Removing Ranger

We are looking to remove Ranger (or most of it!) from our Network over the next 8 months and going native MS.

We run XP clients and 2003 servers with Roamig profiles (for the time being but that's another project :) )

What I would like to know is:

Has anyone gone through this process? if so where did you start and what problems you encountered along the way. We are using version 5.1

I'd rather do this gradually so as not to leave any gaping holes in security.

Oh and what apps did you put in place to carry out the functions that Ranger did but MS couldn't.

Thanks

I was running 2K servers and mostly XP clients (some 2K) when I removed Ranger.

IIRC I simply used the uninstall function in Add/Remove programs - worked like a dream.

Of course, I had configured all my GPOs first and was running those alongside Ranger (I generally tighten my systems more than Ranger does).

As for extras, I didn't use Ranger Remote - I used NetSupport which is the technology that Ranger license. I kept Ranger Print Manager (flaky as it was because it did the job) and most other bits and pieces were just scripted.

Alan,

You can contact Fairham Community College 0115 9744 400 (Barry Smith).. he successfully removed 5.1 from the network not long ago.

Also, Hadden Park High School 0115 9135 211 (Simon Hughes).. who also removed it.

I think Hadden had a few uninstall problems, and had to format a few pc's though.

Both would be happy to help you.

Jon

I know this thread is a bit old now, but here goes.......

We are moving from Ranger to a Vanilla set up on a 2003 server.

We have removed Ranger from the clients and from the server, set up the group policies.

When we try to login we get an error message ....

server\ranger\profiles\.....\desktop is not accessible

We click on ok and can still access the users work, but naturally the desktop is not set up and the programs list is empty.

We have looked around and cannot find where the instruction to look for the ranger desktop is coming from.

Now this is on a machine that has never had Ranger on before.

If we put the ranger folder back on the server, the error disappears, but this isn't really the aim.


Can anyone (kindly) suggest where we are going wrong?

Many thanks

The desktop redirection is simply a GPO, can't remember where though.

Just make a new share with the desktop you want and point the group policy setting towards it.

Thanks, I appreciate your time.

The problem seems to be that although GPO have been applied, they are not taking hold on machines.

And there seems to be something somewhere that wants to look at the old Ranger folder.

ranger makes the settings in the registry, Ideally you should jsut rebuild the machine as vanilla as the settings remain after ranger has gone. You can try deleting the local profiles to see if that makes a difference.

Bless you, but these machines has been rebuilt from scratch, with a new hard drive, profiles deleted as well.

Thanks for the suggestions

My advice is to get rid of anything that says 'ranger', wherever it is. Eemove it from any shortcuts, create new redirects, and do things as freshly as possible.

If not, you may find that the legacy of a partially removed ranger is not pleasant!

are you using roaming profiles?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by strawberry

are you using roaming profiles?

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Yes we are, although we are moving to mandatory for the pupils as soon as poss.

Can I just thank everyone for the help. We have solved the problem of the GPOs not applying, somebody hadn't moved the clients into the correct OU :doh:

We still need to work on the issue of it looking for the Ranger desktop, temporarily we have put the folder back. So we have a functioning, secure network.

Rocknrollstar, thanks I will pass on your message to my colleagues.

Have a nice weekend all.

Removing Ranger is a simple process, just logon as the RangerRemove user on all of your PC's to remove the client first!

Once they are all free of it just uninstall the server app.

There is nothing else to do and youre as native as it gets!

Then you just have to set everything up how you want it.

As a management overlay I think it is about as good as they come but it has not changed much since the NT4 days and like a wobbly tooth it's time it was pulled.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by m25man

Removing Ranger is a simple process, just logon as the RangerRemove user on all of your PC's to remove the client first!

Once they are all free of it just uninstall the server app.

There is nothing else to do and youre as native as it gets!

Then you just have to set everything up how you want it.

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Thanks, as we followed exactly those steps at least we appear to have done that bit right!

Unfortunately, there is just this hangover were on logon the client (even a completely new one that never had ranger on) that wants to look for the old Ranger fault.

the reg settings are in the roaming profiles, recreate!.

That would make sense.

Thank you. I'll let you know how it goes.