Associate
- Joined
- 5 Sep 2003
- Posts
- 760
- Location
- Cardiff Geordie
I work in an office where my computer is basically unusable because of the way it's set up by our admins. I know this is pretty much the case in any office in any workplace in the world, so I'm wondering if any sites have posted any articles featuring 'tips' on how to get the most out of the system.
When I say 'unusable', I'm really only talking about little things. For instance, I can use word processing and office programs, photo editing apps, browse the internet etc, pretty much everything I should be doing in work. But then there's a bunch of little stuff that's restricted or set up in a way that cripples my machine and prevents me from setting it up in the way I want it. Alright, they probably don't want people playing Duke Nukem 3D during work hours, and I respect that, but the measures they've gone to to ensure that the machines are used for work purposes only (and that 'idiot' users aren't able to download trojans etc.) are so stringent that they're actually making the computers less user-friendly and therefore inhibiting workflow.
For instance, I can't install the latest version of Firefox, because I don't have 'permissions' to install programs. This means that I have to use IE which, in addition to being a slightly inferior browser in my opinion, also means I can't use any of my favourite addons, like bookmark-synchronising or download-managers...). I've tried to install the 'portable version' which does seem to get me past the 'insufficient permissions' problem, but still doesn't seem to perform quite as well as the regular version of Firefox.
Another example of things 'crippling' my machine is that it doesn't seem to save any of my settings. I can arrange things how I want them, change folder view/start menu options etc, but when I restart the system, everything's back to how it was, as if the system was re-formatting to a pre-defined image of the OS every time it's rebooted...
Then there's issues like not being able to delete icons I don't use from my desktop, or the system not saving the desktop shortcuts I have made, or not being able to view any Flash websites properly due to an old version of Flash which it won't let me upgrade....the list goes on!
I'm SURE I'm not alone in this issue, and there's probably little to nothing I can do to improve my situation (save bringing my Macbook to work with me every day...but then I can't leave it at home, downloading tv shows for me to watch that evening as our network has blocked all of the necessary ports......
), but if anyone has ANY suggestions as to some 'workarounds' or fixes to problems I'm experiencing, please let me know! 
When I say 'unusable', I'm really only talking about little things. For instance, I can use word processing and office programs, photo editing apps, browse the internet etc, pretty much everything I should be doing in work. But then there's a bunch of little stuff that's restricted or set up in a way that cripples my machine and prevents me from setting it up in the way I want it. Alright, they probably don't want people playing Duke Nukem 3D during work hours, and I respect that, but the measures they've gone to to ensure that the machines are used for work purposes only (and that 'idiot' users aren't able to download trojans etc.) are so stringent that they're actually making the computers less user-friendly and therefore inhibiting workflow.
For instance, I can't install the latest version of Firefox, because I don't have 'permissions' to install programs. This means that I have to use IE which, in addition to being a slightly inferior browser in my opinion, also means I can't use any of my favourite addons, like bookmark-synchronising or download-managers...). I've tried to install the 'portable version' which does seem to get me past the 'insufficient permissions' problem, but still doesn't seem to perform quite as well as the regular version of Firefox.
Another example of things 'crippling' my machine is that it doesn't seem to save any of my settings. I can arrange things how I want them, change folder view/start menu options etc, but when I restart the system, everything's back to how it was, as if the system was re-formatting to a pre-defined image of the OS every time it's rebooted...
Then there's issues like not being able to delete icons I don't use from my desktop, or the system not saving the desktop shortcuts I have made, or not being able to view any Flash websites properly due to an old version of Flash which it won't let me upgrade....the list goes on!
I'm SURE I'm not alone in this issue, and there's probably little to nothing I can do to improve my situation (save bringing my Macbook to work with me every day...but then I can't leave it at home, downloading tv shows for me to watch that evening as our network has blocked all of the necessary ports......
), but if anyone has ANY suggestions as to some 'workarounds' or fixes to problems I'm experiencing, please let me know!
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