# Dwan laptops-Adobe PDF Reader



## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Good Morning all,

 I'm currently on an exercise where  we have brought several laptops successfully hooked them up to the dwan etc (as is obvious as I am using one to post) however I seem to be unable to get pdf files to read on any of the computers. Nor when I go to add programs is adobe acrobat reader an option. 

 Has anyone ever encountered this and found a solution before? My sigs MCpl does not have an answer for me either unfortunately.

 -NSDreamer


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## FlyingDutchman (14 Apr 2012)

Are you able to download adobe to it from the adobe website?  I only ask that since I know some computers used for work purposes have restrictions on downloading.  If you cannot then you might need to get an unrestricted computer and a thumb drive.  Download adobe to the thumb drive, plug thumb drive into computer you are now using, drag and drop into computer.

Just to be sure, is it windows you are using?  Are you running the pc in admin mode?


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Rojer to the windows. I'm not allowed as per our SOPs to transfer media from a non DND to these computers, nor are we allowed to download and I do not know how to check if I'm running in admin mode. I logged in standard as I would on any other DWAN computer.


 (thanks for the help by the way)


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## Nfld Sapper (14 Apr 2012)

Almost sounds like a brand new laptop, if so it will take time for the networked programs to be populated


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

They are in fact brand spanking new, is that an issue? I'm generally found either working out of the back of a CP, with a platoon, or in an office. Formatting Laptops is new ground for me heh.


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## Nfld Sapper (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> They are in fact brand spanking new, is that an issue? I'm generally found either working out of the back of a CP, with a platoon, or in an office. Formatting Laptops is new ground for me heh.



Happened to me when they replaced my desktop....


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Bugger, and it was time that populated your list? Ah well, it is what it is.


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## 421_434_226 (14 Apr 2012)

As mentioned earlier if this is a newly baselined laptop the authorized applications may or may not  autoupdate/install. You may try clicking on the baseline symbol and check if any updates/applications are available for installation.
Sometimes available applications can be found in the Start - Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs path.
The last time I baselined a computer via network in the boonies of Pet, it was a long painful process. OK not really painful just somewhat frustrating. Unless they have installed some fibre to the outlying nodes since then.


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Heh, going through all this and having yet to succeed I have the feeling this task is not going to be acomplished in my alotted timeline. Mostly because following all these tips and on best advice of my sigs mentors still 0 process forward. Thanks for all your help, I'm going to get IT to come in when we get back in garrison and have it sorted out for the next time we go out.

 -NSDreamer


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## Nfld Sapper (14 Apr 2012)

I don't think there is much they can do, when it happened to me my IT Rep said just give it time.... think it has to do with the ip address attached to the laptop and our security settings.....

Another thing to do is to sign out the laptop a day or two prior, hook it up to the network and let it auto push the updates to it......


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## SupersonicMax (14 Apr 2012)

Try Control Panel - Run Advertised Programs

See if a PDF reader is there.


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## armyvern (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> Heh, going through all this and having yet to succeed I have the feeling this task is not going to be acomplished in my alotted timeline. Mostly because following all these tips and on best advice of my sigs mentors still 0 process forward. Thanks for all your help, I'm going to get IT to come in when we get back in garrison and have it sorted out for the next time we go out.
> 
> -NSDreamer



it's been a couple years for me, but I experienced same issue and it was explained to me then by the IT-type that the laptop is required to be plugged into a hardlined outlet at least once per 30 days for assorted virus and program updates etc. And that, if I wanted to use CFPAS etc on the laptop, I had to ensure that I actually ran the baseline install procedure while I had the laptop wired into the wall as I could not do an install/first use remotely.


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Makes sense I suppose (To most if not all of the above). It's something I think I'll keep in mind. Only issue about prepping them prior to an ex is we have no free drops in our own buildings that are active, wherever we can fit a computer, we do! :nod:


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## Nfld Sapper (14 Apr 2012)

Then remove the cable from the desktop and plug it into the laptop.....lol!


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## fraserdw (14 Apr 2012)

Takes up to 48 hours after connectivity for DWAN SMS to fully populate your control panel.  Your image does not have Adobe native so you have to wait.  I suggest you include this in the After Action and recommend Adobe be added to the laptop image so you can hit the ground running.


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## Occam (14 Apr 2012)

FlyingDutchman said:
			
		

> Are you able to download adobe to it from the adobe website?  I only ask that since I know some computers used for work purposes have restrictions on downloading.  If you cannot then you might need to get an unrestricted computer and a thumb drive.  Download adobe to the thumb drive, plug thumb drive into computer you are now using, drag and drop into computer.



You're not in the mob yet, so you wouldn't know this, but...never, ever, ever download a program from the internet and attempt to install it on a DWAN workstation or laptop.  

1.  Users are not allowed to install software unless the "Install XXXXXX" is available in the Baseline menu or Run Advertised Programs context (which means you've been authorized to install it, otherwise it wouldn't appear as an option); 
2.  Only DND authorized memory sticks are authorized to be used on DND networks; and 
3.  If you're using a DND authorized memory stick, it should never be used on an Internet workstation.


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Then remove the cable from the desktop and plug it into the laptop.....lol!



Remove the cable from the desktop, the drops lock and you can't access anything through them. They're keyed in (as near as I can figure from how it was explained to me) to the unique MAC address of the computer. To unlock them you need the IT people at the base server hub or what have you do it from the sys admin. Otherwise I'd be for this, but we had a MCpl try that exact thing earlier this year and poof a Capts computer for a week, it was not a good moment for him unfortunately  :-\


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## Nfld Sapper (14 Apr 2012)

Funny we do that all the time at my home unit and also at CFSME with the CTC Pool of laptops......


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

fraserdw said:
			
		

> Takes up to 48 hours after connectivity for DWAN SMS to fully populate your control panel.  Your image does not have Adobe native so you have to wait.  I suggest you include this in the After Action and recommend Adobe be added to the laptop image so you can hit the ground running.



 This sounds like an excellent idea. Could you please explain the concept of the "laptop image" a bit further so I can explain the idea to higher. I get the general idea of what you're saying, the image is the preset, but I'm not sure what we'd need to do to initiate this. 

 Again,
     Thank you kindly for your help -NSDreamer


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Funny we do that all the time at my home unit and also at CFSME with the CTC Pool of laptops......



 Couldn't explain it to you myself NS, it's far far from my range of speciality unfortunately.  :dunno:


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## LineJumper (14 Apr 2012)

Call the geeks at IT to unlock a port (or all if it's a laptop heavy section) and no need to worry about baselining laptop/s.


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## Eye In The Sky (14 Apr 2012)

For info:

- your unit and HHQ are currently experiencing some "technical difficulties" with SMS.  Its not a "unit" thing, its something on the Enterprise side that is being worked on by the enterprise folks.  (Yes, I am serious.)


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## Eye In The Sky (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> Heh, going through all this and having yet to succeed I have the feeling this task is not going to be acomplished in my alotted timeline. Mostly because following all these tips and on best advice of my sigs mentors still 0 process forward. Thanks for all your help, I'm going to get IT to come in when we get back in garrison and have it sorted out for the next time we go out.
> 
> -NSDreamer



Which is a round-about way of saying "we didn't prep properly, so lesson learned for next time".   8)

SMS not populating = G6 issue.

End users not ensuring their assests do what they need them to do in enough time for G6 to address it = PEBCAK issue.   >


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

Eye In The Sky said:
			
		

> Which is a round-about way of saying "we didn't prep properly, so lesson learned for next time".   8)
> 
> SMS not populating = G6 issue.
> 
> End users not ensuring their assests do what they need them to do in enough time for G6 to address it = PEBCAK issue.   >


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## Occam (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> Remove the cable from the desktop, the drops lock and you can't access anything through them. They're keyed in (as near as I can figure from how it was explained to me) to the unique MAC address of the computer. To unlock them you need the IT people at the base server hub or what have you do it from the sys admin. Otherwise I'd be for this, but we had a MCpl try that exact thing earlier this year and poof a Capts computer for a week, it was not a good moment for him unfortunately  :-\



Sounds like your network admins have gotten a little overly anal with the networks switch port security - MAC address sticky.  It's unnecessary.


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## fraserdw (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> This sounds like an excellent idea. Could you please explain the concept of the "laptop image" a bit further so I can explain the idea to higher. I get the general idea of what you're saying, the image is the preset, but I'm not sure what we'd need to do to initiate this.
> 
> Again,
> Thank you kindly for your help -NSDreamer



Laptop image is the group of OS and programs installed on your computer before it leaves your local sigs sp unit.  The image is made by installing programs on a first computer then copying that into an executable file that is an image of that first computer.  This image is used to create the OS and programs of all other like computers.  An image is a fairly easy thing to make and modify, very often Sigs jsut do things how they think they should be done without customer input (customer service is something government does not excel at)!


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## LineJumper (14 Apr 2012)

fraserdw said:
			
		

> very often Sigs jsut do things how they think they should be done without customer input (customer service is something government does not excel at)!



We also do 'things' in a manner most appropriate to 'unit/nation' under very strict guidance. Not to diminish customer service by any stretch.


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## Eye In The Sky (14 Apr 2012)

Occam said:
			
		

> Sounds like your network admins have gotten a little overly anal with the networks switch port security - MAC address sticky.  It's unnecessary.



Infastructure issues = N6.

Their Net Mgr doesn't work for N6.   8)


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## Occam (14 Apr 2012)

Eye In The Sky said:
			
		

> Infastructure issues = N6.
> 
> Their Net Mgr doesn't work for N6.   8)



Sadly, I'm intimately familiar with Halifax's network topology, thanks.


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## fraserdw (14 Apr 2012)

LineJumper said:
			
		

> We also do 'things' in a manner most appropriate to 'unit/nation' under very strict guidance. Not to diminish customer service by any stretch.



Adobe Acrobat is one of the most important operational and administrative softwares on the DWAN.  Forms, pubs, SOPs, training material are all published in Pdf more so than any other format besides Office.  It has been 3 years since Acrobat was taken of the image, 3 years of ECRs, BNs and WOs from every unit in my formation and it is still back not on the image.  If you are constantly be briefed by your customers that you are the speed bump on the information hiway and that your product is not useful to your customers without sufficient hassle, do you not change it?  I cannot count the number of times we have complaints about a CP being slowed down because the software was not there, and that if we wanted it we would have to plug in the DWAN for 48 hours or so to get.  Give me a tool that works right out of the imaging section!


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## armyvern (14 Apr 2012)

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Funny we do that all the time at my home unit and also at CFSME with the CTC Pool of laptops......



So do we.


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## fraserdw (14 Apr 2012)

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> So do we.



We do as well, although a hot swap does nto work.  I had heard that N6 was matching MAC addresses, it is more secure for the network.  One cannot take hacked DWAN laptop and join the net that way.  Of course, the Navy has always been more security conscience than most of the rest of us.


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## Disenchantedsailor (14 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> Remove the cable from the desktop, the drops lock and you can't access anything through them. They're keyed in (as near as I can figure from how it was explained to me) to the unique MAC address of the computer. To unlock them you need the IT people at the base server hub or what have you do it from the sys admin. Otherwise I'd be for this, but we had a MCpl try that exact thing earlier this year and poof a Capts computer for a week, it was not a good moment for him unfortunately  :-\


Baselined laptops are (supposed to be) designed to push through port security settings and connect to any active DWAN drop or remotely over the internet through a secure VPN.  If you end up having a port locked down for unplugging the desktop and plugging in the laptop the local IS Cell has not configured the routers properly.


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## Occam (14 Apr 2012)

Not_So_Arty_Newbie said:
			
		

> Baselined laptops are (supposed to be) designed to push through port security settings and connect to any active DWAN drop or remotely over the internet through a secure VPN.  If you end up having a port locked down for unplugging the desktop and plugging in the laptop the local IS Cell has not configured the routers properly.



If port security is set, there's nothing that can be done to the laptop or workstation that will allow it to "push through" a shutdown port.  Port security is set at the network switches, not at the router.  That said, it isn't normal for port security to be enabled for DWAN switches...at least nowhere I've seen, anyways, including Halifax.


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## NSDreamer (14 Apr 2012)

fraserdw said:
			
		

> Laptop image is the group of OS and programs installed on your computer before it leaves your local sigs sp unit.  The image is made by installing programs on a first computer then copying that into an executable file that is an image of that first computer.  This image is used to create the OS and programs of all other like computers.  An image is a fairly easy thing to make and modify, very often Sigs jsut do things how they think they should be done without customer input (customer service is something government does not excel at)!



 Thank you kindly for the explanation! I think this conversation is now out of my capabilities again heh. I think I might have to take a couple courses to catch up to you all...or read a few for dummies books. ;D


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## NSDreamer (15 Apr 2012)

Well folks that's it, further tinkering will be done back in garrison my duty shift has ended and I'm hitting ground. Have a good night all.

 NSDreamer-Out.


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## Eye In The Sky (15 Apr 2012)

Occam said:
			
		

> Sadly, I'm intimately familiar with Halifax's network topology, thanks.



I know.  Its a nice clusterf_ck.


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## Eye In The Sky (15 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> Remove the cable from the desktop, the drops lock and you can't access anything through them. They're keyed in (as near as I can figure from how it was explained to me) to the unique MAC address of the computer. To unlock them you need the IT people at the base server hub or what have you do it from the sys admin. Otherwise I'd be for this, but we had a MCpl try that exact thing earlier this year and poof a Capts computer for a week, it was not a good moment for him unfortunately  :-\



They are doing things that way now in the Bn lines in Windsor??


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## Eye In The Sky (15 Apr 2012)

Not_So_Arty_Newbie said:
			
		

> Baselined laptops are (supposed to be) designed to push through port security settings and connect to any active DWAN drop or remotely over the internet through a secure VPN.  If you end up having a port locked down for unplugging the desktop and plugging in the laptop the local IS Cell has not configured the routers properly.



Sorry but...I laughed when I read this.


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## NSDreamer (17 Apr 2012)

Eye In The Sky said:
			
		

> They are doing things that way now in the Bn lines in Windsor??



 They are indeed. It can lead for some great amounts of frustration. That being said it's nothing that's happening at our level, we're just suffering the consequences of it.


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## Eye In The Sky (17 Apr 2012)

NSDreamer said:
			
		

> They are indeed. It can lead for some great amounts of frustration. That being said it's nothing that's happening at our level, we're just suffering the consequences of it.



Odd.  I know N6/some MARLANT units locked in the MACs, but your unit/Bde never did before.

Sounds like a PITA for all involved.


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## NSDreamer (18 Apr 2012)

Eye In The Sky said:
			
		

> Odd.  I know N6/some MARLANT units locked in the MACs, but your unit/Bde never did before.
> 
> Sounds like a PITA for all involved.



 Well to my understanding MARLANT owns our buildings, so maybe it's some sort of unintentional overlap?  ???


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## Eye In The Sky (18 Apr 2012)

MARLANT owns/manages the infrastructure (everything from the behind the DVO, basically) so you end up playing by their rules.  Without getting into the technical (read "boring") details, its just a change from the way it was before (more user-friendly previously).  There is always a trade-off in functionality for security, and vice versa.  The more of one there is, there is usually less of the other.


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## dapaterson (18 Apr 2012)

Because security is all about preventing units from doing their work, but not preventing SLts from selling secrets to the Russians.


DND's IT security is a joke, run by fools, with no concept of client service or even an understanding that IT is a tool for users, not a means of empire building by a branch with a homoerotic capbadge.


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## PuckChaser (18 Apr 2012)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> a branch with a homoerotic capbadge.



Because that was called for...  :


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