WebJunction

Applicability

The information in this document applies to all computers granted through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's US Library Program, the Gates Center for Technology Access, or the Technology Resource Institute.

Why Do This?

The computers granted to libraries in the US and Canada as well as Native American locations between 1998 and 2003 have very specific and unique software configurations and security designed to enhance their intended use as public access computers. Because of this, special procedures and instructions have been developed for the administration of these computers.

The instructions found under the Gates Foundation Computers topic are intended for use solely with these computers. Following them on a computer not received through a Gates grant can result in unpredictable and possibly damaging results. If you are not sure you are working on such a computer, follow these instructions to verify.

Before You Begin

You will need an administrative password.

Instructions

First verify that the hardware is consistent with granted computers. All Gates granted computers are Gateway brand. If it is not a Gateway computer, it was not a Gates PC.

All Gates Library computers either use Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP as their operating system.

All English language Gates Library shipped with public access accounts named "all," "child," and "bigprint," as well as some others that vary from model to model. Spanish Gates Library computers use accounts called "todos," "jovennes," and "grande."

All Gates library computers have an administrative account. This account is usually named "exec." Some servers use "webexec" as the account name. Some network clients have a local administrative account called "wsexec." The administrative account for computers granted to Alabama libraries is called "template."

To find the version.txt file included on each computer

1. Log on to the computer as exec or other administrative account.

2. Right-click on the My Computer icon found on the desktop and choose Explore.

3. In the left-hand pane, click on My Computer so that you see the computer's drives displayed in the right pane.

4. If there is a D: drive that is not a CD-ROM drive, double-click on it. There should now be a folder named Utilities displayed in the right-hand pane, toward the bottom of the list of folders. If so, skip to step 7.

5. If you could not find a Utilities folder on the D: drive, double-click on the E: drive. There should now be a folder named Utilities displayed in the right-hand pane, toward the bottom of the list of folders. If so, skip to step 7.

6. If you could not find a Utilities folder on either the D: or E: drives, you may not be working on a Gates granted computer. Skip to the To Verify User Accounts section for your operating system.

7. Double-click on the Utilities folder.

8. Double-click on the Model folder.

9. You should see one file named version.txt (on a few models it is named model.txt). Double-click on it. Windows Notepad opens.

10. In the text file you should see a Part and/or Image number that begins with either TRI (Windows NT models) or BMG (Windows 2000/XP). There are some Windows 2000 models with no part number; these are described as Upgraded Image and contain a date of October 7, 2002.

11. If this is not consistent with your computer, or you wish further verification, continue to one of the next two sections.

To verify the User Accounts on a Windows NT computer

1. Log on as exec or other administrative account.

2. Click on Start>Programs>Administrative Tools>User Manager.

3. In User Manager, the top pane lists the user accounts on the computer. All Gates Library computers should have accounts called tri-access and qa-access among others.

To verify the User Accounts on a Windows 2000 or XP computer

1. Log on as exec or other administrative account.

2. Right-click on the My Computer icon and choose Manage.

3. In the left pane, double-click Local Users and Groups and then click on Users.

4. In the right pane is a list of the accounts on the computer. All Gates Library computers should have accounts called tri-access and qa-access among others.

Interpreting the results

If your findings were inconsistent with the description on anticipated findings, you likely have a computer that is either not a Gates Library computer at all, or else one that has been altered to such an extent that you should not follow any instructions intended for the Gates Library computers.

If you suspect that previous staff have altered a Gates Library computer and you wish to return it to it's original Gates Library image, and you still have a current Support Agreement, you may contact Technical Support for assistance