Windows 7 Migration

[Neil0121]

Hi Guys,

 

I am new to Edugeek but have heard great things about it!

I have just started a new role at a Junior School in Birmingham..We have 3 Servers running Server 2003SP2 with Staff and Pupil machines/Laptops running XP!?

As to update the systems has anyone had any experiance with migrating to Windows 7..As I said I am new to this IT Game it is only a small network...Just dont know where to start really?How easy it is etc?

 

Thanks

[cpjitservices]

Well I'd start first of all migrating the servers to Server 2008, I don't think Windows 7 runs well on a Server 2003 domain as most of the policies will be for XP not 7.

[witch]

I have a server 2003 with all Windows 7 machines (about 80) in a junior environment and all policies are applied fine. I migrated 40 machines from XP

Obviously server 2008 would be nice but dont let the lack of it put you off.

I migrated mine by rebuilding one and then imaging across the network. Worked very well.

[SYNACK]

Well I'd start first of all migrating the servers to Server 2008, I don't think Windows 7 runs well on a Server 2003 domain as most of the policies will be for XP not 7.

 

It runs fine under 2003 but I agree, it will be far easier to get everything up to speed with 2008R2 servers behind the scenes as you won't need to mess about with additional machines just for configuring stuff.

 

After that set up one or two workstations up manually for testing GPOs, look into WMI filtering and make new policies from scratch that apply to the new machines and users filtered to apply only to the newer OS - don't use older ones as they can corrupt and a good XP policy generally makes horrible messes of the 7 UI or are unstable (some settings can break layouts etc.).

 

For deployment look into MDT and WDS (free for Windows Server) so you can easily push drivers and software into images for deployment for the rest of the computers.

 

You'll need to check your printers, upgrade their drivers to the latest ones on the server and also add the 64bit drivers as well to head off problems in the future. Check any scanners around the school for compatibility too as their driver support is usually weak, a problem made worse by the fact they last forever so are lible to be old. Certain other hardware like Digital Blue stuff (horrible) and certain specialist software can also cause issues. You'll also want to make sure you have the latest version of an antivirus software as that can also cause a mass of issues.

[3s-gtech]

Make the distinction with Server 2008 versions - Server 2008 R2 is what you want if migrating to Windows 7. Nothing wrong with 2008 R1, but it's old (released between Vista and 7) and you should go for the newer version if doing the whole lot.

[mrbios]

Take one step backwards and evaluate all your hardware first, make sure both your servers and clients are up to the task of running windows 7/2008R2 effectively. Although it should run fine even on doggedly old hardware it's best to ensure you have at least the minimum requirements and do things in the right order.

 

Ignore the client side to begin with, get the server side up to scratch, ideally get a DC on 2008R2 but it's not overly important if you don't. For a small environment install something simple such as windows deployment services so you can roll out windows 7 easily (google for guides, there's lots of them). Once that's done work on the WDS setup + windows 7 group policies on a test system, this can take quite a while to get just right. Finally deploy away to your clients

[localzuk]

Check to ensure that all your server side software will support Windows 2008 R2 also. Print management, library software, any cashless systems etc... Check to see if anything will need doing with these sort of things.

[IanT]

Well I'd start first of all migrating the servers to Server 2008, I don't think Windows 7 runs well on a Server 2003 domain as most of the policies will be for XP not 7.

 

I've got Windows 7 on a 2003 R2 domain fine