[RASMB] Windows XP - unsupported from April 2014

John Philo jphilo at mailway.com
Fri Apr 4 10:31:02 PDT 2014


Actually my earlier message got truncated (an annoying Microsoft bug for
those of us using Outlook 2003 caused by their update to IE version 11). I
was trying to suggest exact what Andrew Leech said, keep the instrument
computer on the network but isolated from the external Internet. 
 
Also note that it appears that Norton, and presumably other 3rd party
providers of security software, are not terminating support for XP (at least
not now).

  _____  

From: rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org [mailto:rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org] On
Behalf Of John Burgner
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 9:02 AM
To: rasmb at list.rasmb.org
Subject: Re: [RASMB] Windows XP - unsupported from April 2014



We have used John's suggestion for the past 5 years on the medical school
campus  VCU and have not used MS or  VCU IT support at all.  We require
people to download the data with flash drives. This is not entirely risk
free since flash drives can act as a vector as well.  We do occasionally see
a seemingly non-malicious virus show up that seems to prevent the flash
drive from ejecting. We use the free version of MalwareBytes to scrub the
hard drive but it will not clean the flash drive: gotta pay dollars for
that. Probably writing only once to a cd would be the safest. 

John Burgner

 

From: rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org [mailto:rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org] On
Behalf Of John Philo
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 11:36 AM
To: 'Perkins, Stephen'; rasmb at list.rasmb.org
Subject: Re: [RASMB] Windows XP - unsupported from April 2014

 

One comment on the Win XP situation is that termination of MS support it is
only a "problem" in the sense that they will no longer provide patches to
fix vulnerabilities to hacking attacks. If the instrument is not connected
to the Internet that can't be a threat. 

 

  _____  

From: rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org [mailto:rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org] On
Behalf Of Laue, Thomas
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 7:57 AM
To: Glen Ramsay; Perkins, Stephen; rasmb at list.rasmb.org
Subject: Re: [RASMB] Windows XP - unsupported from April 2014

Hi all-
I will strongly second Glen's e-mail. 
Going from XP to either Win 7 or 8 can be a nightmare due to changes in
hardware drivers, changes to how threading is done and changes in how the
operating system handles user access control. 
Microsoft's stopping support on Win XP, while not a surprise, is a huge
problem. A majority of instruments run on XP (95% of ATMs use it), and
everyone is floundering with how to handle the problem. 
Best to all-
Tom

  _____  

From: rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org [rasmb-bounces at list.rasmb.org] on behalf
of Glen Ramsay [glen at avivbiomedical.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2014 3:34 PM
To: Perkins, Stephen; rasmb at list.rasmb.org
Subject: Re: [RASMB] Windows XP - unsupported from April 2014

Dear RASMB Folks:

Experience is proving that updating to Windows 7 is more complicated than
desired.  Although the Windows updater may run, or the Windows System 7
Update Advisor <http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20>
may say an update is possible, the needs of the analog-to-digit (A/D) boards
inside the computer may exceed what Windows checks for.  Therefore, there
could be problems after the Windows 7 update.  

The A/D board manufacturer suggests using computers that have approved by
the computer manufacturer for Windows 7.  Anything less than this may not
work.  The computer model can be obtained from a label on the chassis, or
from a screen display during the boot-up.  Searching the computer
manufacturer's web site for that model will show the drivers and other
software support.  If Windows 7 is not listed, then the ability to support
the updated A/D drivers is in doubt.

If an update is not possible, then the options are to continue churning on
with Windows XP, or replacing the computer.  Please, do not try "upgrading"
with a used computer: this approach is prone to inheriting the problems from
another time.

Aviv's policy is to try to support our products for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, events beyond our control may age-out older technology.  If
you have any questions, or need help, then please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,
Glen


At 08:50 AM 3/19/2014, Perkins, Stephen wrote:




Dear RASMB-ers
 
In my institution, we have been emailed by our central IT Department about
the termination of Windows XP support from April 2014. Apparently if we are
to continue with Windows XP on our AUC machines, we have to register these
networked Windows XP machines with our central IT. Understandably, we are
being advised by our IT to migrate to Windows 7 if possible.
 
We have emailed Beckman-Coulter several times. We have not been successful
so far in finding out whether we can upgrade our PC's on our two XL-I
machines to Windows 7, although the inquiry is with the Beckman engineers.
Does anyone know whether this is possible, yet leave our AUC machines
operational? 
 
A Chief Engineer from Beckman USA did however point out that Beckman has
enough Win XP licences to cover itself for the next five years. So they will
support Win XP software. 
 
For the FDS, Glen Ramsay has already confirmed that we can upgrade to 32-bit
Windows 7 on the AVIV-provided PC. 
 
Thoughts will be most welcome
 
All the best to everyone - we really enjoyed the Tokyo meeting - especially
that late-night bar at sea level!
 
Steve Perkins and Jayesh Gor
_______________________________________________


   Glen Ramsay, Ph.D.
   Chief Scientist
   Aviv Biomedical, Inc.
   750 Vassar Avenue, Suite #2
   Lakewood, NJ 08701
   (732) 370-1300, Ext. 25
   (732) 370-1303, FAX
   glen at avivbiomedical.com
   www.avivbiomedical.com <http://www.avivbiomedical.com/> 
   Skype: GlenAtAviv

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