[Leaplist] centrally manage Windows XP Home?

[Ray Brunkow]

Jason Boxman wrote:
> Ray wrote:
>   
>> Jason Boxman wrote:
>>     
>>> Is anyone doing any interesting centralization of management for Windows
>>> XP
>>> Home based systems with Samba and any other friends?
>>>
>>>       
>> XP Home is very limited to what it can and can not do for networking.
>> IIRC it has something like 4 - 8 shares max.  A share includes mapped
>> drives, network printers, etc...  For windows networking power you need
>> either win2k pro or winXP Pro, not winXP Home.  Home is not built to
>> network.
>>     
>
> It's not possible to run a batch file or something at startup that maps some
> drives?
>
>   
no need to run a batch file, but yes you can do this.  when you map a 
network share (drive, printer, etc.) there should be a check box option 
to automatically connect at login.
>>> As far as I know, without a domain you're stuck using old school workgroup
>>> based stuff.  I'd like to at least be able to mount a couple of Samba
>>> shares
>>> at system start time.
>>>
>>> I'd be nice to centralize configuration of Thunderbird somehow; does it
>>> have
>>> any tools for handling that kind of thing?  Each system ought to have the
>>> same set of mail accounts.  It's a small business and people might roam
>>> between systems sometimes.
>>>
>>>       
>> Again you are looking at doing something that requires a DC (domain
>> controller) in order to get roaming profiles up and running.  this CAN
>> NOT  be done with winXP Home.  you MUST use win2k pro or XP Pro for
>> either of those options to work, plus you will need either win2k or
>> win2k3 server running as a DC, thus using AD (active directory)
>>     
>
> I wouldn't think you necessarily need any special support from Windows for
> Thunderbird to support some 'Enterprise' type stuff.
>   
Thunderbird has, to my knowledge, no enterprise capabilities.  running 
IMAP as your e-mail is about as close as it will come.  You do not have 
a central database for address books, or contacts, or any of the 
"Outlook/Exchange" tools that you do with enterprise tools.  There are 
some OSS enterprise mail server client combos out there, but i do not 
think they are free.
>   
>>> Is it possible to sync up stuff like start menu entries and desktop icons,
>>> or
>>> is that relegated also to the domain of using Active Directory?  I can't
>>> see
>>> justifying buying three or four copies of XP Professional, so I'm stuck
>>> with
>>> workgroups.
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> see above.  as for buying 3 or 4 copies, just buy 1 corp. edition.  they
>> come with 5 license and you are set.  again without win2k or 2k3 server
>> and an AD  you are not going to be able to accomplish what you are
>> looking for.
>>     
>
> Interesting -- that might be worth it.  I'll have to see how much that'll cost.
>   
Last I looked a 5 license winXP Pro Corp. ran in the $500 - $750 
range.   Good luck finding one now that Vista is all the rage in Redmond.
>   
>>> I'd run Linux on every desktop, but there's a not insubstantial quantify
>>> of
>>> proprietary domain specific software that only runs under Windows in play,
>>> along with Quick Books Pro and the necessity of opening Office formats in
>>> whatever the latest version may be.
>>>
>>>       
>> HUH???  you can get Quick Books Pro to run under crossover office with
>> some distros without any issues at all.  as for the "Not insubstantial
>> quantify of pro...."  huh?
>>     
>
> That's true, but there's a substantial number of poorly written applications
> that are industry specific that must run.  I fear attempting to run those
> under CrossOver or trying to explain why they don't "Just Work".  Moving to
> Linux desktops is an unlikely step presently.
>   
Got ya, been there done that.  upgrading to winXP Pro and putting in a 
win2k or 2k3 server as a DC running AD will go a long ways to helping 
secure the user level, the network, and make life much simpler to 
manage.  If you need help with that, this is one of the things i do.
>   
>>> Also, are there any worthwhile things that might improve process workflow?
>>>  I
>>> haven't messed with it yet, but I get the impression Google's Desktop
>>> Search
>>> will search email?  Stuff like that for Windows would be useful.  (This
>>> mail
>>> is all on IMAP, though.)
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> google desktop is not bad nor is their office suite they are producing,
>> but what exactly are you looking to accomplish with google desktop search?
>>     
>
> Tracking down stuff in WordPerfect documents when you don't remember the
> filename; stuff like that.  I'm probably going to reorganize the file
> hierarchy.
>
>   
Again with a true server you can centralize the files and make life 
simpler for everyone.  By setting up a file server (SAMBA or win2k or 
2k3) then mapping out the shares makes it easier to locate files and 
what not.  Then it is just a matter of training the staff to save things 
were they belong.  One thing that Open Office does well is remember were 
you saved your last file and will automatically try to save the next 
document in the same location.

Example:

Document A is opened from //serverIP/sharename/documentA.odt

then when you create Document B OOo will automatically try to save it to:

//serverIP/sharename/

and wait for a name for the new document.

To sum things up:

1.  winXP Home will not work for what you want to do.
2.  win2k pro or XP Pro will do what you want/need to do.
3.  roaming profiles requires a domain controller AND active directory
4.  for enterprise e-mail client/server combinations you need to buy 
enterprise server software.  IMAP is as close as you can get to 
enterprise e-mail in thunderbird, but you still will not have shared 
address books, contact lists, etc...
5.  better file structure will be better then adding more 3rd party 
software to an already bloated OS.


>
> _______________________________________________
> Leaplist mailing list
> Leaplist at leap-cf.org
> http://lists.leap-cf.org/mailman/listinfo/leaplist
>   


-- 
Raymond L. Brunkow
5th Degree Black Belt
Chief Instructor and owner
Sun State Martial Arts, LLC.
http://www.ssma.us
(407) 786-2525
(407) 699-5522

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.leap-cf.org/pipermail/leaplist/attachments/20070912/f476dcb2/attachment.html