 |
 |
Greetings: I contacted Microsoft with the intention of paying them for the DST patch for Windows 2000 (for those of you sleeping under a rock W2K is out of M$'s support cycle and they are not distributing non-security patches to organizations without Extended Support Contracts). We still have a small percentage of servers that haven't been replaced yet. The response was that it would cost $4000. We're not paying $4000 for a patch. I don't suspect many departments across the University are. So what are you guys doing? I know we aren't the only ones with W2K servers and workstations lingering... Here, we've discussed the following alternatives: a) One of my co-workers found a 3rd party company that was giving an unsupported patch away for free on their web site; sounds great, but, it's not from M$ and who knows how well it works come March. I'd feel much safer if it was from M$. b) M$ offers instructions on how to do it manually in KB914387. It's very complicated. I wouldn't trust myself to even copy and paste without errors, and being a registry patch there would be no feedback as to whether it was wrong. c) My limited understanding of Kerberos and AD/Domain behavior suggests that trying to fake it out by changing the time won't work for any machine in the domain (it seems as though it might for non-domain-members). (Kerberos refuses net connectivity to any connection more than 5 minutes offset from the DCs - try it yourself - change your workstation date ahead and try and connect to Exchange - no go). d) Could the U. buy the patch and distribute it, much like U. site licenses? Perhaps we would all pay a fraction of that cost? Are you aware of any other options? Brian Hoort Business & Personnel Office Rm. 1 Physical Plant Bldg. Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1215 517-432-0242 [log in to unmask]