Missing Response Tab in SMART Notebook

We installed SMART Notebook 11 on teacher laptops this past fall.  One of our teachers wanted to start using the Response system recently and installed it from the CD.  The software installed, but the Response tab did not show up in Notebook.  I uninstalled Response and installed the newer version (11).  Issue solved, the Response tab showed up when the Response clickers were connected after that.

Finding that MAC Address

Blocking devices by MAC address again in order to preserve sanity.  Some people, however, need access for their device.  A quick guide to finding those MAC addresses:

Original Kindle  (from technipages)

1. From the Home screen, press Menu
2. Select Settings
3. The Wi-Fi MAC Address is located toward the bottom of the screen in the Device Info section

Kindle Fire (from Overton County Schools)

1. From the home screen, tap on “Settings” in the top right corner
2. Tap on “More”
3. Tap on “Device” in the “Settings” Page
4. MAC address is listed as “Wi Fi Mac Address”

iPad (from iPad to PC)

1. Select the settings icon
2. Tap “General” and then “About”
3. The MAC address is listed as “Wi-Fi Address” (format xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)

Windows (from custhelp.com)

Windows 7 / Vista

1. Click the Wireless Network Connection icon from within your system tray (near the clock).
2. Select Network and Sharing Center.
3. Select View status.
4. Select Details.
5. The MAC address is listed as Physical Address:

Windows XP/2000

1. Click on Start and click on Network Connections on the right side of the menu
2. Double-click on Local Area Connection (to find the MAC address of wired adapter) or Double-click on Wireless Adapter (to find the MAC address of the wireless adapter), or if you have a wireles connection icon in your system tray you can double-click on it!
3. Click on the “Support” tab
4. Click on “Details”
5. The MAC address is the Physical Address (format is xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx)

Failed to connect to a windows service

Don’t know why, but I think we might be seeing this error a few more times.  I was just about to give in to starting with a fresh install (one of the luxuries of working with lab computers) when I found a workable solution.  Seems this error might be related to updates that go wrong, or a user profile that is screwy.  The solution in this case was to (make a backup first) delete the group policy key out of the registry and recreate it.  I found wonderful instructions in narenxp’s post at bleepingcomputer. The permissions on the registry key needed to be changed in order to allow it to be deleted, as noted by JFchrist.

As a further note, if you are unable or unwilling to download the registry fix posted by narenxp, you could create this by exporting the key from a healthy registry from another computer.  The key is located in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\gpsvc.

I did a little more checking on narenxp’s registry fix file and found two changes on the laptop I ran it on.  The changes were to “ImagePath”, changing it from “%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k GPSvcGroup” to “%systemroot%\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs”.  Unfortunately, I am not sure what the significance of this is.  The other change was in “Type”, changing it from “0x10” ( A Win32 program that can be started), to “0x20 ” (A Win32 service that can share a process with other Win32 services).

MAC Address Filtering on Server 2003

I was just looking at one of my posts from last March about mobile lab connectivity. One thing I can add is that we set our lab laptops so that Windows cannot turn off the wireless. This way students are less likely to lose their network connection once they get one. We have also greatly increased the number of access points in the buildings (which has led to new issues with wireless interference and channel selection).

I wanted to add the link for MAC address filtering on Server 2003. Despite doubling the number of addresses available, we have again started to run out occasionally at one location. Blocking DHCP access to non district computers using MS Callout Filter is discussed here.  Found the download and instructions here on Mark M Manning’s blog. Thanks Mark!

64-bit Windows Registry, SMART Board Tools

After spending some time trying to find where SMART Board Tools keeps getting started, I learned that 64-bit Windows has separate areas in the registry for 32-bit and 64-bit applications.  I tracked down the entry to start SMART Board Tools in  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Run.  This is the location for 32 bit apps (or 32-bit versions of apps) running on a 64-bit system.