Restoring a School Computer Lab After a Failed Driver Update
A government higher secondary school has a 24-desktop computer lab: 12 Windows 10 PCs with 500 GB hard disks formatted as a single NTFS partition, and 12 Ubuntu 22.04 PCs with 240 GB SSDs. Last week a lab assistant installed a “free driver update” on one Windows PC. After restart, the PC shows “Boot device not found,” although the disk is detected in BIOS. On several Windows PCs, students can open the Documents folder but cannot save files; the teacher’s account can save normally. One Ubuntu PC cannot write to a student’s pen drive formatted as exFAT, though it can read it. The lab has one 1 TB external hard disk used for backups “whenever someone remembers,” and the annual practical exam is in five days. The principal wants the failed PC working, student files protected, and no new hardware purchased. The lab assistant proposes reinstalling Windows immediately on the failed PC.
1. List the first three actions you would take on the failed Windows PC, in order, and decide whether the lab assistant’s “reinstall Windows immediately” plan is acceptable. Justify your decision.
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- Stop and preserve evidence. Do not repeatedly power-cycle. Enter BIOS/UEFI and confirm the 500 GB disk is detected and the boot order still points to it; note whether the disk mode (AHCI/RAID) changed after the driver update.
- Boot a live Ubuntu USB and copy user data from the Windows partition to the 1 TB external disk. A driver update can break the bootloader or storage driver while leaving files readable.
- Attempt non-destructive repair: Windows Startup Repair, then
bootrec /fixmbr,/fixboot,/rebuildbcdfrom Windows recovery media. If the update installed a faulty storage driver, use System Restore or uninstall the update from recovery.
Reinstalling immediately is not acceptable as a first step because it risks overwriting the only copy of student files and may not fix a hardware or firmware cause. Reinstall only after data is copied and repair fails, and then restore files and document the driver source.
2. Several Windows PCs let students open Documents but not save. Explain the likely permission cause and give a safe fix that does not make students administrators.
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The folder’s NTFS permissions have probably been changed so that the Students group has Read & execute but not Modify/Write, while the teacher’s account is in a group with Full control. Opening a file needs only Read; saving needs Write. This can also happen if Documents is redirected to a network share with read-only share permissions.
Safe fix: log in as administrator, right-click Documents → Properties → Security → check Effective Access for a test student; add or adjust the Students group with Modify on that folder only, not Full control, and not Administrator membership. If it is a share, check both Share permissions and NTFS permissions. Test with one student account, then apply to the lab OU/group. Avoid giving students local admin rights; that would let them install software and change system settings, creating a bigger risk.
3. Design a five-day backup plan using the existing 1 TB external disk, and state one check that proves the backup is usable.
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Days 1–2: create a full image of one Windows PC and one Ubuntu PC, and copy all student home folders/Documents to the 1 TB disk; keep the disk offline when not copying. Days 2–4: take daily incremental copies of exam-related files and verify file counts. Day 4: restore a sample folder and open a file on a spare PC or live USB. Day 5: freeze changes, take a final copy, and store the disk in a locked cupboard. Use a simple 3-2-1 idea: at least two copies, one offline.
The usability check is not “the copy finished”; it is a test restore: open a copied document and compare its checksum/size with the original. Also record what was backed up and when, so the exam cell knows the recovery point.