WinXP End of Service Agreement

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
darkstar64
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WinXP End of Service Agreement

#1

Post by darkstar64 »

I was talking to our Stake President yesterday and I mentioned the WinXP end of service agreement coming in April 2014 and a look of panic went across his face when he realized that he would have to replace all of the machines in the Stake. He asked me if there was any information about what SLC was planning in response to this and asked me to contact SLC about it. Before I did, I figured I would ask if anyone from ldstech has heard a response from the church about this?
lajackson
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#2

Post by lajackson »

darkstar64 wrote:I was talking to our Stake President yesterday and I mentioned the WinXP end of service agreement coming in April 2014 and a look of panic went across his face when he realized that he would have to replace all of the machines in the Stake.
Well, WinXP is not going away. Just Microsoft support for it. The program will still run, and over the course of the next five years as new computers with Windows 7 are cycled into clerks offices by the various FM groups, the "problem" will go away. You may already have computers that are licensed to run Windows 7, and I suppose it could be loaded on them if WinXP were to crump.

I suspect that is the plan, but I do not speak officially for the Church, of course.

Tell your stake president there is no need to panic. FM Group will take care of the computers and the Church will take care of the software. Several years ago, we went six weeks without transmitting any financial or membership information at all to Church Headquarters until they finally solved the problem. We made the deposits at the bank and they were all in MLS. We just couldn't do a Send/Receive to tell them what they were for.
russellhltn
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#3

Post by russellhltn »

The policy is that all machines are to be replaced after 5 years (more or less) on the FM group's dime. In my case, all of our non-Windows 7 machines "expire" this year. So I should be OK. But none of them have Windows 7 stickers, so I'm not sure what others who are no so fortunate would be able to do. So far I've heard nothing from CHQ as to their plans.

Now, the FHC is a completely different story. Unless some "cascaded upgrades" show up in the next 12 months, I've got a problem.
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darkstar64
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#4

Post by darkstar64 »

Well, WinXP is not going away. Just Microsoft support for it. The program will still run
Well of course the program will still run but Microsoft won't supply anymore security updates (except for the most critical of security flaws) for it and you would be silly to continue to access the internet for long with no security updates from Microsoft. There are a lot of nefarious people who will do their best to take advantage of those who still are running xp. No offense intended but the indifference you show towards this issue is a bit surprising
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johnshaw
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#5

Post by johnshaw »

darkstar64.... Organizations have risk mitigation strategies in place to determine the extend they go to support an existing Operating System. Is it worth the financial impact to upgrade everyone that doesn't have a current OS license (Vista/7). It appears that the Church is ok with running XP under their current risk mitigation strategy (Router/firewall - Filtering - Local Firewall/Local Malware/Local Anti-Virus), TEM reporting properly functioning local software, etc.) all of these are items that can contribute to a load of money not being spent.

The FM group was given a directive last year to find EVERY computer that was over 5 years old and budget to replace it and their instructions now are to follow the policy as written and not to implement their own judgement regarding the clerk computers which they have done in the past.

The issues for your Stake President are not whether they have to pay to upgrade them, it's more the time involved with implementing the new computer which is one thing an STS does.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
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johnshaw
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#6

Post by johnshaw »

PM me if you are interested in a quick, easy way to upgrade your clerk computer to Win7. There is no reason not to if you want to be more pro-active about it.

I have a 32GB bootable USB drive that I can re-image a computer anytime with. I have swapping out a computer down to about 1.5 hours MLS backup on old computer to MLS backup on new computer.

NOTE: only upgrade if the clerk computer already has an existing Win7 license but was delivered with an XP OS. It is outside the scope of a stake or ward budget to pay for a license to upgrade a clerk computer.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
darkstar64
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#7

Post by darkstar64 »

Fair enough. Thanks for the reply.

I know about risk mitigation. It is one of the many facets of my job which is why I brought this up in the first place. At my job in the real world, a fortune 15 company, we are heavily involved in replacing xp on all remaining machines that still have it, which again, is why I brought this up.
russellhltn
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#8

Post by russellhltn »

If you don't know the age of your computers, look for the sticker that gives the machine's manufacturing date. In checking my records, many of our machines were built about a week before FM got them to me.

Another check I use is to look at MLS backup files. Most clerks don't clear out that folder. Check the "created" date of the oldest file. If it's newer then the "modified" date of the file, then that's likely when the machine was installed and the files copied over.
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lajackson
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#9

Post by lajackson »

darkstar64 wrote:No offense intended but the indifference you show towards this issue is a bit surprising
No offense taken. I think what you may have picked up on is my decision after many years not to worry at all about making any decision for the Church that is not mine to make.

I do agree that you have brought up a very valid point that should be considered by those who make those decisions.
russellhltn
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Re: WinXP End of Service Agreement

#10

Post by russellhltn »

Darkstar64, you didn't say what your role is in this. The Stake President shouldn't have to get involved with this at all. The Stake doesn't fund the computers, the FM group does. This falls on the shoulders of the Stake Technology Specialist. The SP would only get involved if there's a problem with the FM Group and/or CHQ that the STS can't solve on his own.

Since you started the "fire", you might want to find out the status of the computers and let the SP know it will be taken care of. He's got plenty of other things to worry about.
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