WebJunction

Here is the list of tips Ross Riker provided for managing your public access computer stations. Thank you Ross!!

Adobe Flash Player -- version and installation check ; standalone ActiveX installation ; settings manager ; "cookies"
Adobe Reader -- standalone installation
Autologon (Windows XP)
Disabling Autorun
Hard drive erasing tools (free)
Java - verifying installation and version ; standalone (offline) installation
Microsoft Software Donation Program
Replacing the Print button with the Print Preview button on Internet Explorer's (IE6) toolbar
Safely Remove Hardware shortcut (placing on the desktop)
Screen Capture
Web-based instant messaging (IM)
Suggested Reading

Adobe Flash Player -- version and installation check ; standalone ActiveX installation ; settings manager ; "cookies"

You can check to see if Adobe Flash Player is correctly installed and that is the most recent version by visiting this page:

http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

I usually update the Flash Player on multiple machines. It is easier for me to do this with the standalone installer. Flash Player for Firefox is already standalone. The standalone ActiveX installer for Internet Explorer can be reached from the link on this page:

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_19166&sliceId=1

The link is located down the page under the heading, "If the ActiveX Control for Flash Player fails to install, download the executable installer." (Currently this is located just before section 4.) Please note that it is a *.zip file (a compressed file) that you can "unzip" using Windows XP by right clicking on the file and choosing the Extract All option (and following the prompts -- just remember where you have extracted it to).

Unlike most programs, Flash Player's settings are accessed through a web page:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html

and more specifically:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager.html#117118

And, finally, I mentioned Flash "cookies" in another post -- "Adobe Flash "Cookies" / "LSOs" (Local Shared Objects)" http://www.webjunction.org/tech-security/resources/discussion/25921021

Adobe Reader -- standalone installation

You can also download a standalone installation version of Adobe Reader from Adobe's FTP (file transfer protocol) page:

ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/9.1/enu/

Please note this is the folder for the current 9.1 version. If you need a different version, move up to the next higher directory (more than once if necessary), find the correct version folder, and then move back down again.

Note that there are actually several files to choose from. The *.msi is the Microsoft Installer package version (if you want to read more about msi files -- which is way over my head! -- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc978328.aspx). It and the Std version both include Adobe Air and Adobe.com. The other one contains just Reader. You may notice that it is also a smaller file [26 MB vs 40 MB].

Autologon(Windows XP)

All of our public access computers logon to a limited user account (http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/useraccount.mspx). We have set them to logon automatically using the instructions "How to turn on automatic logon in Windows XP" -- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315231.

The ForceAutoLogon key is important for us because we do allow patrons to logoff (and some of our software logs off, too). This key enforces that the computer logs back on again as the set up limited user account.

If you need to logon as a different user (e.g., as an administrator to do updates, etc.), please note this part of the instructions:

"If you want to bypass the automatic logon to log on as a different user, hold down the SHIFT key after you log off or after Windows XP restarts."

Disabling Autorun

When you insert a flash drive, DVD, etc., into a computer, autorun is the function that automatically runs a specific program (if it is set up to, or it may run a related function -- AutoPlay). Malware writers have corrupted this functionality to spread worms, etc. (e.g., Conficker). Microsoft has revised a patch to address this vulnerability, but it isn't one of the easier patches to implement -- after you apply the patch you need to either use Group Policy settings or manually edit the registry to adjust the settings to your desired level.

Microsoft's KB article and instructions are here -- http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;967715

Please note, when manually entering the value for the NoDriveTypeAutoRun key, 0xFF hexadecimal is equal to 255 decimal (to turn off autorun on drives of all types).

Windows Secrets had this article, "AutoRun patch a long time coming for XP users" -- http://www.windowssecrets.com/2009/03/05/02-AutoRun-patch-a-long-time-coming-for-XP-users

I ran into several computers that I could not apply the patch to because of a conflict with Roxio's DLA (see the responses to this blog post -- http://www.askwoody.com/2009/autorun-patch-kb-967715-mess/)

Finally, this may be more of an issue on staff computers than public access computers depending on what security precautions / software you are already using on your public access computers.

See also:

"What's the difference between AutoPlay and autorun?" -- http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-us/help/a19ac945-1007-4638-9615-e2c3bfd92b751033.mspx

Hard drive erasing tools (free)

Before recycling / discarding obsolete computers, you can erase the hard drives using one of these tools:

CopyWipe -- http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/copywipe.php

HDDErase -- http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml

HDDErase only works on newer ATA/SATA hard drives (usually greater than 15 to 20 GB that support ATA Security Feature Set). It does not work on SCSI or most USB drives.

CopyWipe may be able to erase other types of drives as long as they are detectable by the software [e.g., older drives, USB, or IEEE 1394 (FireWire)]. With CopyWipe you can "wipe" the drive more than once which may provide more security. The tradeoff, especially for larger drives, is that it takes proportionally longer for each additional wipe.

Microsoft Software Donation Program

This is mentioned elsewhere on WebJunction, but I think it is worth mentioning again. The Microsoft Software Donation Program (http://www.techsoup.org/stock/microsoftprogram.asp) allows qualifying public libraries to receive up to six software titles and 50 licenses per title for public access computers for a modest administrative fee. Quite a few rules apply, so read the FAQ well (http://www.techsoup.org/stock/ms_program_faq.asp). We have used this program primarily to get upgrade licenses for Windows operating systems and for providing Microsoft Office on most of our public access internet computers and word processing stations.

Staff computers are eligible for Microsoft academic discount pricing (http://www.microsoft.com/Education/Eligible.mspx). If you need to order a minimum of 5 licenses, then Microsoft Open License for Academic (http://www.microsoft.com/Education/open.mspx) is the way to go. After ordering an initial 5 licenses, then you can re-order as few as 1. Again, we have done this primarily for Windows OS upgrades and MS Office for our staff computers.

Replacing the Print button with the Print Preview button on Internet Explorer's (IE6) toolbar

Our reference librarians were becoming increasingly frustrated with the amount of wasted paper from unwanted print jobs. One of them came across this tip which we implemented. It hasn't stopped all of the problems, but it did help reduce them.

In a previous post in this thread (Screen Capture), I mentioned using Print Screen to capture screen shots to use with instructions. As an example I have uploaded a Word document with screen shots included here:

http://www.webjunction.org/techplan/articles/content/54672038

Here are the instructions without the screen shots:

1. Open Internet Explorer, and click on the View tab, then highlight the Toolbars option. If the Lock the Toolbars option is checked, highlight it, then click on it to deselect it. It's a toggle switch -- clicking changes it back and forth between being checked or unchecked.

2) With the Lock the Toolbars unchecked, go once again to the View button, highlight Toolbars, and highlight Customize, then click on it. This will bring up a new window -- Customize Toolbar. Under the Current toolbar buttons column, highlight a button that you would like to remove, in this case, at least the Print button (I usually remove everything after History, too). Once a button is highlighted, click on the Remove button.

3) Once you have removed all of the buttons that you want removed, then move over to the Available toolbar buttons and scroll until you find the Print Preview button, highlight it, then click on the Add button. Then click on the Close button. You can go also back to 1) and reset the Lock the Toolbars option to locked.

Safely Remove Hardware shortcut (placing on the desktop)

We do not allow access to the system tray on our public access computers, so patrons do not have access to the Safely Remove Hardware icon when they need to remove their USB devices (e.g., flash drives). So, using the instructions from this WEB4LIB post, we added a shortcut to this command on the desktop where patrons can access it instead:

http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/web4lib/2005-February/035911.html

Java - verifying installation and version ; standalone (offline) installation

You can verify the installation and what version of Java you have by visiting:

http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp?detect=jre&try=1

If you do not have the current version, there is a standalone (offline) version available here:

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Unless you have an application that requires a specific version of Java, it is recommended that you uninstall any older versions of Java. Instructions for removing older versions can be found here:

http://www.java.com/en/download/help/uninstall_java.xml

Screen Capture

(using Print Screen, Alt-Print Screen, a digital camera, or screencasting software) for copying settings, tech trouble shooting, and for instruction (handouts, tutorials, vlogs, etc.)

This Microsoft article, "Take a screen shot" (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/screenshot.mspx) gives a good description of using Print Screen and Alt-Print Screen to capture either the entire desktop (Print Screen) or the active window (Alt-Print Screen) to the clipboard. The screen shots can then be pasted into Paint, Word, etc., and be forwarded in emails or included in handouts, tutorials, etc. I've used it to capture error messages to send in (or attached to) emails to vendors for help in troubleshooting software / hardware problems, for printing out settings (rather than trying to write them down), and for including screen shots in handouts and tutorials (e.g., for a user guide when we started using a reservation system for our public internet stations ; for a tutorial for our reference staff when we need to manually install flash drives ; etc.).

As the article mentions, Print Screen (and screencasting software) doesn't always work (e.g., before you are logged in, full screen DOS, WMP, etc.). A digital camera (still or video) can work for those situations. For example, if you want a copy of your BIOS settings before you make changes, you can use a digital camera to take pictures of the various screens. Also, Print Screen may not capture everything that you want to (e.g., mouse movement and clicks).

Screencasting software (screencasting -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screencasting ; screencasting software -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screencasting_software) can be used to capture entire screen sequences instead of just individual screens (similar to the difference between a digital camera taking single shots versus taking video). And you can often add audio, so it can be narrated.

With either a digital video camera or screencasting software you can create vlogs for training / instructional purposes and a whole lot more!

Web-based instant messaging (IM)

We point our patrons to the web-based versions of popular instant messaging (IM) programs instead of trying to deal with installing and upgrading the standalone client(s). Here are the web addresses for some of the popular IM programs as well as a couple that provide access to several of them:

AIM Express (AOL) -- http://www.aim.com/aimexpress.adp

eBuddy -- http://www.ebuddy.com/

ICQ -- http://www.icq.com/download/icq2go/

meebo -- http://www.meebo.com/

MSN Web Messenger -- http://webmessenger.msn.com/

Yahoo! Messenger For the Web -- http://webmessenger.yahoo.com/

IM is also available from within several of the web-based email versions including at least Gmail, Hotmail (this may not be fully implemented as it was only recently added as a feature), and Yahoo! Mail.