How to disable LAN proxy server

Need_More_Money_2

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

As a Network Manager with many years' experience in corporate and academic networks I would not give users the rights that the OP wants for the reasons mhairipotter states. However competent a user might be and however much I trusted him accidents can still happen.

I would try to give my users the functionality they need to get their work done though. In this case a 'dual boot' machine might be a solution. It would have two copies of Windows on two separate partitions of the hard disk and give the choice of 'home' or 'work' when starting up.

This is virtually like having two separate laptops and full admin rights could be given on the 'home' partition without jeopardising the corporate network.

I can already access the Internet on the laptop by logging into 'this computer' rather than to the domain. However, ideally I wanted to login as the same user so I have access to all the same files whenever I login.
Sure accidents can happen, but they can happen within the IT department as well. Especially since most of the workers in our IT department seem to be school leavers with very little experience.
I need to use the computer for scientific work, but the IT policy seems aimed at admin and secretarial staff.

theCapt

why don't you share the folders containing the data between users.

Need_More_Money_2

theCapt wrote:

why don't you share the folders containing the data between users.

It is probably possible but would take a lot of setting up. I want to see the same things on the Desktop - can two users use the same Desktop folder in Documents and Settings? When I open outlook I want to see the same emails (it uses exchange but saves as offline files so I can see received emails when server not available). I guess it might be possible to configure it to see same data file. I'd like same things in document history. There are probably other things too.
It might be possible to set up all these things but it would take time and it seems so much easier to just disable the proxy. If I can use the Internet without going via the proxy (by logging in as a different user) then I don't see how disabling it poses any greater risk. I have up to date antivirus software and am behind a router using NAT.
I did consider renaming my router to be the same as the name of the proxy.

I can understand the concerns that some of you have raised and I sympathise with the difficult job the IT department have to do. However, they have to strike a reasonable balance.

A_Nice_Englishman

I think my dual boot idea combined with the Capt's of having another partition for saving your data would meet your and the IT Department's requirements.

Incidentally, admin and secretarial use means to me using Office applications, email, browsing the Internet and perhaps some in-house applications. In what way does 'scientific work' differ?

Need_More_Money_2

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

Incidentally, admin and secretarial use means to me using Office applications, email, browsing the Internet and perhaps some in-house applications. In what way does 'scientific work' differ?

More a general comment than specifically related to Internet access. But they insist on installing only the basic features of office software and I have to call them back to install things like Equation Editor in MS Word. I might need to install non-standard software (either downloaded or purchased) and I'm supposed to get them to install it and configure it (even though they don't understand the software). I'm not actually allowed to download software. They block downloads of any video files from the Internet, presumably because they think all videos on the Internet are pornographic. If I called them everytime I was supposed to, they'd need a lot more staff. When I do call them, they usually cause more problems with the PC than they solve.
This is not a rant at IT departments in general. Just that our IT department seems to pay poorly so they mostly have staff who are clueless

theCapt

Usually companies don't allow installation of software because it maybe illegal (downloaded or priate copy) the company is liable for any unlicensed software on any of the companies systems. this is probably why you are having trouble installing software.

A_Nice_Englishman

Need_More_Money wrote:

More a general comment than specifically related to Internet access. But they insist on installing only the basic features of office software and I have to call them back to install things like Equation Editor in MS Word. I might need to install non-standard software (either downloaded or purchased) and I'm supposed to get them to install it and configure it (even though they don't understand the software). I'm not actually allowed to download software. They block downloads of any video files from the Internet, presumably because they think all videos on the Internet are pornographic. If I called them everytime I was supposed to, they'd need a lot more staff. When I do call them, they usually cause more problems with the PC than they solve.
This is not a rant at IT departments in general. Just that our IT department seems to pay poorly so they mostly have staff who are clueless

I see. It is normal practice not to allow self-installation of software (it could be malware or unlicensed). Video downloads soak up loads or badwidth which costs money so I can see why they ban them.

All this makes me even more certain that a dual boot machine with one partition you can do what you like with (but not expect IT to fix if anything goes wrong) and another for the corporate network is the way forward.

Need_More_Money_2

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

I see. It is normal practice not to allow self-installation of software (it could be malware or unlicensed).

I can appreciate that BUT it seems odd that I am trusted to make decisions that can seriously affect peoples lives but not to make decisions about appropriate use of my computer. I could accept that if I had no or little computer experience.

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

Video downloads soak up loads or badwidth which costs money so I can see

Again I can accept that in general, but I work in an imaging department...

A_Nice_Englishman

Need_More_Money wrote:

I can appreciate that BUT it seems odd that I am trusted to make decisions that can seriously affect peoples lives but not to make decisions about appropriate use of my computer. I could accept that if I had no or little computer experience.

You are responsible for your decisions but the IT Department are responsible for the integrity of the network, hence their rules which appear to be in line with those of most well-run organisations.

Need_More_Money wrote:

Again I can accept that in general, but I work in an imaging department...

We have seen that you do have requirements which aren't being met at the moment. From my point of view the way forward is to escalate this within your organisation until they are met rather than trying to circumvent the security. It is there for a good reason and you may even be committing a disciplinary offence by trying to defeat it.

Need_More_Money_2

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

You are responsible for your decisions but the IT Department are responsible for the integrity of the network, hence their rules which appear to be in line with those of most well-run organisations.

We have seen that you do have requirements which aren't being met at the moment. From my point of view the way forward is to escalate this within your organisation until they are met rather than trying to circumvent the security. It is there for a good reason and you may even be committing a disciplinary offence by trying to defeat it.

Thank you again for your posts. It is interesting to hear the point of view of someone in IT who know what they are talking about!

I do not intend to try to circumvent the security whilst connected to my employers network (although there would be benefits to doing this as I'm told by others that Internet access is significantly faster without using the proxy server. They do this by using Firefox - although officially Firefox is not allowed).
Since I can already access the Internet by logging in as a user on the local machine, I don't think by changing the proxy settings at home (to allow access without changing users) will significantly alter the security risk.