Auto-Login for PACs

[Riesner, Giles W.]

Alison Pruntel asked:

      We will be implementing Deep Freeze on our PACs in the coming months. We will be having the machines reboot in between sessions to ensure that the PCs are truly restored to a clean system. However, we are looking for a way
to avoid having staff have to log the machines in each time/in between the sessions. Anyone have an auto-login
process in place to address this? I am aware of the "control userpasswords2" utility, which is put in place
before freezing the machine, but looking for some advice on how to best do this.

We've never really bothered much with auto-login, though it can be done easily enough in Windows relatively
easily via a couple of entries in the registry or via group policies. Given my choice, I'd do the reg hack because it's
much easier than dealing with the GPO's (Group Policy Objects) for a limited set of machines. Though it would have
to be done at each individual PC, that can be done by batch files or pushes.

A number of the local public libraries around here use automated PC reservation systems and when using them you
just have your patrons login instead (often with their library card  number), which can avoid this issue totally. Some of
the systems will interconnect with your library system to authenticate against it (I think using the SIP protocol). I know
that this can be done with III's Millennium (and probably Sierra) system.

Deep Freeze is great, but if you and your patrons are new to such systems it takes a little getting used to. We've
used a number of these over the years (Fortress, Centurion Guard/Drive Shield and now Deep Freeze). They're
great but patrons have to get used to saving their documents to a flash drive, their email or a cloud based service
such as Google Drive, SkyDrive or Drop Box. Documents are GONE as soon as the PC is restarted (not logged off) or
shut down.  A power  failure (even someone kicking a plug out) wipes them for good and always and there is NO
retrieving it. When we moved up to Windows 7 on our Public PCs our students' names started appearing on the
folder formerly shown as "My Documents" and they ASSUMED that meant it was being stored somewhere on the
network - not so.  I put together a  one pager called "Where are my Files" that I can send if you want it.

Hope this helps.


Giles W. Riesner, Jr. | Lead Library Technician , Library Technology
The Community College of Baltimore County   | 800 South Rolling Road | Catonsville, MD 21228 USA
Phone:  1-443-840-2736 | Fax: 1-410-455-6436 | Email:  griesner at ccbcmd.edu
CCBC. The incredible value of education.







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2013-04-10
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