Network Computing
Issue 33 - September 2002
Operating System Upgrade to Windows XP
By Raymond Poon

Microsoft will soon cease its support on Windows 98 (Win98) and a lot of hardware and software, especially the new ones, will be better supported under Windows XP (WinXP). More importantly, the Banner 5, which is scheduled to go live in September 2002, will not run under Win98. As a result, the University is inevitably prompted to phase out Win98 shortly and to cease the support for Windows 2000 (Win2K) within the next few months.

As such, a campus-wide operating system upgrade to WinXP for all client PCs on staff LAN will be launched in 1 September 2002 and may take 2 to 3 months to complete. Staff training on WinXP will be conducted regularly until the upgrade has been completed. Training sessions will start in mid-September and their schedules be announced shortly through network message. Staff are encouraged to upgrade their PCs themselves as soon as possible. Upgrade instructions can be found at "http://www.cityu.edu.hk/itdev/XP/stafflan/" while the option for invoking the upgrade is available at the "Software Tools & Utilities" menu in the Intranet.

Since many departments may not feel comfortable with staff doing the upgrade themselves, an External Service Provider (ESP) has been appointed to carry out some or all upgrade work for departments when needed. A central fund has also been made available to finance the upgrade work. As the fund will not be sufficient to cover all requirements of all departments, only the following "standard upgrade package" will therefore be provided to departments free of charge:

  • The minimum configuration requirement for the PCs to be upgraded must at least be a Pentium III machine with a CPU speed of 500Mhz and 128MB RAM. Departments with staff LAN PCs that otherwise meet this requirement except for the size of RAM can request the Computing Services Centre (CSC) to upgrade their memory to128MB free of charge.

  • Only staff's desktop PCs on Staff LAN will be upgraded.

  • Only upgrade from either Win98 or Win2K to WinXP environment will be provided.

  • The centrally provided client software will be upgraded and installed at the same time as the operating system. Installation of a reasonable number of non-centrally provided client software will also be covered.

  • Reborn cards currently installed on Staff LAN PCs will be removed during the upgrade in order to eliminate compatibility problems with the new WinXP file system.

While the package should be sufficient for most of the staff machines, however, should some machines in departments require work above or deviated from the standard coverage, the CSC can negotiate with the ESP, on behalf of departments, on any such work. However, any service charge incurred in excess of the standard provision will be fully borne by departments. Below are examples of some such service work:

  • WinXP upgrade for PCs fail to meet the minimum configuration requirement

  • WinXP upgrade for portables and notebooks

  • WinXP upgrade for PCs on Student LANs

  • PC with Win95 or WinME being upgraded to WinXP

  • Use of new hard disk for installing the WinXP

To ensure a smooth operating system upgrade, the following preparation work prior to the upgrade are recommended:

  • Each department should nominate a staff member, served as the coordinator, to liaise with the CSC on matters related to this upgrade.

  • The minimum configuration requirement for the PCs to be upgraded must at least be a Pentium III machine with a CPU speed of 500Mhz and 128MB RAM. Departments with staff LAN PCs that otherwise meet this requirement except for the size of RAM can request the CSC to upgrade their memory to128MB free of charge.

  • Visit "http://www.cityu.edu.hk/itdev/XP/stafflan/" to check whether any hardware and software used by departments are known to be incompatible to XP. If found, allocate sufficient funding to either upgrade or replace such incompatible hardware and/or software.

  • Should a department need Chinese environment under Win XP, the CSC recommends it to install English WinXP with Multi-language pack as opposed to install native Chinese WinXP because the CSC at present can only provide very limited support and network services under the native Chinese Win XP (both Simplified and Traditional versions).

  • Staff should do the backup themselves prior to the upgrade even though the ESP will also do so for them as the ESP will only keep the contents of the backup for 3 days.

  • If a department opts to use new hard disks for the upgrade (for details, please consult your Departmental Network Administrator (DNA)), either the department provides its own hard disks and cables, or pay for the costs of the hard disks (e.g. the current market price for a 60GB hard disk with cable is around HK$700 per unit).

  • Should a department opt to use self-provided hard disks for the upgrade, make sure the disk cables are long enough and there are empty bays and disk controller ports on the target PCs for the installation of the additional hard disks. There may be charge incurred should the ESP be asked to do the hardware installation.

  • Should a department require quotations on any installation or upgrade work that are either not covered by or deviated from the standard upgrade, please send the list of work to your CSC Representative before the upgrade so that CSC can negotiate with the ESP on behalf of departments in a timely manner.

  • Staff's presence will be required both at the beginning and at the end of the upgrade process for entering their existing and new passwords respectively unless someone in the department can do it on their behalf. Hence each department should prepare a list of passwords that belong to those staff that will be absent during the upgrade and should remind them to change their passwords after the upgrade.

  • As the estimated time for the upgrade is at least 3 hours per PC and the ESP can only upgrade a limited number of PCs at a time, departments, if necessary, should plan ahead the upgrade priorities among PCs.

  • Staff training on WinXP will be available in mid-September. Should departments have specific training needs, they should bring to CSC's attention during the project meeting prior to the upgrade. Once the schedules of these training sessions are known, departments may need to work out a plan for staff to attend these training sessions in turn.

  • Besides the upgrade of operating system, the ESP will also label and record all PCs that are or will be under the CSC support no matter whether the operating systems of these PCs will be upgraded in this exercise. Each department is therefore requested to have either a list showing the locations of these PCs or someone who can lead the ESP to such locations.

Should you have any query on this upgrade, please contact your DNA or the CSC Help Desk at 27887658.
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