Removing Policy Central Client

[oxide54]

Hi Guys,

 

Great forum you've got here btw. Shame the LEA blocks it!

 

The previous guy doing my job decided to install the policy central client on everything: servers and all.

 

Well anyway the whole system was such a mess I rebuilt all the servers new windows domain etc. and re-imaged the client machines. The only server I didn't rebuild was SIMS. i'm trying to avoid that at all costs.

 

I went to do the SOLUS / December upgrade for SIMS and it couldn't download the update. Which I though was a bit strange, given that i could ping, ftp, and even telnet port 80 and 443 to external address. After pulling out most of my hair I noticed the PCCLIENT.EXE running in task manager. Searching through the registry etc I cant find a service related to this. And I can't kill it via task manager.

 

I booted a windows PE cd and removed the c:\windows\system32\PCENT directory. Restarted the server and volia the solus upgrade ran fine. But within half an hour PCCLIENT.EXE was running again. and the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\PCENT directory was back.

 

So I'm pressuming there must be another service, executable running that spawns the PCCLIENT.EXE.

 

Any ideas?

 

Many thanks in advance for your time

 

Conrad

[adamf]

Is this Policy Central Enterprise from Forensic Software? In the admin console do you have a user called "uninstall"? We had problems removing it from a machine when we were testing and it was because we didn't have this user in the console.

 

It needs to be an Admin user and I think the password can be anything you like. Now when you use the uninstall option from the remote deploy utility you should be able to get rid of it - it might require a couple of reboots!

 

Hope that helps.

[oxide54]

I don't have a policy central sever installed anymore.

[alan-d]

I don't have a policy central sever installed anymore.

 

I presume you've checked that the msi (if originally deployed this way) is switched off? If so your only real hope is a registry edit. Give Forensics a call.

 

Alternatively reinstall the software and hope it will uninstall it from the console.

[oxide54]

I presume you've checked that the msi (if originally deployed this way) is switched off?

 

If you mean MSI delpoyed via group policy. It can't be the server is in a different AD domain. The old domain is dead.

 

I might try booting to windows PE and setting the permissions of the PCENT directory to deny everyone, if thats possible from PE.

 

Alternatively reinstall the software and hope it will uninstall it from the console.

 

Might have to.

 

Cheers for the replys. If i Do work it out I'll post the answer.

[Michael]

I raised this query with Birmingham council, who recently installed Policy Central in all Birmingham schools. Using the 'Uninstall' function from the console doesn't work as intended and the only route was to uninstall by running the Setup.exe file within the PCClient share. This did require a username and password, but it did work.

 

It really shouldn't be installed on servers by only on workstations. Myself and other colleagues have recently discovered a conflict between Policy Central and opening a PDF within Internet Explorer. It does so, but incredibly slow. I know that Forensic Software are working on a patch, however this is a good example of why it shouldn't be installed on servers. Only critical applications/services should be installed.

[oxide54]

It really shouldn't be installed on servers by only on workstations.

 

The bloke also kept his whole software collection in the simsroot share.!!!!

The only reason i guess is because the share is mapped for all staff users was easier to get to. But it does say something about his regard for what should and shouldn't be installed on servers.

 

Oh the sysvol was about 4gb.!!!!!

[colio66]

The only way to uninstall the PoicyCentral client is via an uninstaller which Forensics supply and update on a monthly basis. I work in a small Secondary and sometimes have to knick a curriculum machine for an office.

 

Try an email to this guy, Paul Panter - [email protected], he’s really helpful and will send you the March edition of the uninstaller once he’s made sure you’re not a student!!

[Michael]

The bloke also kept his whole software collection in the simsroot share.!!!!

The only reason i guess is because the share is mapped for all staff users was easier to get to. But it does say something about his regard for what should and shouldn't be installed on servers.

 

Oh the sysvol was about 4gb.!!!!!

 

This really isn't a good idea. It takes seconds to create a new share and map a new drive. Who are you referring to by "The bloke?"

 

As for Sysvol, if there were multiple domain controllers this would create a massive slow down as replication was taking place. Again, really not a good idea at all.