Network Laser Printers

[P00DLE]

I look after a small network approx 10 pcs and 6 printers.

they have a network printer a samsung 4500 that has an interesting issue after reseting the printer i can print a few test documents and then after about 3 page or 1/2 hour anything you send to it from anywhere on the network or local USB connection just sticks in the queue and refuses to print? any ideas it is driving me mad.

If i need to replace it what network printer would you advise for under £250 im drawn towards a HP

 

[P00DLE]

the problem persists i think that the internal memory is corrupted. Looks like they are going to get another sizable bill on top of the £500+ for last weeks problems.

 

[Satancom]

Memory problems sound likely, or some other corruption on the software. I would go towards HP an all, get something similar to the 4000 series, awsome little printers they were!

 

[shanno_2k]

Are you not coverd under maintenance contract,Fair play if you have had a power cut charge yes but for resetting it that must be down to faulty equipment


shanno

 

[P00DLE]

Are you not coverd under maintenance contract,Fair play if you have had a power cut charge yes but for resetting it that must be down to faulty equipment


shanno

there is no contract as of yet this isnt my main job just a sideline, I was asked in after a large company wanted a maintainance contract and £65 per hour to assist them.
the main issue has been fixing and debugging the ten pcs which still isnt complete after somone else was allowed to sort a problem over christmas, in a few hours he has managed to uninstall all my anti spyware AV and security software. put the god awful norton security suite on them all plus the server and trashed all the security policies. all users have been upgraded to full admin and the file access settings are shot.

im damn glad that the server is due to be replaced in the next few months and then noone but me and one other trusted person will have admin users and access to the server.

 

[Satancom]

all users have been upgraded to full admin and the file access settings are shot.

im damn glad that the server is due to be replaced in the next few months and then noone but me and one other trusted person will have admin users and access to the server.

Yeah but if you give all users admin rights then a lot of problems go away and they can install their own software (was told this once)

I hate giving laptop users power user rights cos they still end up stuffing things up, but they need it sometimes if they are off site and need to be talked though something! Which sux!

 

[adrianandkate]

What a pair of control freaks. Nothing worse than systems guys not letting people have sufficient access (I'm not talking about rights here just access).

Anyway seriously, we had HP network printers, about 6 or 7 people to a printer. Non stop printing 10 hours a day, often up to 14. Documents of between 10 and 100 pages average. Seriously abused printers but withstood pretty well in retrospect.

Unless they have deteriorated hugely I too would go for HP. How much do these people use the printer? I would advise best spec for money (not necessarily the most sophisticated though).

Kate

 

[P00DLE]

Yeah but if you give all users admin rights then a lot of problems go away and they can install their own software (was told this once)

I hate giving laptop users power user rights cos they still end up stuffing things up, but they need it sometimes if they are off site and need to be talked though something! Which sux!

you forgot the most important security measure, all passwords must match the username exactly. they cant remember 1 6 or 8 digit code when i worked for a hosting company i could remember the passwords of the 30 most common servers i used couldnt remember them all as there were 750 and they were 10 digit alpa numeric.

the new guy who started last week asked if he could install the music software for his IPOD when i went to input the password to let it install he was wanting to download music with limewire not a chance in hell.

 

[Satancom]

Well after a slight restructure in management we were given a lot more authority. First thing we did was impliment password complexity and set expirey dates. Constantly the same users phone me every few weeks asking why their new password wont work, even though its the same as their last!

With regards to being a control freak, im responsible for the network, so im going to be carefull what people can do.. I wouldn't be doing my job right if they didn't have the access they required Its taken a year but i think we got there (even made room for a small quake serve )

 

[adrianandkate]

With regards to being a control freak, im responsible for the network, so im going to be carefull what people can do.. I wouldn't be doing my job right if they didn't have the access they required Its taken a year but i think we got there (even made room for a small quake serve )

I did do so you weren't meant to take it personally. I still have vivid memories of sitting in an office after 8pm getting reports ready for the day after and the computer went down, and there was no-one in IT to fix it. Didn't want chief exec on my back at 8am if report not on his desk...... If someone implements an arbitrary 8pm cut off point it would be helpful to inform colleagues and ask if they intend to work after then.

Similarly the macho culture around computers was such a bore, I am sure it doesn't happen with nice guys like you (Adrian's words not mine ). We did get some really good IT staff after a while (really good = doing what I wanted). Anyway now I am my own IT manager. ...

 

[Satancom]

I still have vivid memories of sitting in an office after 8pm getting reports ready for the day after and the computer went down, and there was no-one in IT to fix it. Didn't want chief exec on my back at 8am if report not on his desk...

Similarly the macho culture around computers was such a bore, I am sure it doesn't happen with nice guys like you (Adrian's words not mine ). We did get some really good IT staff after a while (really good = doing what I wanted). Anyway now I am my own IT manager. ...

Heh we don't get that luxury.. If we have planned maintinance we notify people, if something goes down out of our hours we are on call. and many a time I have had to go into work to sort something out, see we are the good guys Adrian must be a good judge of character

Just find nothing as frustrating as somone telling you that you do a crap job and their machine is always playing up.. and you point out their password isn't working cos caps lock is on, their usb mouse isn't working cos its plugged into the netowrk port and finaly the pc just died cos they unplugged it to put a fan heater in! Yes so far thats all happened this year!

 

[P00DLE]

Yep i guess you could say im a control freak.

I have inherited this network from a previous system admin who evidently didnt have a clue,

4 of the pcs running xp home so not correctly connected to the domain
2 network printers but still an inkjet on every desk?
the server has a backup need of 24gig and the tape drive was 4gig
the whole network was wireless and unsecured
nothing updated ever
no security setup at all

gradually over a year i have got this as secure as i can and hardwired the whole network, when i first started i scanned every PC and one of the designers had a very dubious internet history 20,000 plus viri and 2,000 plus spyware items all other systems had several viri etc.

Just when I thought it was sorted ready to upgrade the server some idiot comes in and sets me back several weeks and cost them a fortune in time and lost productivity.

 

[shanno_2k]

If any of you IT guys n gals are looking for a job in the Reading area send me a pm

shanno

 

[P00DLE]

always looking for another job but the commute would be a little too far for me i think

 

[Satancom]

Cheers shanno.. But as with poodle the commute would kill me..

 

[RKK]

I am looking but i dont think you could afford me!!!!