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Thread ID: 37419 2003-09-07 00:39:00 Sharing a browser over a network tomb (4522) Press F1
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173475 2003-09-07 00:39:00 I am currently sharing NScape 408 from a network drive over a number of school networks. This has the advantage of being able to turn internet access on and off as required and having a fixed profile that users cannot change. NS408 also doesn't have mail or composer addons. We use Win9x and XP Pro.

I have been looking for something to update to from NS408, and have tried Opera, FireBird and NS7 but, as far as I can tell, none of them are able to share the same protected profile from the server.

I would appreciate some suggestions.
tomb (4522)
173476 2003-09-07 09:48:00 MozillaFirebird simply asks if you want to use another Profile iirc, if you've got more than one instance open!?!

Is that what you're after?
Chilling_Silently (228)
173477 2003-09-07 10:25:00 Why don't you run a simple proxy server on the server. That would let you turn on/off the internet access as it is needed, and also let you track students who are visiting objectionable sites. somebody (208)
173478 2003-09-07 10:33:00 If the (network) folder that Firebird is running in is Read Only, the programme crashes when you include the default profile in the network folder. It will run if the profile is on the user's PC, but that defeats the purpose of having a standard, unchangeable profile. tomb (4522)
173479 2003-09-07 10:37:00 I already run a proxy, with authentication, filtering and monitoring.
However this does not stop someone using the internet, it simply monitors what they do. I want to be able to allow internet access to selected groups of users at selected times, and the best way I have found to do this is to disable IE on the local PC and run a browser (NS408 at the moment), from a network drive, so that access to the browser can be controlled.
tomb (4522)
173480 2003-09-07 20:50:00 I have seen a school use a proxy server setup, with a web-based interface to block internet access off to specific IP blocks.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the proxy server is a Linux based machine running Squid (i'm not too familiar with Linux software) and some kind of C based script to control the blocking/unlocking.
somebody (208)
173481 2003-09-07 20:50:00 But fair enough - sharing a browser is probably easier to do. somebody (208)
173482 2003-09-08 04:03:00 Using DHCP means that blocking a section of IP addresses is not really practical. tomb (4522)
173483 2003-09-08 05:10:00 How many PC's are running? Why not specify your IP's if its not too onerous a task .

I'm sure there is a keylogger/spyware program out there that will allow you to block access per machine remotely . You probably wont get it free though . Surely there are funded sources of such apps as I guess it is a common problem in schools .

Cheers Murray P
Murray P (44)
173484 2003-09-08 06:59:00 There are over 150 PCs on the network . Manual assignment of IP addresses is not a practical option .

In my initial problem description my need was to block users and groups of users, not computers . ie a staff member is OK to access, but not a student, on the same PC
tomb (4522)
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