Policy Central 5.1

[Michael]

Hello all,

 

I have some XP workstations which are randomly locking up/freezing. I can't even get Task Manager open and I'm forced to power off the workstation. The latest security hotfixes for July are applied, but I also noticed Policy Central has been silently upgraded to 5.1. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Windows 7 seems unaffected at the moment.

[stevenlong1985]

thanks for the early warning, I shall check the school laptops today and let you know

[Michael]

I've just ran the removal tool on two XP workstations and they've been OK for about 15 mins now. Before that they would totally freeze in less than 5 mins after logon.

[andy_b]

Upgraded to 5.1 on friday. Having reports of hard lock ups / freezing and Internet Explorer crashes.

 

Event log has many entries with Policy Central files causing exceptions.

 

Disabled it on a couple of machines to see if that solves problem.

 

Spoke to Link2ICT and they haven't had any other reports yet.

 

(We used to have a similar problem many releases ago too)

Edited July 17, 2012 by andy_b

[Michael]

Well it's been hours now and once I used the removal tool it cured it (on Windows XP). Not had any reports of lockups on Windows 7 as yet. I'll log a call with Link2ICT too as there's definitely a problem.

[Michael]

I've logged a call with Link2ICT so hopefully they'll put this deployment on hold. What OS are you running andy_b?

 

It definitely affects XP SP3, including all the latest patches. It was absolutely fine since PC 3.x and 4.x.

[andy_b]

Forgot to say - they are Windows XP clients too.

 

How did you remove the client? I have tried to run the setup file as per the help file but is complains that there is already a Forensic Software Product installed and then quits.

 

At the moment I am just removing registry settings to disable it.

[Michael]

PM Sent

[Michael]

I've been forced to create a startup script and deploy the uninstall utility to XP workstations as follows:

 

@echo off
\\servername\netlogon\Uninst.exe

 

This works successfully and stops the PCClient.exe process. It would have been nice to have some feedback from Link2ICT today (and hopefully they'll take my comments onboard). They're happy to deploy the update silently, but are far too slow in responding when problems occur. Without removing Policy Central 5.1 on XP, teachers cannot take the register, they can't use the whiteboard and they can't open or print documents. It locks up 5 mins after logon. It's really frustrating as this has happened in the past. Clearly no lessons have been learned

[ToyHeartsFan]

We are a Primary so Link2ICT host the software for us they updated the servers last week on tuesday and then deployed the updated client to our ICT Suite computers.

 

XP Pro SP3 - All updates installed via WSUS - As of yet no one has reported any problems.

 

We use the filtering part of policy cetral to a)stop the kids using youtube b)stop a generic account that Nursery / Reception children use being used to browse the web (i.e. it is in white-list mode).

 

The filtering part of policy central is broken our kids started using youtube and the restricted accounts now have full internet access. We were hoping that the upgrade to V5 would fix this but unfortunately the problem remains.

[Michael]

Are you 100% they're running PC 5.1? Not all XP machines I looked at had updated and there isn't a 5.1 MSI to deploy as yet.

 

Workstations running PC 4.x were fine, but I was forced to use the above script as eventually all will be updated to 5.1 and all hell would have broken loose! Not great when kids get to watch DVDs occasionally as it's their last week!

[jamin100]

You don't have to let link2ict host it. I'm at a primary and I have it installed on my servers locally.

 

I can choose how and when it updates.

 

I've updated the server to 5.1 but only deployed it to a small number of clients for testing

[ToyHeartsFan]

Are you 100% they're running PC 5.1? Not all XP machines I looked at had updated and there isn't a 5.1 MSI to deploy as yet.

 

Workstations running PC 4.x were fine, but I was forced to use the above script as eventually all will be updated to 5.1 and all hell would have broken loose! Not great when kids get to watch DVDs occasionally as it's their last week!

 

David deployed it to our Suite Machines (30) last week and it had updated ok but as far as I know the class room ones are still using the older client. No one has said there is a problem (thats not to say there isn't). The only thing I noticed today was that they hadn't all shut down (a shut down script should shut them down at17:00). I did try one just after he upgraded them to see if it had fixed the filtering problem (it hadn't) but didn't experience any other problems.

 

I will try testing one again tomorrow if I get time I'm snowed under atm squirrels eating fibre cables, EOY stuff, 2 faulty projectors, 30 refurbed PCs to install, new staff, etc etc etc...

[ToyHeartsFan]

You don't have to let link2ict host it. I'm at a primary and I have it installed on my servers locally.

 

I can choose how and when it updates.

 

I've updated the server to 5.1 but only deployed it to a small number of clients for testing

 

Are you using the filtering part at all? If you are is it working? Just asking because if its working for you it could mean its a server side problem rather than a policy central bug.

 

Do you have to pay more to host it yourself; I thought there was a licence issue and you had to buy it unless link2ict were hosting it?

I have logged calls in the past re the server side being slow to access via the web interface but that is supposed to improve with the new version but I guess it would work better hosted locally.

 

Policy central was a real pain when we first started to use it but it had been working ok for quite some time then I noticed screen captures from youtube which the kids shouldnt be able to access at all... If we end up with ipads / android devices we might need some sort of local filtering anyway because we cant use policy central on them (although they are supposed to be working on a client for ipads) .

[ToyHeartsFan]

. It would have been nice to have some feedback from Link2ICT today (and hopefully they'll take my comments onboard). They're happy to deploy the update silently, but are far too slow in responding when problems occur. Without removing Policy Central 5.1 on XP, teachers cannot take the register, they can't use the whiteboard and they can't open or print documents. It locks up 5 mins after logon. It's really frustrating as this has happened in the past. Clearly no lessons have been learned

 

I think its more of a Forensic problem than a link2ict problem it seems to be when microsoft release updates that a spanner gets thrown into the works. V4 was already broken for us (the filtering) and pushing V5 to our suite was an attempt to fix it I think David was being cautious by only allocating it to our Suite rather than site wide. I did email him today because the webinterface became unresponsive I imagine that he is rather busy trying to get it sorted but in turn he is relying on Forensic to fix it.

[Michael]

@ToyHeartsFan - to answer your other question, I don't have anything to do with Policy Central, other than to make sure it's installed. I leave the rest up to senior management per school. As far as I'm aware, no one uses filtering as you do.

 

I do agree it is directly a Forensic problem rather than Link2ICT, however, Link2ICT have taken the decision to deploy Forensic updates silently on networks they don't manage. It's incredibly high risk in my opinion. I'd much rather opt out and just be told to deploy a new MSI. This way I can test in-house myself, then deploy network wide. I haven't got the time to setup my own Policy Central server, or host it on any existing server. It's just another responsibility to my growing list!

 

The point is I work at numerous schools and if it wasn't for my quick thinking uninstalling Policy Central, the school I was at today would of basically had an unusable network. Workstations freezing left, right and centre which is unacceptable as I am sure you'll agree. I've logged a call with Link2ICT and not heard anything back today.

 

David always does a fab job I agree and my comments are not aimed at any individuals, but clearly a policy refresh is needed. Forensic do periodically publish buggy updates which are having disastrous implications on staff doing their jobs and pupils learning.

[ToyHeartsFan]

Strange...

 

I’ve just checked two PCs in our Suite at random in add remove programs it still shows the version as 4.1 because it was deployed by msi but on the task bar it shows it has upgraded to V5.1.3.

 

There are no errors in the event logs other than adobe flash player update service (thanks adobe arrgggh) and I spent a few mins opening various web sites including Eportal and nothing crashed! It would be nice if the filtering worked though…

[ToyHeartsFan]

@ToyHeartsFan The point is I work at numerous schools and if it wasn't for my quick thinking uninstalling Policy Central, the school I was at today would of basically had an unusable network. Workstations freezing left, right and centre which is unacceptable as I am sure you'll agree.

 

It does sound like the old Policy central bug - strange we don't seem to be having a problem yet. Only thing I can think of is to check your Sophos settings there were a number of exclusions you needed for policy central also HIPS scanning of suspicious files is off.

 

I'm just hoping that we don't start having the same problems and that they can fix the filtering bug.

[Michael]

The Sophos exceptions are in place, so I know what you're talking about As I say, as soon as PC was removed the computer worked as expected.

 

David's been in touch and he's put the deployment on hold for the time being

[Michael]

By conducting additional tests, there definitely appears to be an issue between IE9 on Windows 7 SP1 x86 with Policy Central 5.1.3.0.

 

Installing a revised update Policy Central 5.1.4.1 appears to resolve the problem and stops IE9 crashing frequently.

[ToyHeartsFan]

V5.1.3.0 worked ok for us until the last batch of Microsoft updates that were released during the summer holiday then I started getting reports of computers freezing / crashing (we are still using XP).

 

I allocated V5.1.4.1 which seemed to stop the freezing / crashing but now every time publisher 2003 (yes I know it's out of the ark) is opened it crashes.

 

“Microsoft Publisher has encountered a problem and needs to close”

 

Because publisher is working ok on the PC I use for package building (doesn’t have PCE installed) and the computers have the same microsoft updates / applications installed I’m pointing the finger at policy central as the likely cause of the problem.

 

Is anyone else having this problem? They have now decided that EES licence might be a good idea after all but want confirmation that if we upgrade office the problem will go away. So it would be great if someone could say yes they have publisher 2003 and its doing the same but they also have a machine with publisher 2007 / 2010 and thats working ok.

[stevenlong1985]

I can confirm. I am having an issue between IE9 on Windows 7 SP1 x64 with Policy Central 5.1.3.0.

PC locks up and wont go into task manager and requiring a hard reset happens a lot when using Eportal, just marking about 5 kids and it crashes

[alan-d]

We host PCE locally and after upgrading to V5 at the start of the summer break found that IE was taking an age to load (IE 8 and 9). We also moved it to a new 2008 server. As we were making some changes elsewhere, as one does during the summer break we didn't have time to figure out what was breaking what and how so reverted the whole lot back to V4.

Since then we found some of our other changes caused a few problems and have fixed those but reading this thread I'm glad I made the decision to revert to V4.

 

On a side note:- Do users of the V5 console find that it takes twice as long to sort through the captures? V4 was as easy as click on Total Unviewed captures and sort on type. V5 seems to want me to select from a number of dropdown menus to achieve the same result. Did I miss something (I don't have it installed anywhere at the moment)?

[ToyHeartsFan]

I can confirm. I am having an issue between IE9 on Windows 7 SP1 x64 with Policy Central 5.1.3.0.

PC locks up and wont go into task manager and requiring a hard reset happens a lot when using Eportal, just marking about 5 kids and it crashes

 

You should give V5.1.4.1 a go then just be aware it breaks Publisher 2003!

 

V5.1.4.1 stopped our freezing / crashing issue (on XP though) but broke Publisher 2003 Forensic are aware of the Publisher problem and are working on a fix. Speaking to David at link2ict so far the only version of Publisher that seems to have been broken is the 2003 version they have not had reports from people using newer versions of publisher.

 

As a temp work around David has added the publisher exe to the policy central exclusions list until Forensic release an update. This should stop it crashing if link2ict are hosting it for you. If you host it yourself and still use publisher 2003 you might want to add publlisher to the exclusion list until they release the next version.

[JonThompson]

We had an issue on Windows 7 clients with PCE version 5 (I think it was 5.1??), where it crashed IE and then the PC would grind to a halt. We skipped the update, and Forensic have since updated us to a newer version, but the console is still a little slow to respond. We are yet to turn Auto Update back on as we want to test it on a few PC's first. Luckily it was during the holidays so only affected a few admin PC's...