting the serial type. New computers these days almost universally ship with PS/2 mice. It is difficult to order serial mice nowadays, although many mice come with a PS/2-to-serial adapter.

Because both the PS/2 connector and the serial connector must conform to long-standing international standards, it stands to reason that any PS/2 mouse can be connected to any serial port using any PS/2-to-serial adapter, right?

Wrong! Much to my surprise, I was shown that a Microsoft PS/2 mouse - which works fine on any PS/2 mouse port - would not work with a generic PS/2-to-serial adapter or with a Dexxa PS/2-to-serial adapter. It worked just fine using a Microsoft PS/2-to-serial adapter, though.


5. Because computer techs routinely come into contact with the keyboards, mice and telephones of many different people on a daily basis, they are at high risk for contracting viruses, colds and the flu. For a helpful and interesting look at this problem and what you can do to stay healthy, have a look at Pat Vickers' TechRepublic article "Techs can avoid cold/flu viruses by washing hands". The basic message is wash your hands as soon as is practical after touching other users' peripherals, and in the meantime, don't touch your face.


DISCLAIMER: This document is intended for the reference of computer support personnel within Winnipeg School Division No. 1. There is no warranty or liability if procedures recommended here have an adverse affect on any systems. Use them at your own risk. Any trademarks mentioned are the property of their owners, none of whom have certified any information provided here. Opinions expressed here are personal only and do not represent the policy of Winnipeg School Division No. 1 or any other organization anywhere.


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2001 June 9

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