[TenTec] "Remember, it's a computer."

[Jim Lowman]

Ron, no need to apologize...this is one of the more interesting threads I've read on the list.  Of course, being in the computer
"biz" I'm biased.

We have several hundred workstations running Windows; mostly 98 and 2000, although there are still some out there running 95...mostly
in departments that didn't upgrade their workstations to the new Dell.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Windows crashes in spite of periodic cold reboots.  Our users have been instructed to
shut their workstations down completely at the end of the business day.  Still, some
can't get through an eight-hour day without at least one complete lockup.

We prevent them from hurting themselves in some instances (where the OS is 2000) by keeping them off the administrator account; a
nice feature in an organizational setting.  It's also necessary to keep then from installing things that they have on their home
computers, that could cause problems on their workstations.  I won't even get into the question of licensing agreements.

A lot of our problems, especially on the older computers, come from non-Microsoft screensavers.  The more popular ones are WebShots
and Thomas Kinkade.

Unfortunately, we have a rather small workstation support group, and they are tasked to the max, especially with the current problems
with the budget.  Thus, the appropriate patches and service packs don't usually get installed outside of the IT Department, where
most of us know to do so.

There is an entire one-quarter course on Windows 2000 Professional Administration that is taught at UC-Riverside.  Believe me,
UNIX/Linux administration is even more difficult; I just finished that course last Tuesday night.

We have a turnkey UNIX-based system in one department, and our network admin claims that it ran for over seven *years* without being
rebooted.  When it finally went down, it was because the power supply gave out; not due to any software problem.

Listadmin note:  If you don't care to follow this thread, or any other, filter it, delete the messages, or ignore it...DON'T complain
about it on the list.

73 de Jim - AD6CW




Ron Notarius WN3VAW wrote:
> 
> My apologies to those who're starting to get tired of this thread, so just a
> "quickie:"

<snip>