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| One of the problems of a school network is that you have hundreds of users who use any of a number of computers. When a student or teacher uses Netscape, any configuration changes are left on the computer they last used, which is of no advantage to the next person who uses that computer, or to the student who made the changes, because they must return to the same machine (and hope no one else has made any changes). Well with Zedex, everyone can have their own set of preferences, including mail, startup page, history, bookmarks and news groups and it doesn't matter which computer they use.. |
Here is how you do it:
This is assuming that you have a Zedex network up and running.
1) With Zedex running on one of the peer workstations, log off (this connects the z: drive to all-file).
2) Assuming that you are running Communicator for the first time, run it and the Profile Manager Program will come up. If you have already run Communicator, run Profile Manager and delete all existing Profiles.
3) Create only one profile with the Profile Name as USER.
Set the directory for the profile as Z:\profile
Leave all the other boxes blank.
Then FINISH
Now you will have created a profile directory (folder) called profile, which is in z:\all_file, which is on the server and will be accessible from any computer as long as they are logged off to all_file.
4) With Communicator now running, choose Edit and
Preferences:
I suggest you set the start page as
z:\profile\bookmark.htm
Select Edit ... Preferences...Navigator ... and change
the startup page.
Edit the supplied bookmark page to perhaps only one
search engine like Yahooligans, while you delete the
rest. The purpose is to make the bookmark.htm file as
small as possible.
5) The cache location must be changed from
z:\profile\cache
to
c:\cache or wherever you want to save
the cache on the local drive. Using File Manager
(or Explorer) create that directory on the local drive.
Choose Edit ... Preferences ... Advanced ... Cache... and
make the change
Do not leave the cache set to z:\profile\cache, as each
user would end up with their own cache which can soon
lead to a full hard drive on the server.
(Note: If you are a small company with just a few users
then it would be okay to leave the cache on the z:\
drive. In this way the cache will match their bookmarks,
and history, and run a bit better.)
6) Clear the history file. Select Edit ... Preferences...Navigator ... clear History. Again this is to make the History file as small as possible.
7) If you are using a proxy server, now is the time to
make the changes in Advanced Preferences
8) Change the Working Directory (Start in) of
Communicator to z:\.
While in Program Manager, select the Communicator Icon
... File ... Properties.
Change the working directory to read z:\.
On Windows 95, right click on the Communicator Icon.
Select Properties ... Shortcut Tab, and in the Start in
box, change it to read z:\
This is important because if any student downloads a file, or creates a web page using Page Composer, the files will automatically be saved to the user's directory (assuming that they have properly logged in using Zedex).
8) Go over to the Zedex computer
that is the server and run File Manager (or Explorer as
the case may be).
Using Explorer or File Manager and while at the
all_file\profile folder, delete the archive folder, the
cache folder, and all the files in profile except:
bookmark.htm, perfs.js, and launch.aim. Also delete
any files or sub directories of the news, or mail
directories. So now you should have in the profile
directory, those three files and two empty folders, news
and mail. If all is well ,this should only be about 6K of
disk space. Some of the files that you deleted, Navigator
needs, but will create when it finds them missing.
In this fashion you are not unnecessarily duplicating
files to users who never use Navigator.
9) While still in File Manager or Explorer, copy the directory (folder), profile (all its contents will come with it) from all_file to the directory of every user. I know this will take some time but it is worth it. It should be a lot easier with Explorer where you will be able to just keep pasting (using the down arrow key followed by Control+V). If you are using File Manager and dragging and dropping, remember to hold down the Control key so that the folder is copied, not just moved.
10) As on option, if you want each user to have their
own preferences on Microsoft Word, you might copy the
files winword.opt and normal.dot to your profile
folder beforehand. You must do this before you
copy the folder to each user's folder. See Zedex and Microsoft Word .
If you have any incorrect settings, you will be copying
them to every user and would have to be corrected
individually later on. That is why is was important to
clean up Communicator first.
You're not done yet. You are only done on the server and on the peer workstation on which you set the profile in the first place.
11) Go to each of the other peer workstations and, using Zedex, log off, and then run Communicator. If you have already run Communicator, run Profile Manager and delete existing Profiles. It is important that there is only one profile whose name is USER and whose Profile directory is Z:\profile.
As you did before, create one profile with the Profile
Name as USER and
Profile directory as Z:\profile
Leave the other input boxes blank.
Then FINISH
Because there already is a directory, profile, on the z:\ drive (remember that you logged off and are now in all_file), Profile Manager will come up with a warning that the profile already exists. Continue by selecting OK.
Remember that you will have to change the Working Directory (Start in folder) of Communicator to Z:\ on each computer.
You are now done. Now anyone that runs
Communicator from any computer will get their preferences
off the Z: drive. If they have logged on to
their own directory using Zedex,
they are getting their own preferences. If they make any
changes, the changes will be their own and not anyone
else's.
They can connect to their own mail or news server, and
their mail and news groups will be kept in their own
directory space, which, because of Zedex,
is password protected. Any web pages created using Page
Composer will be saved to the user's directory. What more
do you want? They're happy and you're happy.
Note: If the network is down or someone without a profile directory has logged on using Zedex, Communicator will setup a default Profile. If this happens, use Profile Manager to delete that default profile. It is important to have only one profile (called User), because this way the profile selector box does not come up and users automatically get their own profile.
It is important that every user have the profile directory, otherwise a default profile will be created each time that user uses Communicator.
It is important that everyone logs in using Zedex , because only one user can be using a profile at any one time. If two or more are logged out, therefore they are in all_file, only the first to start Communicator will work. The others will come up with an error.
Of course, if there was a mail or news server that you wanted everyone to use, then set it up when you are setting up the original profile directory, and don't delete the files in the news and mail folders before the profile folder is copied to every user..
Zedex is set to prevent users from changing to other users while Communicator or Word are running. Sometimes selecting Reset will override this and personal preferences may be lost. The X:\ drive is made available for those that need to get to a different user/directory.
Please let me know if there are any changes that need to be made to these directions. Did I miss anything? This setup has seen only limited testing. I get dizzy just reading it.
Thanks,
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