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CD drives
1:32 PM EST 12/29/04
We've had several patrons ask recently about using our CD drives to at least view, if not work on, documents. Currently, our drives only read, and I'm thinking of adding a shortcut like the floppy drive icon to the desktop for viewing documents on CD (we use the Gates Secutiry Tool to lock things down). Does anyone have experience with this?
Does anyone have CD-R drives in public PCs? Have you run into security or other issues?
Thanks for any feedback!!
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Re: CD drives
4:20 PM EST 12/29/04
as a reply to Allison Midgley.
In terms of how to do it:
If you are using the Security Tool (non-Gates granted pc), the CD drive should be visible in the secure profile when you open My Computer.
To get an icon on the desktop, first remove the security restrictions.
Then log on as the user and open My Computer.
Right-click on the CD drive and choose Send To - Desktop.
Close the window and move the CD drive icon to wherever you want it to be.
Go back and replace the restrictions.
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Re: CD drives
5:49 PM EST 2/4/05
as a reply to Dale Musselman.
I'm using Gates computers running NT. Is there a way to add the CD drive to the "My Computer" listing for the public? I've had a lot of patrons come in with files burned to a CD and they just want to access the files to print.
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CD-RWs
3:23 PM EST 2/7/05
as a reply to Allison Midgley.
Allison:
Last week I began installing CD-RW drives to our Gates Computers. The floppy drives have become so unreliable that we needed to give patrons another media storage option. We bought a spindle of CD-RW discs and a package of 50 jewel cases and will sell a disc in a jewel case for $1.00. I enlisted our local "hacker" to see if he could "do something he shouldn't" with the Nero Burning software that came with the CD-RW drive and happily for us and unhappily for him, he couldn't do us wrong. So I am pleased with the CD-RW drives.
Soon we will also offer USB drives for sale in the library, but I am trying to find a source for less than $10 a piece. The industry seems to be making the $10 price a benchmark and just adding more capacity to the USB drive for the price, instead of dropping the price for 8MB or 16 MB. Most of our patrons can't afford the $10 so that is why we decided to put in CD writeable drives.
Bobbie
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Re: CD drives
6:02 PM EST 2/7/05
as a reply to Chris Ely.
Chris-
For any of the older NT models, you should only need to connect the CD-ROM drive and it should show up. They originally came with the power and/or data cables unplugged.
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Re: CD drives
11:43 AM EST 2/8/05
as a reply to Dale Musselman.
I connected the CD-ROM drives years ago, but it only shows up when I log in as admin.
When logged in as "all" My Computer shows A:, Scheduled Tasks, and Web Folders. From within a program, such as Word, it shows more options, but still no CD-ROM drive.
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Re: CD-RWs
2:53 AM EST 2/9/05
as a reply to Bobbie Chapman.
OK, this is partly from memory, if it doesn't work exactly as I describe, here is the idea:
The policy is enabling the "NoDrives" value in the reg key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
It uses a hex value to determine which drives to hide.
A value of 67108863 would hide all drives
A value of 67108862 shows just the A drive.
To show A and another drive you would subtract the value for that drive from 67108862.
The value for D is 8 - so 67108854
The value for E is 16 - so 67108846
The value for H is 128 - so 67108734
You can find more detail about this generally doing a Google search.
-------------------------------
On an NT Gates standalone:
You are going to need to edit the file common.adm - this is the policy template which defines the options you see in policy editor.
Browse to: C:\Winnt\inf\common.adm
Back this file up somewhere.
Open the file with Notepad and search for HideDrives.
You should see "VALUEON NUMERIC 67108862"
Change that number to the number above that corresponds to showing your CD drive letter (should be one of those three).
Save the file.
Go to Administrative Tools and open System Policy Editor
Click Options on the menu bar, and select Policy Template. The Policy Template Options dialog box appears.
Select C:\WINNT\INF\Common.adm, and click OK.
Click File on the menu bar, and select C:\policy\ntconfig.pol.
Double-click the all icon. The Properties dialog box appears.
Double-click the word Shell. The item expands, revealing subfolders.
Double-click Restrictions.
Select the Hide drives in My Computer box, and click OK (may already be checked).
Repeat Steps for each remaining public profile. Do not change Default User, Default Computer, or staff.
Click File on the menu bar, and select Save.
Close System Policy Editor.
Log off exec, and log on as all.
For multiple pc's, you can just copy the common.adm file you edited from the first computer, and then repeat the steps with Policy Editor.
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Re: CD-RWs
5:36 PM EST 2/18/05
as a reply to Dale Musselman.
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
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Re: CD drives
4:37 PM EDT 8/16/07
as a reply to Allison Midgley.
This question was posted in the Rural Discussions by guswalk on 8.16.07...any suggestions?
"Recently, some of our patrons have come into the library with CD's that they would like to use on the library computers.
I have the computers set up so the hard drive is locked and the CD drive is unlocked.
However, they still cannot access their CD's without unlocking the entire computer.
As you cna imagine I do not like doing this because this leaves the entire system open for someone to goof up.
Any suggestions on whatr setting I have to change to enable them to use their CD's without unlocking the entire computer?
Thanks."
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Re: CD drives
5:08 PM EDT 8/16/07
as a reply to Jennifer Peterson.
(copying my reply from original forum)
So, it sounds like you are saying that when you have the lock set to DVD Unlocked/Hard Drive Locked, the DVD drive still isn't getting any power - you can't open it up, no lights, etc. But if you go to completely Unlocked, that you can now open the drive.
Is that correct? And if so, are you making sure to completely shut down the computer before switching to DVD Unlocked/Hard Drive Locked? In order to turn off an on the DVD, you need to completely shut down when you change the lock.
If you are doing all that, and the lock is just not working correctly, you could either try contacting Centurion Technology, who made the Centurion Guard (they are under lifetime warranty through CT - www.centuriontech.com), or if you don't need to ever lock the DVD, it might be easier to just bypass the CG so that the DVD drive is always on.
If you want to try the second option let me know, I can give you instructions for how to do it. It does involve opening the case, but it is pretty simple.
Dale
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