[LM_NET] HIT -> Deep Freeze or other PC restoration programs

[Brent Bradley <bsb_lib@YAHOO.COM>]

My original post:

I would like to TARGET -> Deep Freeze or other PC restoration programs.

 

My district is considering trialing the program Deep Freeze to help manage my 
library's collection of PCs. If anyone has experience with this program, I would 
appreciate comments. I also have some Macs, but we are experiencing more trouble 
with the PCs than Macs.

 

 

The HIT:

 

I really like Deep Freeze.  I have 15 PCs in the library and I don't have the 
problems I had before I started using it.  I shut them down at night andthey go 
back to the settings I want on them.  It is easy to set up.  I highly recommend 
Deep Freeze.

_______________

I use Deep Freeze in my library.  While not perfect, it has really cut down on the 
problems we had with kids fiddling around with computers. 

_______________

We have Deep Freeze on the computers in our lab and on the mobile lab the students 
use. We do not have it on the library computers and I'm glad we don't. I also have 
it on my laptop that I earned from our technology incentive program. I understand 
the desire to have the computers always return to the way you want them set up if 
they are changed in any way but I don't know if it is worth the hassle. We have to 
have it automatically turn off and on at a certain time of day so the virus updates 
can load. Then it has to restart to re-set the Deep Freeze. Any time you want to 
add anything, you have to un-freeze them one by one. I think even the favorites are 
frozen on the student computers. I'm in a 5-6 grade school where students are not 
really left unattended with computers so I don't see the need for it. Our techs 
have another program that they use to Ghost a computer, which I think is the better 
way to go. If a student messes it up, they just copy the ghosted disk to re-set t!
 he
 computer.

_______________

Deep Freeze is great. All of my library computers (PC's) have it installed and the 
program works just like it is supposed to. We removed files and programs, changed 
the desktop and the Internet homepage and upon rebooting the image returned to its 
original state. Our computers are set to thaw overnight to update the virus 
protection. They can also be set to be shut down on Fridays if you want them to. 
The only thing is that you must be sure of exactly how you want the programs and 
computer to be configured - from the icons on the desktop, to where you want the 
students to save files (My Documents or the Thaw space or network folder if they 
have one)to exactly how you want the Internet options to be configured as well as 
settings in Microsoft Word for instance. Upon reboot, every setting, program, and 
homepage on the Internet reverts to the original image. I don't worry as much now 
when the students do things to the computers although I do watch them closely 
anyway. We do not!
  have
 those annoying pop ups any more and have a much more reliable computer. Depending 
on the programs you have on your computer, for example, we had NetOp installed as 
well last year for a trial and it didn't react well with Deep Freeze. All the 
Microsoft programs I have are fine though.

_______________

We use DeepFreeze on our Dells and love the way it keeps viruses out - each time 
the computer is turned off, anything added while DeepFreeze is turned on is erased. 
 The only small annoyance is that you have to remember to thaw deepfreeze to add 
new programs and all documents must be saved to "my documents", anything saved on 
the desktop will be erased.

_______________

We have been very satisfied with Deep Freeze.  I have the password, so  I can load 
new software whenever I have the need, and I don't worry about what the urchins may 
have done during the day. It's not perfect, but it has greatly reduced my stress 
level.

_______________

I have Deep Freeze on my 24 Library computers. This was my choice, not a district 
mandate. I had worked with the program on an elementary campus previously, and when 
I moved to a different district onto a 9th grade campus, I knew I needed help to 
maintain the units. I like it and my job is SOOOOOOO much easier now that I can 
shut down at the end of the day and start fresh the next morning. My own 
maintenance time (resetting homepages, spyware removal, etc.) has dropped to nearly 
nothing. Technology work orders for serious problems are nearly non-existent. Yes, 
changes are more time-consuming because you must unfreeze and refreeze to make 
permanent changes, but that is nothing (to me) compared to the ease of recovery. In 
my current position, I have the freeze/unfreeze password and instructions and can 
work on my programming at my own convenience. At my last place, where I was 
introduced to DeepFreeze, I was not allowed to do that. ONLY the district 
technologist was afforded t!
 hat
 information and so a work order had to be processed for every little change.

 

In summary, my life is better with DeepFreeze than without it.

_______________

We used Deep Freeze both at my site and district wide.  Its nearly bullet-proof... 
we never had a kid break it.  The one problem is that it is cumbersome to 
"unfreeze" a machine so that changes can be made  (i.e. adding a program or 
changing bookmarks on IE or 

Firefox).  Otherwise, an outstanding program.

_______________

We have Deep Freeze, and I love it.  Now, if students change any settings, etc., it 
is not permanent.  Our tech. dept. put on Deep Freeze and I think they can do 
things directly with it...but I have the rights to individually change each machine 
as needed.  At first they didn't give me that right, but they got tired of coming 
over and changing all 36 computers each time I wanted to change something.  Love it!

_______________

Not exactly a library setting, but it is used in the main computer lab at Central 
Michigan University.  There were probably about 75 machines - both Mac and PC.  It 
worked great.  I'm trying to get our IT people to see the wisdom in such a program, 
but they're not convinced yet. 

 

_______________

 

It's not really my area, but we have Deep Freeze on our computers school-wide, and 
it has certainly made many things easier for us. The biggest problem, and it is 
getting better each year as I hit the incoming 7th graders over the head with it, 
but whenever the computer is shut down, everything on the C drive that wasn't in 
the original ghost is lost. The point of the program is to reset to the original 
configuration with each shutdown. It's nice because when a computer freezes, or 
goes into the blue hole (freezes) we just shut down and let it reset itself. Works 
probably 95% of the time.  But kids are used to saving to "My documents", which is, 
of course, on the hard drive. We provide each student a folder on the student 
server, but teaching them to direct their save to the server is taking time. As I 
said, at orientation each year, when I give the kids their user names and 
passwords, I pound this concept home. Still, each year I have a sophomore come 
crying that they can't!
  find
 their research paper they typed in here yesterday, then saved to the machine. 
We're getting better, just not there yet. 

 

It has also cut way down on students customizing the computers - since all I have 
to do to undo it is turn off, turn on, it seems to take the fun out of it.

_______________

We have deep freeze and we love it. I've had much less trouble with our PCs since 
we got it.

_______________

I have used Deep Freeze for about 6 years and I don't know how I could live without 
it(or something similar). Prior to having Deep Freeze I wasted so much time trying 
to undue all the changes that had been made during the day...now all I do is 
restart. It certainly has made my life much easier and I am now fairly confident 
all my computers will. work and have the same configerations.

_______________

My tech person just installed this program on all my computers so I'm just getting 
used to it.  The Infotech classes have had it about a year and they just love it.   
Really solves a lot of pop-up/spyware/virus problems because as soom as you restart 
the machine everything is cleared off.  Saves my tech person a lot of 
work/heartache as well. 

 

It still frustrates me some that even if I make a necessary change to the computer, 
I have to ask the Tech person to unfreeze thngs, then make the change, then he 
refreezes things.  Not always an optimal solution when he splits his time between 
two buldings!

_______________

I have Deepfreeze and I like it.  The only drawback is when you want to add 
software or let the computer to Windows updates, you have to log in to each 
computer, shut off Deepfreeze and restart the computer.  Then when you're done you 
have to turn it on and restart again.  But if you're going down the line doing 
several, it works out ok and it definitely keeps the computers clean when kids 
can't save or download. It keeps out viruses and adware(mostly).

_______________

I use Deep Freeze on all my computers.  I love it.  The students can change or do 
whatever they want and then, I turn it off and it goes back to the way I started 
it.  I can disable or thaw them to add updates I really like it.

_______________

We have had Deep Freeze on our lab of 30 IBM computers for over 5 years. We do have 
a Computer Tech guy who troubleshoots all the computers in the building. Deep 
Freeze has been a blessing. It is so much easier to keep the machines up and 
running because no matter what changes students make during a session, everything 
is restored to our defaults at Restart. (We train the students to restart the 
computer before they leave.) Even if they shut down the computer, the computer 
starts up with our default settings. The drawback is our Computer Tech guy has to 
turn off Deep Freeze before any new software can be installed.

_______________

Deep Freeze has worked great here for two years.

_______________

We use Deep Freeze Enterprise and I love it.  Kids can change any settings they 
want, they can install and delete software, download anything and it all gets wiped 
away by hitting the reset button.  With the Enterprise edition I can boot, 
shutdown, and restart computers from my office.  I have two full labs in the 
library with over 70 computers total.  I do almost all of the maintenance on them 
so Deep Freeze is a life saver.  Our workstations run Windows XP and we had 
problems with the students limited user account and some software.  With Deep 
Freeze I changed the student account to an administrator and everything works 
better.

 

The only problems are with saving documents.  My Documents gets wiped out with 
every restart so kids have to make sure and save to the network or in a disk 
partition called Thawspace that is created by Deep Freeze. There is a program 
called Tweak UI which will let you move the My Documents folder to the Thawspace 
partition.  It is freeware and seems to work pretty well.  Also, any time you want 
to change something on a workstation you have to "thaw" the computer, then refreeze 
it when your done.  It is an added step that is easy to forget.  The Enterprise 
console lets me thaw computers without logging in which saves time.  The only 
technical problem we have had was with a new release last spring that did not work 
with our cloning program (Norton Ghost).  It drove us nuts for several weeks until 
I called Faronics (we weren't sure which program was causing the problem).  They 
sent me software to fix it within an hour.

 

I read several reviews before I bought it and the conclusion was that it is almost 
completely hacker-proof.  I have yet to have a student defeat it.

_______________

We have had Deep Freeze on our library PC's and an adjacent lab for 4 or 5 years 
now.  I love it.  I would never go back to haven them "thawed".  Any thing goes 
wrong or any student creates a screen saver or whatever, and you just reboot.  The 
only issue is that you need to train the students to always save work in their 
personal directory on the file server.  If they save to "My Documents" it will be 
gone after a reboot.  What I have found as LMS and as the former computer 
coordinator for the district. is that those computers that are "frozen" tend to 
require far far less maintenance and technical service.  I do suggest that the 
librarian have the password to the computers in the library so that s/he can do 
updates as needed (new library catalog client, bookmarks needed etc).

_______________

We are using Deep Freeze and have had it for several years.  I like it.  

My teachers like it also because we do not have to worry about children 

changing settings on our computers.  My tech has made it very easy to 

unfreeze any computer I want to save something to. We use Deep Freeze in 

the library and in our computer labs.

_______________

I LOVE IT!!!!

 

It works like a charm. Ours is set to restore after reboot. No more

user-installed programs, annoying pop-up generating programs.

 

It has been terrific!

_______________

We use it and it is wonderful.  It has saved hours and hours of rebuilding!  Our 
entire building has deep freeze, including the teachers (except for me).  It is 
managed by our technology coordinator.   If you have specific questions I will be 
happy to let you contact himl 

_______________

We're using Deep Freeze this year for the first time his year, and 

we've had no trouble that I know of so far. . . .

_______________

I love Deep Freeze. The kids can make all kinds of changes to the PCs 

and

when you reboot the machine, it all goes back to the way you set it up

originally. I've used products from this company for a decade now and

really like them. Their tech support is wonderful as are their 

products.

 

Go for it!  :)

 

 





***
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social 
transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence 
of the good people."
--Martin Luther King
***
Brent Bradley, LMS at Valley View Community & Henry Wilson Memorial in Farmington, 
NH
bsb underscore lib at yahoo dot com

                
---------------------------------
 Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------