Hardware

Problem: Various hard drives, CD-ROM/DVD-ROMs, floppy drives, and RAM did not work or needed to be upgraded
Solution: Replaced and/or upgraded hardware

Problem: Although a pre-existing lab had cables set up, Martin thought that some might be faulty.
Solution: A few were bad, so we attempted to make new cables. However, they didn’t work. We used pre-existing cables and installed two hubs.

Problem: Learning how to make our own cables
Solution: How To Make Cables
*Peel back jacket covering about an inch and cut off excess jacket, making sure not to cut exposed wires in the process
*Untwist and straighten wires so they’re flat and straight
*Order the wires in this color sequence -
GreenWhite Green OrangeWhite Blue BlueWhite Orange BrownWhite Brown
(stripe, solid, stripe)
*While holding the wires, cut them so they’re roughly the width of your thumb. Make sure the cut is straight. Once cut, the exposed wires should be approximately 1/2 inch in length.
*Make sure the plastic RJ-45 prong tab is facing the ground and the green/white and green wires are on the left side.
*Once the above step is done, push the wires through the plastic RJ-45 prong/connector and make sure the wires reach the end of the connector. Some of the jacket should also be in the connector.
*Place the RJ-45 connector in the crimper and push until the crimper clicks back open
*Use tester to confirm cable is working properly

OS install

No driver or network card issues

Problem: Had trouble installing WinXP from the provided install discs
Solution: We discovered only one install disc was included, so we had been trying to boot from language pack CDs. After Dinesh pointed this out and mocked us joyfully, Dinesh burned additional OS copies. Through the install, we realized that some hardware (HDs, CD-ROMs, and RAM) needed to be replaced or scrapped.

Software

Problem: HP print drivers needed for computers
Solution: Driver downloaded from HP site

Problem: Unsure if router driver needed to be included on computers
Solution: Martin said that as long as we had our computers configured to automatically have DHCP assigned to them, they should work with the router.

Problem: Mt.Calvary asked for educational tracking software, which had not been indicated during our initial site visit.
Solution: The group searched for free software. Initial results were more administrative based, but eventually we found a free program called StudyMinder LITE. It seems to have basic student grade and schedule tracking functions, so we think this will be sufficient.

Problem: Mt.Calvary wanted free software for graphics (similar to Adobe Photoshop or Paint) and web design.
Solution: We used Paint.net for the graphics program. For the web design, we installed the full Mozilla suite and NVU.

Problem: Mt.Calvary wanted CD-ROM educational software to be loaded onto one of their computers. They used a program called Alcohol 120%, which imaged the CD-ROMs. The images could then be mounted on virtual drives and shared by other computers on the LAN.
Solution: They couldn not find the software on the first visit, so we were not sure if we were going to receive it in time. It did arrive in time, but if it had not, we would have tried making multiple partitions (30-40) and installing one CD per partition.

Problem: Mt.Calvary wanted some links for children, young adults, email, online banking, and seniors.
Solution: We each took one category and found 10-15 links. For the children and young adults, a good source was Cosmeo, the Discovery Channel’s homework help site. It has a huge link list of trusted educational sites. We also looked at consumer advocacy and government sites. See our “Website Links” child page for the full list of links.

Problem: WinXP would not allow two programs (StudyMinder LITE and TypeFaster) to run outside of the administrative account.
Solution: At first, we tried installing and running programs from the Shared Documents folders, but the programs did not always work in the user account. Martin found a stable solution for us online. First, click the My Computer icon. Under Tools, choose the drop-down menu option “Folder Options.” Click the View tab (2nd tab on the top). Scroll down to the bottom and deselect the “Use simple file sharing” option. Hit Apply and OK. Next, find the program folders, which contain the programs that don’t work outside of the admin account. Right click on the folder and choose Properties. Click the Security tab. Highlight/click on the Users group. In the “Permissions for Users” box below, select/check the “Full Control” box on the Allow side. Click Apply and OK and you’re done!

LAN

Problem: Mt.Calvary wanted one of their pre-existing computers to act as a server to distribute educational programs. While they wanted a server computer, they did not want to give up a possible workstation.
Solution: Mt.Calvary provided the computer and a 200GB hard drive, which we installed. We added extra memory (from 128MB upgraded to 384 MB). Upon further discussion, we realized that if the computer was only a server, it couldn’t serve as a workstation. We decided to set up the computer as part of the P2P network and added workstation programs like OpenOffice, Acrobat, and StudyMinder LITE. Since we did not know how Alcohol was previously configured, we decided to wait until the second site visit and have our site coordinators help us finish setting Alcohol up. All CD-ROMs were imaged before the second visit.

Problem: Setting up P2P network in WinXP
Solution: Dinesh helped us with this problem. Here are the steps we took to set up a P2P network for WinXP:
1.Change the Windows firewall setting (available through the Control Panel). Under the “Exceptions” tab, click the “File and Printer Sharing” box, so it is checked.
2.Click on the “My Network Places” icon available on the desktop. On the left hand side, click the link for “Set up a home or small office network.” Click “Next” through the prompts. Don’t change the computer name. Make sure the Workgroup name is “MSHOME.” (MSHOME is the workgroup name we used (it is the Windows default name), but the main issue is to have a consistent workgroup name for all computers included on the LAN). The computer will automatically restart.
3.Once restarted, the computers should be able to ping each other. They can share files in the Shared Documents folder (available through My Network Places).

Problem: Setting up P2P network between Win2000 and WinXP computers
Solution: We added the Win2000 server computer to the workgroup MSHOME. This enabled the computers in the new lab to file/print share with the server. We had to turn off the firewall that we had installed on the Win2000 server, ZoneAlarm, for this to work. The site coordinators know that we turned off the firewall; they will be looking into an alternative firewall or they will find a way to modify ZoneAlarm to enable file/print sharing. While we were working on this problem, Allie worked to network the Win2000 lab computers to the server. The labs are setup as two different workgroups. The WinXP computers are in the work group MSHOME and the Win2000 computers are in the workgroup WORKGROUP. Both work groups are able to file/print share with the server computer.

Problem: Setting up printer sharing between Win2000 and WinXP computers on the LAN
Solution: Once all of the computers were networked, we used the Add Printer wizard to add the one HP printer (which is hosted by the Win2000 server) as the default printer for all computers. We installed the HP printer drivers in Urbana, so the computers were able to print as soon as we ran the wizard.

Problem: The LAN would sometimes not connect properly
Solution: There really wasn not a solution; the Mt.Calvary site coordinators thought they might have some electrical issues from a previous storm. When the air conditioner kicked in, the LAN would sometimes disconnect. After a few minutes, it would reconnect and be fine.

Security

Problem: Securing the computers against viruses, spyware, and other security concerns
Solution: For anti-spyware protection, we added Ad-Aware to all of the computers. Mt.Calvary received Norton anti-virus software, but they had us install it on the second site visit, rather than sending it to us. For firewall protection, we added ZoneAlarm to the computer running Win2000. All of the WinXP computers have a Windows firewall, which we turned on. We also installed all critical updates for the OS.

We also set up separate user accounts with limited/non-adminstrative privileges. All administrative accounts are password protected. The guest account was disabled and its name and description were deleted. For the administrative account automatically made by Windows, we disabled it, renamed it, erased its description, and kept it password protected. (A separate admin account is still available). These functions were done through the Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Computer Management – Local Users and Groups – Users. Once in the Users folders, we could easily rename and delete accounts.

Site communication

Problem: The people from Mt.Calvary only met Saturdays, so communication from them could take up to a week. Initially, this was problematic because we were unsure if they were buying and sending WinXP. We also needed additional information on the site, like the router model.
Solution: We began calling them on Saturdays, since we knew they would be meeting. Email communication from them also increased as soon as they received WinXP, so our questions were answered more quickly.

Problem: Mt.Calvary wanted WinXP installed on the computers, but our group did not actually receive the software until April 13.
Solution: Initially, we started installing Win98 in case we didn’t receive XP in time, but once we had XP, we came in outside of lab time in order to get the OS and software installed.

Problem: Since the Mt.Calvary lab is run by volunteers, they did ask some questions that had been answered in our first site visit. For example, they wanted to know if monitors and other hardware are included and our progress on finding appropriate software.
Solution: Through emails and phone calls, we kept them updated on what they would be receiving.