New Clerk PC hardware - 2021

[Mikerowaved]

...if they didn't renew the license for clerk machines, they're installing unlicensed software.

I don't follow. Which software is unlicensed?

[russellhltn]

...if they didn't renew the license for clerk machines, they're installing unlicensed software.

I don't follow. Which software is unlicensed?

Sophos. If they haven't renewed the license, then they are violating the license by installing it. I'm hoping the legal angle will add some urgency.

[Mikerowaved]

Sophos. If they haven't renewed the license, then they are violating the license by installing it. I'm hoping the legal angle will add some urgency.

They might use Sophos elsewhere and have an enterprise-type account, getting charged per device it's installed on.

Have you seen Sophos appear yet? If it's not showing up in your system tray, take look at services.msc.

[russellhltn]

Sophos didn't appear on the second machine, but it might not have "baked in" long enough to get the order. Installing 20H1 from disk really shortened the amount of time it had to be on and connected.

The first machine still has it.

I called GSD to see what could be done. They suggesting using add/remove programs. But to do that, I have to disable the anti-tamper. To do that, I need the anti-tamper password. To get that, I have to call GSD. Since the password is unique for each machine, they have to get it from the Sophos control panel. But that computer isn't showing up.

They suggesting letting it run for a few more days to see if it either uninstalls or shows up in their console.

[Mikerowaved]

Sophos didn't appear on the second machine, but it might not have "baked in" long enough to get the order.

That's probably the case. It doesn't show up in the toolbar until later, but when checking the install timestamp, I saw it was installed pretty far back in the process.

I called GSD to see what could be done. They suggesting using add/remove programs. But to do that, I have to disable the anti-tamper. To do that, I need the anti-tamper password. To get that, I have to call GSD. Since the password is unique for each machine, they have to get it from the Sophos control panel. But that computer isn't showing up.

Nice to know someone there knows how to access the Sophos console. That should simplify the uninstall process.

[russellhltn]

Nice to know someone there knows how to access the Sophos console. That should simplify the uninstall process.

Well, the first guy I talked to knew how. The second guy I called a few days later didn't. I asked to have it escalated. We'll see what happens.

I just did 5 more machines today and letting them sit overnight for any additional updates. If they don't get Sophos, I'll deploy them. If I don't get a solution soon, I'm going to take my last machine and capture a factory image. Then I'll re-image my problem machine.

Any luck on your side?

[Mikerowaved]

If I don't get a solution soon, I'm going to take my last machine and capture a factory image. Then I'll re-image my problem machine.

Uhhh... not a good idea. I just sent you a PM regarding this a few minutes ago.

[russellhltn]

If I don't get a solution soon, I'm going to take my last machine and capture a factory image. Then I'll re-image my problem machine.

Uhhh... not a good idea. I just sent you a PM regarding this a few minutes ago.

Thanks for the warning, but I wouldn't be re-installing. I would be copying the pre-power up disk image. It should power up the same way as when it was unboxed.

I'm appreciating the image. Quit a bit of the usual MS fluff (such as games) are not present. Going with a stock Windows install would be a pain.

[russellhltn]

Correction, I set up 4 more machines, not 5. Of them, 3 installed Sophos overnight. Edit: another one installed. So now I'm only 1 for 6 in getting expected results.

I've stumbled upon another tool. Start > Microsoft Endpoint Manager > Software Center. It seems to have various features related to management. On all machines, "compliance" fails with some kind error.

Interestingly, the Apps available in Software Center is different on different machines. And it matches which ones got Sophos. Edit, this changed.

At this point, I'm getting the idea that the underlying issue may be that the system is confusing "Workforce" and "Local Unit" computers. Remember how we suddenly had to start adding ".\" in front of the login name?

[craiggsmith]

I also got 6 new machines 2 weeks ago. Strangely they have not all had the same behavior, but eventually 5 of the 6 updated to 20H2. From what I see on the web I'll probably have to use the media creation tool to update the one that failed.

Odd how the provisioning tool only displays for 2 seconds and then starts, not time enough to even see what it's doing. I also thought it was odd that all the computers started up without hitting the power button but rather just by plugging them in. I assume that's configurable.

I saw one notice about a Sophos update but I'm not actually sure it was installed on all of them, I didn't see it listed anywhere, but I'll check them all again tonight and let them run to see if they have any updates. The sleep timer was set to 30 minutes, not enough time to get updates it seems.

At least these have SSDs.