Opinion requested Re MS Security Updates 2

[justauser2004]

I have just taken over management for a small network(50 PCs). 35 of them are running 98, 4 on ME, 1 on 2000 pro and 10 on XP pro. I would like to run the MS critical security updates on all but cannot afford the masses of time it would take per PC. (All of the 98 PCs are more than 3 years old and VERY SLOW.) What approach would people take to get them all patched over a period of, let's say, 2-4 weeks?

The two 98 machines I looked at today were 20 critical updates behind. This is probably typical. Ugh.

Any insights or other resources I should look at and read would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[jrbarnett]

Does the network have a server or is it a peer to peer?
If you have a server running Windows 2000 or 2003 Server, you can host Software update services on it, which can distribute updates around the network.

http://www.susserver.com/

John

 

[justauser2004]

We are still, sadly, on NT 4.0. Might be yet another reason to migrate to 2003. It can update 98 machines and go through the process of restarting them etc? What about the criticals that need to be installed alone-can it manage that? I'll read up on it. Thanks for the link and advice.....

 

[jrbarnett]

I'm not that familiar with SUS yet, have not got to that chapter in my MCSA books or tried using it myself, but I will definitely get around to it soon.
I do know though it is due to be replaced with a program called WUS (Windowsupdate Services) which in addition to Windows updates, will also do patching and service packing of backoffice (eg SQL Server, Exchange) and office applications.

John

 

[GlenJohnson]

Check out
MS Security update cd.
It's supposed to be able to work on all the platforms your using. Burn some copies, or get extra, and use them. (Not sure if you could put it on a network.) FYI, you might want to install something like Tight VNC on your users. It's a free download so you can manage you're users pc's from your machine. (They do ask for donations.) Good luck.

Glen A. Johnson
If you're from Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin check out Tek-Tips in Chicago, Illinois Forum.

TTinChicago

http://www.johnsoncomputers.us

 

[Packet7]

Hello,

We have been using it (2003 Server - no AD) for 6 months now and haven't had any issues with Virus, etc. I would recommend configuring two groups on the SUS box, a small test group and everyone else. When your updated, push it out to the test group so you can test and monitor your applications (we wait 24 hrs) and then push it out to the rest. Has been working well for us. Hope this helps.

Rgds,

John

 

[rosieb]

jrbarnett

If you install SUS, it changes some of the default settings on IIS. This affects any previously installed applications.

I lost another web-based application - took a while to put two and two together, it disables parent directories (I think, and another option) easily changed back for each application - but worth being aware of.


Rosie
"Never express yourself more clearly than you think" (Niels Bohr)

 

[jrbarnett]

Thank you for that information Rosieb, I was not aware of that.

John