[WEB4LIB] Weird PC/WinU/WinSelect problem...

[Chris Gray]

Even in CASUAL security mode, WinU is still doing regular security checks.
You can reduce the frequency of these checks in the System Setup screen.
It sounds like WinU is trying to take center stage but getting stuck
somehow.

Another thing worth trying is clearing out the temporary file locations
(Netscape cache directory and the Windows temp directory) and
defragmenting the hard drive.  It's been our experience that WinU is
sensitive to messy drives and drives exposed to public use of Netscape get
very messy.

But your problem may be hardware related rather than software related.  We
had a similar sounding problem when we first put out WinU controlled
Pentium 233 workstations.  The workstation would seem to be fine for a
while and then start freezing and/or corrupting video memory and/or losing
network connectivity.  It turned out that the motherboard memory
management was not compatible with having the ethernet card in the first
slot:  move it to the second slot, problem disappears. 

One tool I've found helpful for tracking down similar problems is PrcView
which is available free from:

http://www.teamcti.com/pview/

It will give you information about every process that is running under
Windows that is normally hidden from the view of mere mortals.  If your
problem is a conflict behind the scenes or overly zealous security
settings this might pinpoint it for you.

Chris Gray
Library Systems
University of Waterloo

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, James Cayz wrote:

> All,
> 
> I am hoping that someone out here in web4lib land has seen this, and can
> point me in the correct direction for a fix.
> 
> I am running PCs with Windows 95 / 98, Netscape Nav Standalone 4.05, WinU
> 4.3C, and WinSelect Kiosk and Policy 3.31 . 
> 
> WinSelect K & P is configured to disallow access to the desktop, icons, A:
> and C: drive, as well as many functions within Netscape (Security, Print
> Setup).
> 
> WinU is set to run in CASUAL security mode, no window control, no file
> control, no catching of any keys, but simply as a "menu" to launch
> Netscape, and warn / time it out after 30 minutes.
> 
> The problem is that randomly, this combination produces a locked machine
> that is:
> 1) in Netscape, usually with more than enough time left (I've seen it
>    happen 2 minutes into a 30 minute session),
> 2) a mouse pointer that moves, but doesn't change when rolled over links,
> 3) dead keyboard (including Control-Alt-Delete)
> 4) the outline of the 5 WinU buttons superimposed on the Netscape screen.
> 
> Has anyone here ran into this in "Real Life"?  I think it is strangly
> humorous to have an alpha-test machine that I have personally beat upon
> and tested with for a LONG time, and within 2 days of me opening it up to
> the public, this happens...  And, a staff person saw it happen, and said
> the user wasn't even touching the computer at the time!!!!
> 
> Any advice is greatly appreciated.  I _have_ already contacted Technical
> Supports for both WinU and WinSelect, and am trying to isolate which
> program (if not the combination) is causing the problem, but removing 1/2
> of the security is problematic in keeping the PCs secure.  And since it is
> random.....
> 
> Thank You.
> 
> James Cayz
> 
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> | James Cayz  #  cayz at lib.de.us #  DelAWARE homepage: http://www.lib.de.us |
> | Network Processing Administrator #  302-739-4748 x130 # Fax 302-739-6948 |
> | Delaware Division of Libraries # 43 S. DuPont Hwy / Dover, DE 19901-7430 |
> +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
> 
>