Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
bfromm
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#11

Post by bfromm »

russellhltn wrote:Maybe replacement can come a little sooner. It's worth checking.
I should also stress that there is nothing wrong with Windows XP. It has been a great OS for us, and it will continue to do what it needs to do which is facilitate the use of MLS. If a machine has other issues, and loading a fresh image doesn't fix them, then that's a different story. But upgrading just to have all machines on Windows 7 doesn't make sense.
rolandc
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#12

Post by rolandc »

I have 7 clerks waiting to have the Clerk PC's replaced and we are told the hold up has something to do with the W7 image. Any idea when that will be finished so that the computers can be released?
Roland
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Mikerowaved
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#13

Post by Mikerowaved »

ktchugg wrote:The clerks in this ward have been reporting several blue screens with this computer.
Before you go through the trouble of reformatting and rolling on a fresh OS, I would strongly suggest opening the case and thoroughly checking the motherboard and video card (if installed) for bulging and/or leaking capacitors. This is an ongoing problem for PC's of that era and can cause lockups, reboots, BSOD's, and other issues that won't be remedied with a fresh install.
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russellhltn
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#14

Post by russellhltn »

bfromm wrote:But upgrading just to have all machines on Windows 7 doesn't make sense.
I think the main concern is security issues with running a XP machine much past April 2014 - especially one that has access to the Internet and is on the same network segment with member's machines which could be infected. Sophos helps, but it's not perfect.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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bfromm
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#15

Post by bfromm »

russellhltn wrote:I think the main concern is security issues with running a XP machine much past April 2014.
Understood. As I mentioned earlier, we are discussing things internally and with Microsoft to determine the best plan. We still have almost a year until XP support goes away, so there's no rush to do anything right now.
russellhltn
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#16

Post by russellhltn »

Any idea how many machines fall into the gap? If it's small, I'd suggest replacing them. If it's large, then perhaps support Vista.

While running with XP may be tempting, it's a big question mark. It's just not known how nasty a new bug could be. I suspect enough of them will be around to make it worth the bad guy's time to target them.
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ktchugg
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#17

Post by ktchugg »

Just checked, this is a Dell Optiplex 580 that has windows XP installed but at Windows 7 sticker. I would like to load Windows 7 on it rather than reload XP since the end of support is next year. But it has a Win 7 license sticker on the tower. Let me know who I request the Win7 image from.
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#18

Post by Mikerowaved »

ktchugg wrote:Let me know who I request the Win7 image from.
Send a Private Message to bfromm. He's a church employee that can accommodate your request.
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malinj
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#19

Post by malinj »

Just to offer my two cents, as an infosec guy, I'd strongly recommend upgrading to Windows 7 on any machines we can ASAP. Windows XP is trivial to exploit (plenty of free tools out there), and the fact that members who have access to the MLS computers can download and install any software from anywhere on the Internet means that keyloggers, screenscrapers, RATs and trojans have free reign on our machines (not to mention how incredibly easy it is to move laterally to infect other machines due to common password usage).

Having nicely written policies is good, but until we enforce policy by finally locking down user accounts so that third-party software cannot be installed, we're making it far too easy for sensitive member PII to be stolen.

Furthermore, 64-bit Windows 7 at least has PatchGuard built in, which is better than nothing, and miles ahead of XP from a security standpoint. More importantly, I regularly encounter drive-by-downloads from known trusted sites that are infected (think nbc.com on Feb 21st of this year), and it's been proven that Sophos (and A/V in general) simply doesn't catch it all.

We need much better endpoint security on our ward and branch computers, and getting off of Windows XP is the very first step. I shudder whenever I have to type in my MLS password because I just don't have much confidence that these machines are free of keyloggers since we're still using Windows XP and there are no controls in place to actually enforce policy.
tyler.tippets
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Re: Re-image OS/upgrade to windows 7

#20

Post by tyler.tippets »

Hello All,

From the reading of this thread and all of the link threads, I think I have an unusual case. I'm the STS and we had a Clerk PC that got corrupted, Systems files were missing, Local Security Polices were corrupt, and the user profiles were corrupted as well. Instead of trying to repair, I thought it would be much easier back up MLS and files, reformat and re-install Windows. The computer had Windows 7 Home Prem on it. I got the ISO from global support and installed the image. Didn't think twice about it, but i realized upon boot that Windows XP was installed. It's an Optiplex 740 and it does have a Vista sticker on it.

According to this thread, XP should be the correct OS, but that doesn't explain how Windows 7 was on it when we got the PC.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Tyler T
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