[Samba] Tip and Workaround: UPS World Ship refuses to help with XP

[ToddAndMargo]

On 10/22/2017 02:14 PM, Rowland Penny via samba wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:36:01 -0700
> ToddAndMargo via samba <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:
> 
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I replaced a Linux file server at a company last month.
>> Both server had to be active at the same time to transition,
>> so the new server got a new name.
>>
>> The customer client computers are all XP still.  The machine
>> with the client UPS World Ship stopped working as it
>> kept looking for the old server.  I replaced every instance
>> of the old server's name with the new server in the registry.
>> That did not work.  Checked all the INI files and there was no
>> server path in any of them (superfinder XT).
>>
>> I called UPS' tech support and they refused to help until
>> we upgraded.  They said to use the web edition until
>> then.  I added "and FedEx too".  That startled them.
>> They deserved that.
>>
>> Then it occurred to me, now that the old server has been
>> retired, I could take advantage of Samba's
>>
>>      netbios aliases
>>
>> feature.  I aliases the new server with the old
>> server's name.  Windows Explorer now shows two servers
>> in network.
>>
>> And, problem solved.  Chuckle.
>>
>> The customer should upgrade anyway, as M$ is playing such
>> hardball that who knows what else will stop working in the
>> future.
>>
>> -T
>>
> 
> I can sort of understand why the UPS support team didn't want to help.
> If something went wrong, your customer might try and blame them.
> 
> There is also the point, every time you fix something like this,
> it defers the XP upgrade. I know it is really out of your hands, but
> there will come a time that you cannot fix the problem and it will
> probably occur at the most inconvenient moment.
> 
> Your customer really needs to understand that Microsoft will not
> provide support for XP, so printer manufacturers etc are not writing
> XP drivers any more. If a printer was to terminally fail and its
> replacement didn't come with XP drivers, what will your customer
> do ?
> 
> There is also the point that Windows is now 64bit and your XP
> machines are highly likely to be 32bit.
> 
> A phased XP replacement will cost less in the long run.
> 
> Rowland
>        
> 


I completely agree.