Solved Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?
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Of course, after writing that - I wonder, do you really need a domain at all? What will you gain from having it?Would you be better offer using something like Atera RMM and NextCloud or O365 with Sharepoint/OneDrive for Business, etc?yeah nevermind, I was confusing threads.
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You should really buy a block of 3-4 hours to talk with a consultant to help you map out and understand Active Directory. It would go a long way to save you and your company time and money down the road.
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@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Of course, after writing that - I wonder, do you really need a domain at all? What will you gain from having it?
Would you be better offer using something like Atera RMM and NextCloud or O365 with Sharepoint/OneDrive for Business, etc?
I am assuming they have multiple IT admins which means they have a decent sized network. Could you manage a network that size without a domain, certainly. However managing workstations from a domain is much easier.
If you aren't familiar with group policy and scripting, I couldn't see how you could effectively manage a network like that. An experienced tech could manage a large workgroup using PDQ deploy and inventory just fine. Although there would be challenges such as standardizing IE settings, local GPO, etc. Some of these things are best managed through Active Directory.
Not to mention that workgroups suck from a security aspect. You pretty much have no choice, but to use standardized admin accounts and service accounts. All of which are security risk. Not to mention the fact that you can pretty much through auditing out the window for your users.
TLDR version. You can do it without AD, but you're gonna have a bad time and your business will lose money in the long run.
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@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
If the usernames for the staff are going to be the same on the domain as they were when the PC was in a workgroup, then I advise that you delete the local profile before you log in as the user the first time.
If you don't do this, you'll end up with two folders in c:\users, username and username.001 or something like this. In the future it will be easy to become confused which folder is the active one.
I understand, I will do the same way.
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@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
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@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
That's a very bad was to think about software. Windows 10 is not "one year old", it is the update to Windows 8.1 which is the update to Windows 8 which is the update to Windows 7 which was the update to Windows Vista. Windows 10 is the most mature of that family. Windows 7 is the "one year old" release (but patched since then.) Windows 10 is the one with the most time of people testing the code because it is a decade old. You are actually doing the opposite of what you are thinking... you are staying on young "immature" code and avoiding the most stable, most tested code. And you are not trusting a vendor on whom you have decided to depend. That's a bad combination.
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@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
I don't work for the users, I work for my company. The best thing for your company is for all computers to be on the same version as much as possible. This reduces costs and complexities.
Oh and all those things Scott said that I haven't read yet
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@scottalanmiller said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
That's a very bad was to think about software. Windows 10 is not "one year old", it is the update to Windows 8.1 which is the update to Windows 8 which is the update to Windows 7 which was the update to Windows Vista. Windows 10 is the most mature of that family. Windows 7 is the "one year old" release (but patched since then.) Windows 10 is the one with the most time of people testing the code because it is a decade old. You are actually doing the opposite of what you are thinking... you are staying on young "immature" code and avoiding the most stable, most tested code. And you are not trusting a vendor on whom you have decided to depend. That's a bad combination.
I see, so I was wrong at this point
That's benefit of being active in community , learning things
Anyway, still I have chances I think, I seen somewhere to upgrade still to Windows 10 for free and second option is, we need to get Pro versions for some Home Editions, so I will get Windows 10 Pro.
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@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
I don't work for the users, I work for my company. The best thing for your company is for all computers to be on the same version as much as possible. This reduces costs and complexities.
Oh and all those things Scott said that I haven't read yet
I understand about stability etc. as mentioned by Scott, but didn't understand how having same versions is useful ? how reduces costs and complexities ?
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@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
I understand about stability etc. as mentioned by Scott, but didn't understand how having same versions is useful ? how reduces costs and complexities ?
Lots of ways; I will give some examples:
- Support is reduced by only needing to test and support a single OS. Software that is known to run on Windows 10 will run everywhere. No need to test apps across many OS versions, change systems OS versions to accommodate specific software, etc.
- No need to learn, remember or deal with multiple OSes. Only supporting one means you can focus your time and attention to knowing the current system really well, rather than remembering limitations or ways of doing things across many systems.
- Users can move between systems, help each other and be trained more easily and effectively.
- Support tools can be uniform and more modern. The latest Microsoft and/or third party tooling whether GP, RSAT, PowerShell or whatever can be the latest, greatest and singular.
- Only one set of patches and updates need to be downloaded and applied. Security vulnerabilities only need to be watched and dealt with for the existing OS rather than many.
- Some features are only ever available on the latest OS. So in some cases you will get new features at the network level (everyone) and in others they will be individual, but uniform.
- The latest OS has more code maturity and more focus from the vendor for the lowest incident rate of vulnerabilities and issues.
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@scottalanmiller said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
I understand about stability etc. as mentioned by Scott, but didn't understand how having same versions is useful ? how reduces costs and complexities ?
Lots of ways; I will give some examples:
- Support is reduced by only needing to test and support a single OS. Software that is known to run on Windows 10 will run everywhere. No need to test apps across many OS versions, change systems OS versions to accommodate specific software, etc.
- No need to learn, remember or deal with multiple OSes. Only supporting one means you can focus your time and attention to knowing the current system really well, rather than remembering limitations or ways of doing things across many systems.
- Users can move between systems, help each other and be trained more easily and effectively.
- Support tools can be uniform and more modern. The latest Microsoft and/or third party tooling whether GP, RSAT, PowerShell or whatever can be the latest, greatest and singular.
- Only one set of patches and updates need to be downloaded and applied. Security vulnerabilities only need to be watched and dealt with for the existing OS rather than many.
- Some features are only ever available on the latest OS. So in some cases you will get new features at the network level (everyone) and in others they will be individual, but uniform.
- The latest OS has more code maturity and more focus from the vendor for the lowest incident rate of vulnerabilities and issues.
Well said.
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@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@scottalanmiller said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
That's a very bad was to think about software. Windows 10 is not "one year old", it is the update to Windows 8.1 which is the update to Windows 8 which is the update to Windows 7 which was the update to Windows Vista. Windows 10 is the most mature of that family. Windows 7 is the "one year old" release (but patched since then.) Windows 10 is the one with the most time of people testing the code because it is a decade old. You are actually doing the opposite of what you are thinking... you are staying on young "immature" code and avoiding the most stable, most tested code. And you are not trusting a vendor on whom you have decided to depend. That's a bad combination.
I see, so I was wrong at this point
That's benefit of being active in community , learning things
Anyway, still I have chances I think, I seen somewhere to upgrade still to Windows 10 for free and second option is, we need to get Pro versions for some Home Editions, so I will get Windows 10 Pro.
You can do it. But I do not know the legality of it.
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@JaredBusch said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@scottalanmiller said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@openit said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
@Dashrender said in Moving to Domain from Workgroup. How to be prepared ?:
Heck, considering that - I have what I consider a better situation, though I'm sure others will disagree with me.
Since you're making some pretty big changes, now might be a good time to rebuild all of these computers. If you you can move them all to the same OS.
Not sure you're aware, but all of the machines you listed (7/8/8.1/10) qualify to be on Windows 10. Any reason they weren't upgraded during the free upgrade window?Personally, I'd take an image of each system using Clonezilla, and upgrade them to Windows 10. Assuming the machines are granted a free upgrade to Windows 10, then I would purchase one Windows 10 Open License granting you imaging rights, purchase the needed upgrades for your home licensed computers bringing them legally to Windows 10 Pro, then create and deploy a Windows 10 image.
I skipped a lot of steps here, ask if you want, need more details.
Why I didn't upgraded all to Windows 10 ?
Yes, we upgraded so many computers to Wins 10. But mostly preferred to upgrade Windows 8/8.1. Not upgraded for all, because it was still 1 year old, cannot say how stable it is and don't want to do at that much quantity (100pcs). And some users are happy with Windows 7, better to not touch them if they are going fine.
That's a very bad was to think about software. Windows 10 is not "one year old", it is the update to Windows 8.1 which is the update to Windows 8 which is the update to Windows 7 which was the update to Windows Vista. Windows 10 is the most mature of that family. Windows 7 is the "one year old" release (but patched since then.) Windows 10 is the one with the most time of people testing the code because it is a decade old. You are actually doing the opposite of what you are thinking... you are staying on young "immature" code and avoiding the most stable, most tested code. And you are not trusting a vendor on whom you have decided to depend. That's a bad combination.
I see, so I was wrong at this point
That's benefit of being active in community , learning things
Anyway, still I have chances I think, I seen somewhere to upgrade still to Windows 10 for free and second option is, we need to get Pro versions for some Home Editions, so I will get Windows 10 Pro.
You can do it. But I do not know the legality of it.
I will check. Thanks.
