For my final post on Internet Station Management (ISM), I would like to quickly go over the holy grail of keeping public access computers running- Deep Freeze. Deep Freeze has the least amount of restrictions for patrons, while preventing any permanent computer changes. It is a pricey option, with a $409 base price for 10 PC’s, but is worth the initial cost.
Deep Freeze has two different states that it can be in, Thawed or Frozen. If a patron installs 1 – 100 applications while the computer is “frozen” a simple restart will get rid of those changes. Now, when a computer needs to be updated you can then “thaw” the system and changes made will stay. So what happens when you use this software to its full potential?
Here is the setup at my library:
- 15 minutes to open: PC’s Auto-Boot
- Computers start in frozen state
- Computers restart during day (after 30 minutes of idle time)
- After computers restarts all changes made by patrons goes away
- Deep Freeze shuts down computers 1 minute to close.
- On Sunday, Deep Freeze starts computers in maintenance mode.
- Windows Updates automatically installed and clocks are synchronized.
- Computers shutdown- Monday is back to step (1).
So, how much time is saved? Co-workers don’t have to turn computers off or on. I don’t have to apply updates. I don’t have to fix problems when a patron messes up a computer (just restart). All-in-all Deep Freeze is my best friend. Or wait, did it just put me out of a job?
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