Stubborn XP user

Non-Technical Threads Chatting over the Back Fence
1

Hi all: I work for a small medical practice with about 45 employees in three locations. One of our doctors is refusing to move many of our PCs from XP to Windows 7. This doctor is borderline OCD and does not like anything to change, so any PC he touches cannot be upgraded. All the PCs I want to migrate all came with Windows 7 originally, and they do not run custom medical software, so re-imaging them to Windows 7 is trivial.

I have tried to reason with this doctor and have used all of the standard reasons why staying on XP is a bad idea, such as no MS support for security updates, Novell dropping full support (now self support), etc… I need some more bullets to strengthen my position. Can you help? Or should I just give up and let things break?

2

On Tue, 15 Apr 2014 11:38:42 GMT, cmosentine
<cmosentine@N0_5pam_vrapc.com> wrote:
[color=blue]

Hi all: I work for a small medical practice with about 45 employees in three locations. One of our doctors is refusing to move many of our PCs from XP to Windows 7. This doctor is borderline OCD and does not like anything to change, so any PC he touches cannot be upgraded. All the PCs I want to migrate all came with Windows 7 originally, and they do not run custom medical software, so re-imaging them to Windows 7 is trivial.

I have tried to reason with this doctor and have used all of the standard reasons why staying on XP is a bad idea, such as no MS support for security updates, Novell dropping full support (now self support), etc… I need some more bullets to strengthen my position. Can you help? Or should I just give up and let things break?[/color]

From a user perspective, Win7 really isn’t that much different from
WinXP. Win8.x would be a huge change. But you’ve probably already
explained that to him.

Could you write something up for him to sign where he assumes full
responsibility for all security breaches? Make him realize that if
something were to happen because of XP that caused the practice to
violate HIPAA rules, that it would be on his shoulders. The risk of
that happening might be slim, but better safe than sorry.

I’ve moved all users to Win7 and I have a few computers that users do
not touch that are still on XP, but they are going to get upgraded
soon also. Don’t know what else to suggest…sorry you have such an
unreasonable person to work with.

3

[QUOTE]
On Tue 15 Apr 2014 11:38:42 AM CDT, cmosentine wrote:

Hi all: I work for a small medical practice with about 45 employees in
three locations. One of our doctors is refusing to move many of our
PCs from XP to Windows 7. This doctor is borderline OCD and does not
like anything to change, so any PC he touches cannot be upgraded. All
the PCs I want to migrate all came with Windows 7 originally, and they
do not run custom medical software, so re-imaging them to Windows 7 is
trivial.

I have tried to reason with this doctor and have used all of the
standard reasons why staying on XP is a bad idea, such as no MS support
for security updates, Novell dropping full support (now self support),
etc… I need some more bullets to strengthen my position. Can you
help? Or should I just give up and let things break? [/QUOTE]
Hi
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx

You can configure windows 7 to look like XP.

The real question is are there any customized applications or
equipment drivers that don’t work with windows 7?

If the hardware supports it, perhaps virtualization of XP instances?

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

4

Hey cmosentine:
[color=blue]

Or should I just give up and let things break?[/color]

I think that would be my choice in the situation, having well
documented my attempts to convince him to upgrade so they can’t blame
you when bad things happen. Tell him to enjoy his computer as long as
it stays running.

–
Kim - 4/15/2014 7:24:19 AM

5

Kgroneman,

and insist that it’s connected to an isolated network segment that has
not Internet access…

–

Shaun Pond
newly reminted as a Knowledge Professional

6

Hey KeN Etter:
[color=blue]

From a user perspective, Win7 really isn’t that much different from
WinXP. Win8.x would be a huge change[/color]

Really? In my experience the opposite is true. XP to Win7 was a huge
change. Win7 to Win8 not much (if you boot directly to desktop).

–
Kim - 4/15/2014 1:06:38 PM

7

kgroneman sounds like they ‘said’:
[color=blue]

Hey KeN Etter:
[color=green]

From a user perspective, Win7 really isn’t that much different from
WinXP. Win8.x would be a huge change[/color]

Really? In my experience the opposite is true. XP to Win7 was a huge
change. Win7 to Win8 not much (if you boot directly to desktop).[/color]

So my response to kgroneman’s comment is…

I think it was meant going from XP to win8.

–
Stevo

8

On Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:07:21 GMT, “kgroneman” kgroneman@novell.com
wrote:
[color=blue]

Hey KeN Etter:
[color=green]

From a user perspective, Win7 really isn’t that much different from
WinXP. Win8.x would be a huge change[/color]

Really? In my experience the opposite is true. XP to Win7 was a huge
change. Win7 to Win8 not much (if you boot directly to desktop).[/color]

I meant XP to Win7 vs XP to Win8. But I’m not impressed with Win8 so
I might be a little biased. :slight_smile:

9

The easy way is to not give him a choice. His OCD is his problem, and
he’s not borderline anything, he’s full-fledged if he can’t handle any
change.

I know that sounds pretty cold, but as someone else pointed out, there
could be a security breach on any one of those computers that could
take the whole medical practice down, if it’s a serious enough breach.

So I go for the release letter, except I’d make it sound very, very
scary. Make him sign something that indicates his acknowledgement that
in his refusal to allow the computers to be updated, he is fully aware
that he is demanding that the computer system in his location be left
open to breaches including unlawful distribution of HIPAA-protected
medical records.

Make him sign his life away, pledging his real estate and personal
property, all his financial resources including any protected resources
or those placed in the name(s) of family members, and his future
earnings to cover any related costs.

The owner of the company really needs to deal with this. If it’s a
partnership, then the partners need to put pressure on him to start
taking the right meds so that his OCD isn’t interfering with the
running of the business.

I feel for him as a person. These kinds of illnesses are awful to go
through life with, but no one person should put all others in jeopardy
because they aren’t handling their illness properly. He either needs
OCD medication or to see a mental health expert for his inability to
allow change. That’s not healthy.

And by simply catering to his demands, that puts the entire practice in
legal jeopardy. Any good attorney should be able to tell you that. : )

–
Susan
Novell Community Chat Moderator

http://forums.novell.com/faq.php?faq=novfor#faq_rules
http://www.ncci.org NCCIrregulars Web Site
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NCCIrregulars

Please read the following before posting in here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/27zopdy

10

Yup
One word, cryptolocker and shared drives on the network…yikes!!!

I had a student with it on their laptop…no backup, the time had
expired, a semester of work gone…

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

11

On Tue, 15 Apr 2014 11:38:42 +0000, cmosentine wrote:
[color=blue]

Hi all: I work for a small medical practice with about 45 employees in
three locations. One of our doctors is refusing to move many of our PCs
from XP to Windows 7. This doctor is borderline OCD and does not like
anything to change, so any PC he touches cannot be upgraded. All the
PCs I want to migrate all came with Windows 7 originally, and they do
not run custom medical software, so re-imaging them to Windows 7 is
trivial.

I have tried to reason with this doctor and have used all of the
standard reasons why staying on XP is a bad idea, such as no MS support
for security updates, Novell dropping full support (now self support),
etc… I need some more bullets to strengthen my position. Can you help?
Or should I just give up and let things break?[/color]

Make it a money issue:

“I can continue supporting Windows XP for you, but as it is no longer
supported by Microsoft, it will cost you $150/hr (rather than my regular
rate of $75/hr) for me to continue supporting it.”

Obviously, substitute your own hourly rate, and go for something like a
2x factor so it’s really clear that it would be better to move to Win7
instead. I would also include an agreement that because he won’t move
on, that he’s assuming liability for security issues because MS isn’t
making any further patches available, and that your support will be “best
effort” with no guarantees of a fix for any particular issue - again
citing that you can’t fix things that require MS intervention or patches
that won’t be developed because XP is EOL.

You might even include an offer of re-training at a discounted rate as an
enticement. Say your normal rate is $75/hr, offer x hours of Win7
retraining at $50/hr to help ease the migration.

Jim

Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner

12

On Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:03:36 +0000, Susan wrote:
[color=blue]

So I go for the release letter, except I’d make it sound very, very
scary.
Make him sign something that indicates his acknowledgement that in his
refusal to allow the computers to be updated, he is fully aware that he
is demanding that the computer system in his location be left open to
breaches including unlawful distribution of HIPAA-protected medical
records.[/color]

Ooo, I like that.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner

13

KeN Etter,[color=blue]

But I’m not impressed with Win8 so[/color]

Neither am I, but 8.1 is somewhat better and AFAIK will the regular
menu be back in 8.2

–
Anders Gustafsson (NKP)
The Aaland Islands (N60 E20)

Have an idea for a product enhancement? Please visit:
http://www.novell.com/rms

14

On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 05:18:26 GMT, Anders Gustafsson
AndersG@no-mx.forums.novell.com wrote:
[color=blue]

KeN Etter,[color=green]

But I’m not impressed with Win8 so[/color]

Neither am I, but 8.1 is somewhat better and AFAIK will the regular
menu be back in 8.2[/color]

At this point, I’m just glad to have my company all on one desktop OS.
It makes things so much easier.

15

Tangent. I had to laugh just a little when I heard Ford was dropping
Microsoft Sync in it’s autos because of problems. I laugh because
there are still sites and adverts out there touting this wonderful
technology as an option in Ford vehicles.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/177171-why-microsoft-lost-ford-sync

What makes me laugh more is that Ford is going to Blackberry.

–
Kim - 4/16/2014 8:50:07 AM

16

Hey Jim Henderson:
[color=blue][color=green]

So I go for the release letter, except I’d make it sound very, very
scary.
Make him sign something that indicates his acknowledgement that in
his refusal to allow the computers to be updated, he is fully
aware that he is demanding that the computer system in his
location be left open to breaches including unlawful distribution
of HIPAA-protected medical records.[/color]

Ooo, I like that.[/color]

+1

–
Kim - 4/16/2014 8:54:07 AM

17

On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:53:06 GMT, “kgroneman” kgroneman@novell.com
wrote:
[color=blue]

Tangent. I had to laugh just a little when I heard Ford was dropping
Microsoft Sync in it’s autos because of problems. I laugh because
there are still sites and adverts out there touting this wonderful
technology as an option in Ford vehicles.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/177171-why-microsoft-lost-ford-sync

What makes me laugh more is that Ford is going to Blackberry.[/color]

I’m not real excited about tech in cars. I don’t swap cars every
couple of years, I usually run them to the end. This just seems like
more failure points to me.

18

Hey KeN Etter:
[color=blue]

I’m not real excited about tech in cars. I don’t swap cars every
couple of years, I usually run them to the end. This just seems like
more failure points to me.[/color]

Yea. If it doesn’t have a distributor cap, I’m kind of lost these days.

–
Kim - 4/16/2014 12:55:56 PM

19

On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:56:23 GMT, “kgroneman” kgroneman@novell.com
wrote:
[color=blue]

Hey KeN Etter:
[color=green]

I’m not real excited about tech in cars. I don’t swap cars every
couple of years, I usually run them to the end. This just seems like
more failure points to me.[/color]

Yea. If it doesn’t have a distributor cap, I’m kind of lost these days.[/color]

I miss my '82 Jeep CJ7.

20

KeN Etter sounds like they ‘said’:
[color=blue]

I miss my '82 Jeep CJ7. [/color]

So my response to KeN’s comment is…

I miss my '71 Monte Carlo. I do have my '87 though. Spent a pretty
penny a couple years ago getting all the ‘guts’ replaced. No computer,
no catalytic converter, etc. Carb, block, headers, exhaust.

–
Stevo