Client : Using Disk Protection Solutions

Client : using disk protection solutions 292 Trish Mullis Tue, May 5, 2020 Computer Reservations - PC Reservation®, Public Printing 84 Many customer’s prefer to use Disk Protection solutions on their Client PC’s to ensure Patron Privacy and to protect the PC’s from actions taken by a user during a PC Reservation session. Disk Protection solutions commonly used in libraries include Farconics DeepFreeze, Reboot Restore Rx, HDD Sherrif, Reborn cards, and many more. Microsoft’s latest Unified Write Filter (UWF) is an optional Windows 10 feature that is available in Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education editions with Version 1803 and above - this replaces their previous Steady State (Windows XP), Windows 7 Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) and File Based Write Filter (FBWF). Refer to Adding the exceptions in Unified Write Filter (UWF) and PC Reservation Client failing to start, showing offline status or getting stuck on the "Please wait while the system prepares for use" (purple screen) for additional steps needed. Many of the Disk Protection solutions provide functionality to setup file or folder exceptions/exclusions - these are files or folders that are exempt from the disk protection and remain permanently writeable to the disk. Some solutions also allow Windows Registry key exemptions/exclusions. We recommend to setup exceptions/exclusions to ensure that PC Reservation, LPT:One and EnvisionWare System Monitor logs are maintained for support troubleshooting purposes. The exemptions/exclusions should be created for all the following log folders (which are for the latest version of PC Reservation and LPT One - if you are on older versions the log folders may be in a different path) : C:\ProgramData\EnvisionWare\LPTOne\lptclient\logs C:\ProgramData\EnvisionWare\PC Reservation\Client Module\logs C:\ProgramData\EnvisionWare\System Monitor\logs Note: You should always run the Client Module(s) and have them successfully connect to the Management Service/Job Queue Engine while logged in with both Admin Privileges and with User Privileges. Ensure that the Client(s) are fully functional before enabling the Disk Protection. If you plan to use the Client Module auto-update functionality in PC Reservation and/or LPT:One for future upgrades it is also advisable to exempt the whole EnvisionWare folders but it does increase the risk of virus/trojan/malware infection of the EnvisionWare EXE files - you should only do this if you also implement a good Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware solution that is kept up to date. If you exempt the whole folder then you no longer need the exemptions above for specific log folders. The recommended exemptions are: "C:\ProgramData\EnvisionWare" folder "C:\Program Files\Envisionware" folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\EnvisionWare" folder "C:\Windows\System32\spool" folder 1/3 Powered by PHPKB (Knowledge Base Software) "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\Print" Registry key" Note: EnvisionWare does not provide support for these 3rd Party Disk Protection Solutions and any information is given only as guide. You should seek Support from your Disk Protection Solution Provider/Vendor. Adding the exceptions in Unified Write Filter (UWF) Exceptions for the EnvisionWare folders can be added in the UWF with the following commands which must be run with admin privileges: uwfmgr.exe file add-exclusion "C:\ProgramData\EnvisionWare" uwfmgr.exe file add-exclusion "C:\Program Files (x86)\EnvisionWare" uwfmgr.exe file add-exclusion "C:\Windows\System32\spool" uwfmgr.exe registry add-exclusion "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\Print" uwfmgr.exe registry add-exclusion "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\Print\Printers" PC Reservation Client failing to start, showing offline status or getting stuck on the "Please wait while the system prepares for use" (purple screen) It has been seen on some systems using the Microsoft Windows 10 Unified Write Filter (UWF) and some versions of DeepFreeze that the PC Reservation Client Data folder gets corrupted while disk protection is enabled. The workaround is to run the latest PC Reservation Client Module version (check for available hotfixes) and to delete the following folders before enabling the disk protection. This includes both when enabling protection manually (by enabling protection in UWF or freezing in DeepFreeze) or when scheduled Maintenance/Servicing modes are run. In UWF you can script to delete the folder as the last task before exiting the Servicing mode and re-enabling protection on the volume. C:\Program Files\EnvisionWare\PC Reservation\Client Module\data C:\Program Files (x86)\EnvisionWare\PC Reservation\Client Module\data After the two folders have been deleted the disk protection can be enabled. The client will re-create a fresh copy of these folders each time Windows boots (from the clean image/overlay) and the PC Reservation Client Module connects to the PC Reservation Management Service. Our Knowledge Base provides a range of information, however if you need technical assistance from one of our customer service team please create a support case at the EnvisionWare Customer Center . Information about our range of self-service solutions can be found at our website - www.envisionware.com . Proprietary & Confidential. © 2020 EnvisionWare, Inc. Confidentiality and limited use. This article contains strictly confidential and proprietary information. It may not be shared with or transferred to any third party by any means in whole or in part without the written consent of EnvisionWare, Inc. 2/3 Powered by PHPKB (Knowledge Base Software) Online URL: https://envisionware.knowledgebase.co/article-292.html 3/3 Powered by PHPKB (Knowledge Base Software).

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