Administrative Computer and Printer Replacements

[russellhltn]

I haven't seen sufficient evidence to support that conclusion. I've seen more reports that replacements are completely out this year, than the 3-year plan.

Perhaps. I'm in a unique situation. Given all the failures, we're just 2 machines away from replacing all of our 2004-era units. And I'm sure that for one of them it's just a matter of time. (The other one had the mother board replaced back when it was cost effective to do so.)

Still, I think we agree that the replacement program is still there, just modified. That's not what Doug's post said, so I still advise him to dig deeper.

In my case, I warned the FM group over a year ago, and they put it in their budget

So did I, and even then it almost didn't make the budget until I reminded them before they submitted their final budget. :rolleyes:

[mkmurray]

...That and disabling the Open Office Quickstarter will bring impressive improvements.

What Windows Service do I look for? Or do you get to it another way?

I remember there being a really hidden UI in Windows about controlling what starts up at boot up (and I'm not talking about just the Services window). It seemed like you had to type "startup" or something in a Run box.

[russellhltn]

Check the Intray, look for a OpenOffice icon. Right click it and uncheck "Load OpenOffice During System Start-Up"

If you don't find a OpenOffice icon, then it's already been shutdown.

[mkmurray]

Check the Intray, look for a OpenOffice icon. Right click it and uncheck "Load OpenOffice During System Start-Up"

If you don't find a OpenOffice icon, then it's already been shutdown.

Thanks.

...I remember there being a really hidden UI in Windows about controlling what starts up at boot up (and I'm not talking about just the Services window). It seemed like you had to type "startup" or something in a Run box.

It appears that what I was remembering is called the "System Configuration Utility" built right into Windows. You can launch it by typing "msconfig" into your Run box. There is a "Startup" tab on this utility.

[rscorse47]

I don't know about the replacement schedules, but just had two GX270 machines (one with the thermal event error) replaced this past week of March 2. We received two Optiplex GX740s with just XP Pro loaded on them. After considerable frustration and lots of help from R Houlton, I was able to get the Desktop 5.5 loaded onto them (some problems with not having the SATA drivers for the CD drive too). They are considerably better than the older machines, with dual-core processors, 80G SATA drives and 1G of memory.

[jdlessley]

I don't know about the replacement schedules, but just had two GX270 machines (one with the thermal event error) replaced this past week of March 2. We received two Optiplex GX740s with just XP Pro loaded on them. After considerable frustration and lots of help from R Houlton, I was able to get the Desktop 5.5 loaded onto them (some problems with not having the SATA drivers for the CD drive too). They are considerably better than the older machines, with dual-core processors, 80G SATA drives and 1G of memory.

If you follow the setup instructions found at the MLS download site (requires username and password that STS should have) there is no requirement to install Desktop 5.5 on a Dell Optiplex 740 - Probably because of the difficulties similar to what you experienced. The Security Suite, Symantec Antivirus Definitions Update, Additional Local Unit Software (optional) and MLS are all that is needed (required).

[ldsrussp]

If you follow the setup instructions found at the MLS download site (requires username and password that STS should have) there is no requirement to install Desktop 5.5 on a Dell Optiplex 740 - Probably because of the difficulties similar to what you experienced. The Security Suite, Symantec Antivirus Definitions Update, Additional Local Unit Software (optional) and MLS are all that is needed (required).

I just posted about this in the other thread but basically I'm glad the new machines don't have the church desktop image. That image seemed to be broken as wireless cards never worked right (or at all on some PCs) with it. With the new Dell 740 and just the Church security suite installed (includes Landesk) things are working great. If anyone from Church development is reading this please refrain from messing around in the OS unless you really, really, really know what you are doing. I can't say for sure it was the desktop image OS changes that caused my issues but I'm about 90% certain.

[jdlessley]

I just posted about this in the other thread but basically I'm glad the new machines don't have the church desktop image. That image seemed to be broken as wireless cards never worked right (or at all on some PCs) with it. With the new Dell 740 and just the Church security suite installed (includes Landesk) things are working great. If anyone from Church development is reading this please refrain from messing around in the OS unless you really, really, really know what you are doing. I can't say for sure it was the desktop image OS changes that caused my issues but I'm about 90% certain.

Please be careful about condeming the compentency of the Church technology people. This is not our purpose in these forums. Step back and look at the work that has been done to get where we are today with the proportionately smaller manpower resources the Church uses to accomplish significant strides in the use and application of technology. I dare say that there is any corporate entity the size of the Church that adapts to technology the way the Church does. As the plan for technology changes within the Church some things may appear to be forgotten about or not properly dealt with.

I can see from your perspective that Desktop 5.5 created some problems that could have been avoided. Please keep in mind that administrative computers were set up to be secure as possible to handle the sensitive nature of the information it would be dealing with. Also, at the time Destop 5.5 was developed, the only means of communicating from an administrative computer was by dialup. Internet and networking operations were not on the horizon for implementation. These computers were intended to be stand-alone systems.

As we move forward in using and adapting technology we will find some issues that need to be resolved. When you find an issue, work with the Church tech people and not condemn them.

[ldsrussp]

Please be careful about condeming the compentency of the Church technology people. This is not our purpose in these forums. Step back and look at the work that has been done to get where we are today with the proportionately smaller manpower resources the Church uses to accomplish significant strides in the use and application of technology. I dare say the there is any corporate entity the size of the Church that adapts to technology the way the Church does. As the plan for technology changes within the Church some things may appear to be forgotten about or not properly dealt with.

I can see from your perspective that Desktop 5.5 created some problems that could have been avoided. Please keep in mind that administrative computers were set up to be secure as possible to handle the sensitive nature of the information it would be dealing with. Also, at the time Destop 5.5 was developed, the only means of communicating from an administrative computer was by dialup. Internet and networking operations were not on the horizon for implementation. These computers were intended to be stand-alone systems.

As we move forward in using and adapting technology we will find some issues that need to be resolved. When you find an issue work with the Church tech people and not condemn them.

I agree I should not have been so harsh. I guess it's just out of frustration that whenever someone, no matter how well meaning, departs in some way from the standard path for an OS it often comes back to bite you. Given the complexity of the windows environment and the way it constantly is changing I feel its dangerous to do anything to the core of the OS. I don't know if Desktop 5.5 did this and it may just be the new hardware that fixed the issue. I will probably end up testing this before long given I have some old PCs not currently working with wireless that I'm being asked to get working. I may restore from the original Dell CDs just to test this theory out.

[russellhltn]

With the new Dell 740 and just the Church security suite installed (includes Landesk) things are working great.

In my opinion the bigger problem was the lack of any follow up to accommodate software updates . The original Desktop 5.5 worked great for the situation it was introduced for. I think they had plans that haven't yet reached fruition.