Help with new computers

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
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pingsteve
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Help with new computers

#1

Post by pingsteve »

I'm the HC over technology and my STS and I are still learning the ropes. We recently received some new computers and we're not sure what needs to be done to switch over.

We're both very technically savvy, but I thought I'd throw this out to the general wisdom of the board to find out what the best practices are for moving data over and retiring the old computer. After the data is transferred, I plan to use DBAN to wipe the HDD, but what else is recommended?
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

Unless they've specified otherwise, the old computers go back to the FM group after the hard drive has been scrubbed.

As for MLS, check the instructions for Transfer installation. What else you need to copy depends on what all they've installed on the computer. Make sure everything is properly licensed.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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Mikerowaved
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#3

Post by Mikerowaved »

pingsteve wrote:I'm the HC over technology and my STS and I are still learning the ropes. We recently received some new computers and we're not sure what needs to be done to switch over.
I did the replacement of the PC's in our stake and wrote up this little piece of what i did...

https://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.p ... #post61806

As far as I know, there are church employees working on an official document for setting up the new Windows 7 PC's, but I haven't heard anything about it for some time.
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johnshaw
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#4

Post by johnshaw »

If you are tech savvy enough, and have many to do (I ended up with 13) I would suggest using one computer as the master image and rolling it out that way. (being tech savvy enough means you know how sidgen stuff works, and know how to make the computer unique, etc...The Church uses management tools (Tivoli, LANDesk, SophosAV) that require uniqueness, and just renaming a computer is not good enough typically). If you have any questions about it, send me a private message, I've done both XP and now Win7)

The Win7 documentation is going through the endless and eternal correlation/translation process :) as I understand it, I did get an advance copy, but there really isn't much more to it than what can easily be deduced from the previous documentation. Install Java, Define the network as a 'Work Network', uninstall Bing and there are some suggested changes to the 'views'. I was asked not to post it, but those are the major items beyond what is in the xp documentation.

ONE ITEM OF CAUTION... a reference above pointed you to a good write-up of the Transfer Installation for MLS procedures. When you migrate the data using the backup/restore functionality, the church will not accept any incoming transmissions from the new computer until the security account has been reset. If you plan on doing the replacement/transfer on a Sunday, call Local Unit Support on Thursday/Friday to have them reset the account in advance, otherwise, you'll not be successful on Sunday and nobody can help you until Monday.
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Biggles
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#5

Post by Biggles »

pingsteve wrote:I'm the HC over technology and my STS and I are still learning the ropes. We recently received some new computers and we're not sure what needs to be done to switch over.

We're both very technically savvy, but I thought I'd throw this out to the general wisdom of the board to find out what the best practices are for moving data over and retiring the old computer. After the data is transferred, I plan to use DBAN to wipe the HDD, but what else is recommended?
Have I missed something? Are we talking FHC computers or MLS installed computers or both as different installation requirements are needed!
pingsteve
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#6

Post by pingsteve »

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. These are ward MLS computers, but I haven't even unboxed them yet so I don't know if they're Win 7 or XP. Overall, it sounds like it should be pretty straightforward - nothing too scary. I may fire up these machines at home to download all the patches and updates as I have a much faster internet connection at home than we have in our meetinghouses.
pingsteve
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#7

Post by pingsteve »

JohnShaw wrote:If you are tech savvy enough, and have many to do (I ended up with 13) I would suggest using one computer as the master image and rolling it out that way. (being tech savvy enough means you know how sidgen stuff works, and know how to make the computer unique, etc...The Church uses management tools (Tivoli, LANDesk, SophosAV) that require uniqueness, and just renaming a computer is not good enough typically). If you have any questions about it, send me a private message, I've done both XP and now Win7)
I don't think i need a master image, but if I decide to go that route in the future, would sysprep be sufficient?
russellhltn
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#8

Post by russellhltn »

JohnShaw wrote:If you plan on doing the replacement/transfer on a Sunday, call Local Unit Support on Thursday/Friday to have them reset the account in advance,

And make sure no one does a send/receive until the MLS is on the new computer, or the reset will be undone.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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Mikerowaved
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#9

Post by Mikerowaved »

pingsteve wrote:Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. These are ward MLS computers, but I haven't even unboxed them yet so I don't know if they're Win 7 or XP.
If they are some of the rare few that shipped with XP installed, I would strongly suggest installing Windows 7 before putting them into service. They should have a valid Windows 7 Professional COA sticker on the case that can be used.
pingsteve wrote:I may fire up these machines at home to download all the patches and updates as I have a much faster internet connection at home than we have in our meetinghouses.
Excellent idea. That was the most time consuming part for me, even on a fairly fast connection.
RussellHltn wrote:
JohnShaw wrote:If you plan on doing the replacement/transfer on a Sunday, call Local Unit Support on Thursday/Friday to have them reset the account in advance,

And make sure no one does a send/receive until the MLS is on the new computer, or the reset will be undone.
With the procedure I linked to above, I had no need for a security reset on any of the new machines. Nevertheless, I started the installation early in the week, not only to have time to work out any bugs before Sunday, but also to have CHQ support available, if they were needed.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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