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08-19-2004, 09:49 PM
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#1 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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Let me know what you think of this, my college is forcing students to get XP Pro.
I was talking to one of my friends from college today and he asked me if I got the letter, I said “what letter” and he told me the one saying that all students will need XP Pro in order to access the network at school. I said “no”, and I was instantly furious for a number of reasons. First off the fact that about a month ago I re-installed Windows and I would rather not do it again so soon! Secondly XP Pro costs $100 (after the discount that they give us), which is not bad but I would much rather spend that $100 elsewhere, not on something that is un-needed for me.
I honestly don’t understand how they can force thousands of students to buy XP Pro in order to excess the network there, freshman year I (and many others) used XP home with no problems. What about all the people with older computers that cannot adequately run XP? What about all the people who don’t have an external hard drive (or others means of backing up a ton of data), they are just going to have to lose all there data just to upgrade? And then there are the people with Mac’s and the (very few) running Linux, and of course they are unaffected by this and don’t have to upgrade to anything, but can still use the network. This sure is going to make MS a lot of money as well, maybe the school is getting a kickback for this, I really think it is ridiculous and I am going to call and complain as soon as I can. I wonder can they can really do this, force thousands of students to upgrade, and for what reason? I thought Pro was geared towards businesses, why would they want everyone to have it? It just does not make much sense to me and I have no plans to buy pro and go though re-installing windows again just because they “want” everyone to have it. Maybe it is because so many average computer users are dumb when it comes to security and such, and with everyone having pro they can secure things for them better? But even though I am far from dumb with security (Paranoiac with it actually), I still need to upgrade, maybe I could talk to someone in the IT department about it, and after talking to me for a few minutes they would realize I am not your average computer idiot who is going to get a virus that will spread to everyone else. Maybe someone who knows the advantages of pro on a large network can tell me why they would want everyone to have it. And sorry for the rant but I am a bit upset about this.
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08-19-2004, 09:52 PM
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#2 |
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Served with Pride
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It's a security issue. Prior to SP2, Pro was considered to be more secure than home and better suited to Networking. I wouldn't be surprised if SP2 renders both versions equal in the secuity department. If they force you, you can get an upgrade to XP Pro at Newegg for $84 as a college student.
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08-19-2004, 10:03 PM
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#3 |
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Red-eyed Moderator
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
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I would think that you just need an OS that supports logging into a domain... XP Home doesn't allow this.
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08-21-2004, 10:20 AM
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#4 | |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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Quote:
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08-21-2004, 10:49 AM
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#5 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville Beach, FL
Posts: 879
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If Linux will also work to get onto the network then you could always dual boot your current windows and Linux.. at least that way you don't have t oshell oout the $$ for XP pro
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08-21-2004, 11:17 AM
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#6 | |
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Red-eyed Moderator
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Quote:
Operating systems that support logging into a domain include pretty much everything... Windows 95,98,ME, NT, 2K, XP Pro, Linux, Unix, Mac OS, etc... EXCEPT WinXP Home does not |
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08-21-2004, 12:32 PM
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#7 |
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Member (7 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 108
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I would tend to agree with HAL, because I dont know any reason why they would need XP Pro(in fact I did not even know HAL reason
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08-21-2004, 12:40 PM
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#8 |
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Red-eyed Moderator
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
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I don't think they are requiring XP Pro, but rather, since computers are coming out with XP on them these days, they want you to know that you will need XP Pro to access their network and not to buy a machine with XP Home... or if you are upgrading, don't get Home thinking you're saving money, because you wont get on the network. I would say I'm 99.99% sure that what they are really saying is that you need an OS capable of logging into a domain.
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08-21-2004, 05:33 PM
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#9 |
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Member (14 bit)
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Christmas, Florida
Posts: 10,661
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I thought most schools had a student version of xp-pro at a very low price or free.
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08-21-2004, 06:58 PM
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#10 | |
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I am, in reality, a moose
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Location: RTP, NC
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within the next 12 to 18 months not only will you have to have the "approved" OS, you will also have to have it all patched up, an approved A/V product (also fully updated), a personal firewall and (possibly) an IDS agent running on you PC before you'll be allowed access to the network (as well as any other restrictions the network owners want to place on their users). It is called Network Admission Control: all LAN hardware will query a freshly connected device for this info and if you don't meet the approved profile, you will be denied access to the LAN. This is the big coming thing for alot of "enterprise" level networks. It will save network admins a lot of headaches from insecure machines infecting and negatively impacting the network.
Quote:
Last edited by mbossman2; 08-21-2004 at 07:19 PM. |
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08-23-2004, 06:25 PM
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#11 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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Ok I know what domain logging is, my old high school used to have it, so if domain logging is why they want everyone to have it and is needed to access the network than I guess I have no choice but to upgrade, or have no internet access! I am going to call the school and find out if this is the case and the reason why they want everyone to have it. I guess people who don’t have home are unaffected then. Also mbossman, you are correct, last year they made everyone install McAfee before you can get on the network as well, it did not help very much though because no one knew to update it. I don’t know if they will make everyone install McAfee or Norton again this year but if they do I am going to be pissed because I plan on purchasing NOD32 before I go back to school, and would much rather have that than McAfee. I guess I will just have to install McAfee to make them happy then either uninstall it or just use system restore to roll back the change. Is upgrading from home to pro going to be a big change for me? Or are there minimal differences for a “home” user like me?
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08-23-2004, 08:09 PM
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#12 |
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Member (9 bit)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 382
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Might also want to check out whether or not you can use some of the aforementioned operating systems for this (98SE being the most likely). I know nothing of this stuff, but since it has what XP Home doesn't, then it might be an option.
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08-23-2004, 08:15 PM
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#13 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Belgium
Posts: 873
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Mmmm, I thought the problem with XP Home was that it did not allow AUTOMATED login into domains ? Which means it should work if you're prepared to type in your login and password everytime. Just read about it, never tried it, but I'm pretty sure you can manually login into domains with XP Home.
In any case it sounds like your college is using the simplest (for them) method to administer their network : forced standard configs. Bet their admins are just lazy  Edit : seems like I was wrong. A quick google turned up this comparison. If your college is using Active directory then your only choice is XP or (perhaps) Windows 2000 Pro. Still is a very silly measure for security. Last edited by Mesaeus; 08-23-2004 at 08:19 PM. |
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08-23-2004, 08:18 PM
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#14 |
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Banned
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 350
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You probably have to be able to log onto domains, aswell as use remote desktop.
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08-23-2004, 09:18 PM
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#15 | |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: in the ghettos of downtown cleveland
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Quote:
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08-24-2004, 01:20 AM
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#16 |
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Forum Administrator
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Location: Joplin MO
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It's a privilege to log onto the school network, not your right. They may require you to do any number of things before they will allow you to log in, including specifying the approved (and mandatory) operating system, antivirus, etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum. You do not have a leg to stand on, don't argue, just comply and don't try to backdoor anything. You have to buy books, right? Well, you also have to buy software and maintain it to their specifications. Works the same way out in the corporate world - I do contract repair for Honeywell, they have standardized images for every single machine on their network and employees are not allowed to install any software without IT approval.
Sorry to sound harsh, but that's the reality of the issue. |
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08-24-2004, 04:22 AM
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#17 |
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Member (12 bit)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Woodland Hills, CA (suburb of Los Angeles)
Posts: 4,014
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. . . might want to call the college & see if there are several plans. Some schools will offer a temporary license for the above-mentioned $10, which is in effect only so long as you are attending classes at the college. The $84 USD price that Panama mentioned has been offered at NewEgg for quite some time, and is the lowest academic pricing I've seen that wasn't specific to a particular university [it's available to any qualifying college student]
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08-24-2004, 07:43 AM
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#18 |
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Banned
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 350
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It is easyer to maintain computers all running the same OS, and with XP pro, the IT staff can use remote desktop/remote assistance to fix some software problems.
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08-24-2004, 07:52 PM
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#19 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 18
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This user decided to talk about illegal software. Big mistake
Last edited by M. A. Dockter; 08-24-2004 at 08:19 PM. |
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08-24-2004, 08:23 PM
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#20 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Alaska
Posts: 903
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No, downloading it is illegal and anyone that has read the rules knows that is against forum policy. Not gonna last long here if you dont follow the rules.
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08-24-2004, 08:40 PM
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#21 |
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Member (5 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 18
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^^^ i was just joking around. Sorry dood,
it aint gonna happen again 1hunnet, |
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08-25-2004, 12:55 PM
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#22 |
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Banned
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 350
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Read the rules. there is a zero tolerance policy for warez.
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08-30-2004, 03:02 PM
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#23 |
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Member (11 bit)
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: lometa,tx.
Posts: 1,399
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check with college bookstore a friend attending Texas A & M purchased xp pro full version for $25 at there bookstore.
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08-30-2004, 03:15 PM
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#24 |
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Served with Pride
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Just set up a system for a student bound for Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Mich. They don't operate on a domain and his old 98se system is acceptable. They do require Norton Corporate AV version, Adaware and Spybot which they furnish for free on a setup disk. They offer XP Pro on a yearly license for $25/yr and MS Office 2003 for $10/yr. Someone in the dorm room has to furnish their own switch for more than one person to share the single network connection.
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08-30-2004, 03:43 PM
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#25 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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I go to school in about a week, I have two days off to move in and then two days of classes before the weekend again. I am not going to bring my computer up move in day, but I am going to talk to some people and see what’s up once I get there, if you really do need pro to access the network I guess I will have no choice but to buy it, install it at my house and then bring my computer up. If it’s anything like last year the network will not even be up for up three weeks anyway. And my school is offering it for $100 I think, so I guess I will probably just buy it there if I have to. I am still really mad that I have to go though a reinstall again, just for my stupid school!
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08-30-2004, 03:57 PM
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#26 |
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Served with Pride
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Join Date: Apr 2003
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Maybe give the tech department a call before you go. That's what we did with the FSU deal. That's how I discovered the stuff I posted above. He moved in Friday afternoon and Sat. All went well I'm told.
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08-30-2004, 04:38 PM
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#27 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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Yeah I was going to call them, but I can’t find a number. I will just talk to someone from the IT department about it when I get there, and find out for sure why they want it and if there can be any exceptions. I only live about 45 minutes from my school, so going home is no big deal. I would rather do something like install an OS at home where no one will be around to distract or bother me. That’s why I figure I mine as well leave the computer at home until I get everything figured out.
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09-01-2004, 03:27 PM
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#28 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 583
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Well one of my friends moved in early today and he said that he is online and it is working fine with XP Home. So it seems that they do not require domain logging. Who knows what the deal is now, maybe they decided not to require everyone to upgrade. This is why I am glad I am waiting and did not already run out buy and install pro.
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09-01-2004, 10:22 PM
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#29 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 579
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PLEASE DELETE
Last edited by Sharif; 09-01-2004 at 10:23 PM. Reason: WRONG THREAD |
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