Help me get a free vacation!

[MacGyver]

No, this isn't another one of those silly radio contests. Read on:

My wife works in a large dental practise with many employees. Their computer system consists of a Windows 2000 Server and 16 terminals running Windows 2000 Workstation. They use Able-dent software for scheduling and patient management. The Able-dent database runs on the server, and each workstation has the Able-dent client software to access the database.

The problem they are having is that they cannot get a reliable backup each and every night. The reason is that one or two individuals forget to log off at night, and the backup won't run because the Able-dent database is still open courtesy of one of those still-logged-on workstations. Their $100 an hour computer technicians have no solution for this problem, so I was talking about some possible solutions with my wife. The one I really had my eye on was some freeware called Sleepy which will automatically force the machine to log-off the current user and either shut down entirely or reboot the machine at a specified time each day (rebooting would be their preference so each workstation is ready for use the next day). The Sleepy software seems to be bulletproof, protected with a password and it doesn't appear in the task list, so it cannot be easily defeated. Forcing the machine to shut down in this way also causes any open applications (like Word) to lose any unsaved work, however this should not be a problem with Able-dent since there is no saving of the database required on the client end, just open and close the client software. People will learn soon enough that if they are working on Word documents or the like, they had better save them properly before leaving the office if they don't want to lose them.

I also checked out the winexit.scr screen saver, however this is not what they want since logging people off during the middle of the day due to inactivity is not a viable option. That's why I looked at something which can be scheduled for a specific time each day.

Anyway, now on to the good part: When my wife's boss learned of this, he said that if we successfully implemented this and helped his backup run nightly, he would either give my wife a LARGE cash bonus or give us an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway somewhere. So there is a little more on the line here than just $100 an hour

I wanted to get your guys input on how you would deal with this situation before I submit any proposals.

Thanks, friends!

[emr]

Mac,

Can you not just kill the share with net share and reinstate once the backup is done? You can schedule batch files on the server. That's what I use to kick everyone off an Access database one of my clients.

I must be misunderstanding your post because I can't believe that techs charging $ 100 an hour won't have thought of this!

Am I being too simplistic?

emr

[MacGyver]

Hi emr,

I know, I think I will "suggest" that he find somebody else to do his computer work who are more capable. Not only that they are ripping him off; $100 an hour is excessive. Personally I have no experience with Windows 2000, but that didn't stop me from using Google to research a solution!

Using "Net share" might work, however I don't know anything about their computer systems or how their software works. I haven't touched their computer systems at all, so I only know what I do from what my wife has told me. I'm hoping to get a better look at it later this week.

[emr]

I can't see why it won't. The backup is failing because workstation are locking open files in the database. If you kill the share then they will lose the db connection thus freeing those files.

It certainly has been working well for me for months now at the site where I am using it.

Once you're on-site and can have a poke about you will have a better idea I'm sure.

If net share works and the holiday comes off I want a postcard though!!

emr

[Stalemate]

I was thinking something along the same lines as using the task scheduler, but on the workstations instead of breaking off the network shares.

I don't know how this particular DB system operates, but my experience of custom medical software (and it's ho-hum stabiltiy) would entice me to find another solution. These things are often so fragile that cutting off a network connection to shared files can provoke a corruption of the DB to the point of needing a full re-indexation.

I did find some more links to the famous "shutdown command line" that I've used on other systems in the past.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q317371
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/index.html
http://www.aumha.org/a/shutcut.php

This could also be of interest:
http://www.afreego.com/Categories/Ut...own/003836.php

And I also found this:

Automatically log off a user or shut down your machine. You can incorporate Rundll32 into your Windows Script Host (WSH) or command-shell scripts to log off the current user or shut down and restart the computer. The value in the command's last parameter controls the action that will occur: 0 performs a logoff, 1 performs a shutdown, 2 performs a reboot, 4 performs a forced shutdown, and 8 powers down the machine. The following example performs a logoff:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,
SHExitWindowsEx 0

You can pop that last one into a batch file or execute it from the command line (rundll32.exe shell32.dll, SHExitWindowsEx 0).

Bring back some pictures.

[Stalemate]

BTW, I don't know if investing a bit more money into this is a possibility for this client, but - depending on the backup software used - they could use an additional module for backing up active files (Open Files module from Backup Exec or ARCServe has it integrated now).

[Archangel42069]

Maybe I was dreaming (I tend to do that in classes) but I think I remember server having integrated time allowances - in other words, schedules for when users may access the network...? Would it not be easier to just use that to disable access to the network for everyone but administrators during backup times???

[thirdfey]

Why not xcopy? You can xcopy open files to another location where they can safely be backed up at incase someone still leaves workstation logged in. Its already there in Win2ks, just make a batch file and task shedule it.

Tony

[Outcoded]

Timer plugs

Next question?

[Pinnacle]

Originally posted by MacGyver
. . . Not only that they are ripping him off; $100 an hour is excessive. . .

I do not think $100 is excessive (especially in Canadian dollars) if you have a skilled technician. Of course in this case, these technicians seem to be missing the boat. I use to work for a company about five or so years ago that usually charged more than that even then. The salespeople sold us using the idea of better to pay one of our techs $100 per hour to get it right the first time, than $50 an hour for a less experienced tech to do trial and error till they got it right.

[ilovetheusers]

Originally posted by Archangel42069
Maybe I was dreaming (I tend to do that in classes) but I think I remember server having integrated time allowances - in other words, schedules for when users may access the network...? Would it not be easier to just use that to disable access to the network for everyone but administrators during backup times???

This is good and is free it it can be modified to work.

Under user manager you can set the users logon times so that they can only be logged on during certain times of the day. If the user remains on and does not log off their session does not end but stays active. There may be a setting in server manager that logs them off but I don't know (used to NT user manager which does not).

[emr]

Originally posted by Archangel42069
Maybe I was dreaming (I tend to do that in classes) but I think I remember server having integrated time allowances - in other words, schedules for when users may access the network...? Would it not be easier to just use that to disable access to the network for everyone but administrators during backup times???

I tried this with an Access database.

Couldn't get it too work. The users were logged off but they still maintained their connection to the db.

Maybe you will have better luck?

As to logging off the users automatically, if you are forcing the log-off, and therefore the forced shut-down of the db app I would think that is just as bad as killing the network share.

emr