Unoffical Family History Center (Workroom) - software

In our stake we have a couple of unofficial family history centers (Also called family history workrooms or family history meetinghouse centers). Both of these rooms are under lock and key and have donated computers. There are six computers in one room with Win 2000 and three in another building with Win XP. Both rooms have wired DSL.

As best I can tell from reading other threads neither of these rooms can access the church corporate Symantec antivirus software solution or any other software unique to family history centers. Is this correct?

We are in Salt Lake so based on other threads it sounds like our chances of being designated an official FH Center is slim. Is this correct?

It seems to be more cost effective if at least the Symantec antivirus could be provided to rooms like this.

dkcook2 wrote:There are six computers in one room with Win 2000 and three in another building with Win XP. Both rooms have wired DSL.

We're being asked to phase out Win2000. Security patches will stop next year.

dkcook2 wrote:As best I can tell from reading other threads neither of these rooms can access the church corporate Symantec antivirus software solution or any other software unique to family history centers. Is this correct?

At least not from the Family History Department. If you approach some of the FamilySearch partners, they may give you a free license.

dkcook2 wrote:We are in Salt Lake so based on other threads it sounds like our chances of being designated an official FH Center is slim. Is this correct?

The old standard was a 30 minute drive. Last I heard, there was a moratorium on new centers in North America. They're focusing on other areas of the world.

dkcook2 wrote:It seems to be more cost effective if at least the Symantec antivirus could be provided to rooms like this.

I think the issue is whose budget is impacted. At this point the stake bears the total cost of any unofficial centers. Until there's a change in high level policy, I don't see a change in the financial policy.

dkcook2 wrote:In our stake we have a couple of unofficial family history centers (Also called family history workrooms or family history meetinghouse centers). Both of these rooms are under lock and key and have donated computers. There are six computers in one room with Win 2000 and three in another building with Win XP. Both rooms have wired DSL.

As best I can tell from reading other threads neither of these rooms can access the church corporate Symantec antivirus software solution or any other software unique to family history centers. Is this correct?

Unofficial family history center computers only have available to them the same software and access to on-line programs as a private individual would have.

dkcook2 wrote:We are in Salt Lake so based on other threads it sounds like our chances of being designated an official FH Center is slim. Is this correct?

Probably so. The new FHC must be more than 30 minutes travel time from the nearest center.

dkcook2 wrote:It seems to be more cost effective if at least the Symantec antivirus could be provided to rooms like this.

If you are the one spending funds to acquire an antivirus program it most certainly would seem to be more cost effective if the Church provided that for you. The Church must budget for the cost of software licenses based on the number of systems the software will be installed. The decision to create an unofficial family history center is a local decision and funded with local budget funds. The Church does not know how many unofficial family history sites there are. Funding the license for one center seems insignificant. But multiply that by the number of unofficial centers and the budget required is quite large. The Church established criteria for creating new centers is to both provide necessary tools to do family history work while at the same time controlling the cost or budget expense for such operations.

There are quite good inexpensive and even free antivirus programs available. Some people would even argue that a number of the free programs are as good as or even better than the Symantec product. I do not want to start that debate again in this thread as it has already occurred in others so I will not make any recommendations.

Thanks for your reply -- good advice, A few follow up questions:

1) In both of these buildings we use DSL from Qwe..t. Can we use the antivirus solution that this ISP gives to it's customers for these workrooms -- I believe it is Windows Live?

2) Where WIndows 2000 is phasing out are we better to try and get donations for new computers or to upgrade to XP?

The specs on these six computers are -- [font=&quot]Dell Optiplex GX1 (550-GX1) – x86 Family 6 Model 7 Stepping 3 AT/AT Compatible 130.6MB RAM Windows 2000 – sp4 Pro[/font]

I imagine I would have to beef up the RAM at a minimum.

3) As for family search partners -- yesterday I emailed Ohana Software and it sounded like they will provide licenses but I haven't finished the process. Any other partners that I might approach?

dkcook2 wrote:1) In both of these buildings we use DSL from Qwe..t. Can we use the antivirus solution that this ISP gives to it's customers for these workrooms -- I believe it is Windows Live?

Read the terms of the license carefully. It strikes me as odd that you would get free use of a commercial product for multiple computers in a non-profit that way, but stranger things have happened.

Same goes for the free anti-virus. Make sure it's free for non-profit use.

dkcook2 wrote:2) Where WIndows 2000 is phasing out are we better to try and get donations for new computers or to upgrade to XP?

The specs on these six computers are -- [font=&quot]Dell Optiplex GX1 (550-GX1) – x86 Family 6 Model 7 Stepping 3 AT/AT Compatible 130.6MB RAM Windows 2000 – sp4 Pro[/font]

I think you're better off replacing them. Even with more RAM, they'll never be that fast. It also resolves the cost of getting XP licensed. Look for used machines. I'm seeing prices in the $100 - $150 range + shipping for 3GHz.

dkcook2 wrote:3) As for family search partners -- yesterday I emailed Ohana Software and it sounded like they will provide licenses but I haven't finished the process. Any other partners that I might approach?

Which ones do you want to use? I've had feedback from RootsMagic that indicates that they will support unofficial centers. I'd suggest limiting the requests to stuff the users want.

dkcook2 wrote:In our stake we have a couple of unofficial family history centers (Also called family history workrooms or family history meetinghouse centers). Both of these rooms are under lock and key and have donated computers. There are six computers in one room with Win 2000 and three in another building with Win XP. Both rooms have wired DSL.

The greatest resource for these machines is the internet access. The Church is no longer supporting Windows 2000 but you don't have Church support in an unofficial center anyway so if the machines work on the internet I don't see a problem using them until they give you problems.

We are in Salt Lake so based on other threads it sounds like our chances of being designated an official FH Center is slim. Is this correct?

If you are in Salt Lake County, your patrons can access several of the same databases that are available through the FHC Portal at the SL County Library website, if they have County library cards. If you go to the SL County Website you can access some Genealogy Databases remotely with your card.

You can access these remotely:

Heritage Quest
World Vital Records
Newsbank
Access Newspaper Archive

You might want to bookmark this County Library page on your computers.

And from inside a County library you can access Ancestry Library Edition.

GarysTurn wrote:The greatest resource for these machines is the internet access. The Church is no longer supporting Windows 2000 but you don't have Church support in an unofficial center anyway so if the machines work on the internet I don't see a problem using them until they give you problems.

Or June 2010, which ever comes first.

While there's no immediate need to replace them, I'd put it on the long-range planning list.

Thanks for the advice on the Library -- that is a good resource.

RussellHltn wrote:Read the terms of the license carefully. It strikes me as odd that you would get free use of a commercial product for multiple computers in a non-profit that way, but stranger things have happened. Same goes for the free anti-virus. Make sure it's free for non-profit use.

I downloaded the terms and conditions for the OneCare product from Microsoft that Qw..st provides. I could see no restrictions for non-profits. You are required to create a Windows Live account but that doesn't seem like a big deal. The language is pretty vague.

Microsoft is doing away with OneCare later in 2009 and offering a free antivirus called Morro. I think I will try and install the Qw..st version to bridge the gap until the free version comes out.

I recognize this is not the best antivirus but it is better than nothing.

RussellHltn wrote: I think you're better off replacing them. Even with more RAM, they'll never be that fast. It also resolves the cost of getting XP licensed. Look for used machines. I'm seeing prices in the $100 - $150 range + shipping for 3GHz.

We will look for a generous donation in the next year or so or see if there is budget room to purchase used XP computers - good advice.

thanks, Dave

It sounds like for these computer workrooms the stake is responsible for maintaining and updating these computers and that the Clerk computers are updated with LANDesk or Desktop 5.5 centrally.

Some of the items I imagine would need to be addressed regularly as part of maintenance for these family history workrooms (unofficial centers) are:

- Anitvirus definitions - update

- Windows update - set to automatic update

- Clean off old files (temporary Internet files) - Does anyone know of an easy way to do this or is the Windows "Disk Cleanup" function sufficient?

- Keep programs up to date (e.g. Drivers) - I know Microsoft does some of this but as I recall there are some programs that it doesn't cover.

- Occasional Defrag (use Windows defrag?)

Are we missing anything else on maintenance for these computers?

Some other questions I had with these computers as they are going to be used primarily for family history on the Internet:

Should we use Firefox instead of IE?

Should we be concerned on what the temporary files settings and Internet cache settings are - should they be set low so the computers do not get overwhelmed with temp files?

dkcook2 wrote:.....- Clean off old files (temporary Internet files) - Does anyone know of an easy way to do this or is the Windows "Disk Cleanup" function sufficient?

You might take a look at a product called WinTools (wintools.net). I use it myself and it does a wonderful of keep my own personal computer clean of junk everywhere. It's not free, but worth the cost.

dkcook2 wrote:- Keep programs up to date (e.g. Drivers) - I know Microsoft does some of this but as I recall there are some programs that it doesn't cover.

First, if you haven't already, upgrade the default MS's "Windows Update" to "Microsoft Update". Microsoft Update covers more.

I like to use Secunia's on-line scanner found Here. It will tell you about common programs that have fallen out of date. Things like Flash, Adobe Reader, Java, etc.

Even so, you'll still have to check the computer manufacturers drivers page from time to time. This is where having all the same machine is really a blessing.

dkcook2 wrote:Should we be concerned on what the temporary files settings and Internet cache settings are - should they be set low so the computers do not get overwhelmed with temp files?

I'd set the cache in IE to 50MB. The default is based on a percentage of the hard drive size and as hard drives have gotten bigger, so has the cache.

dkcook2 wrote:Should we use Firefox instead of IE?

What would users be most familiar with? I run IE exclusively and never have run into a problem. There is malware that attacks Firefox, so it's not a panacea. I also look at it as if my machine is going to get sick, I'd rather it get sick with something common than some thing exotic. But with the lower user rights setting, I think it's a non-issue.

dkcook2 wrote:Are we missing anything else on maintenance for these computers?

Set the patrons to only have "user" rights in Windows. This greatly limits what any malware can do. (As well as the patrons.)

Other programs I like to use is Spybot-search and destroy, and SpywareBlaster. Both protect in real-time and are free for non-profit use.

As for the rest of the items, I think you're doing fine (defrag, etc.)

RussellHltn wrote: Other programs I like to use is Spybot-search and destroy, and SpywareBlaster. Both protect in real-time and are free for non-profit use.

This is a common misconception. Spybot S&D is free for personal use only. For use by corporations and non-profit organizations there is a licensed version. Non-profits do get a 50% discount on price.

Spyware Blaster is free for personal and educational use, but not for corporations. No mention of non-profit organizations in their licensing. How licensing for this product would be interpreted for the Church would be up to JavaCool Software.

lakeytw wrote:Spybot S&D is free for personal use only.

Can you point me to the language in the license that says that? When I look, what I see is "Public Dedication License" and "Freeware".

I can think of several packages that are licensed as you describe, but not Spybot. Were you thinking of something else?

RussellHltn wrote:Can you point me to the language in the license that says that? When I look, what I see is "Public Dedication License" and "Freeware".

I can think of several packages that are licensed as you describe, but not Spybot. Were you thinking of something else?

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/license/index.html

"II.e. Corporate use
As companies are not individual persons and would have problems fullfilling the above terms, there is a license for corporate users that can be found at safer-networking.ie."

http://www.safer-networking.ie/en/prices/index.html

"The price for the corporate use of Spybot - Search & Destroy, update service and email support depends on the number of nodes (PCs) in your network. There will be a 50% rebate for schools, universities (where the number of nodes is staff only) and other non-profit organisations."

If you dig around you can find a chart on the safer-networking.iesite that has a chart comparing the three versions of Spybot S & D - Personal, Small Business, and Corporate. The only difference on that graph between the Personal and Small Business edition is license/price.

"This means that I grant you the license to use Spybot-S&D as much as you like. But if you like it, I ask two things of you: say a prayer for me (and the most wonderful girl while you're at it ) to your God - or whatever you believe - and wish us some luck. [...]

"As companies are not individual persons and would have problems fullfilling the above terms..."

Oh, I don't know. I think we could fulfill the above terms.

Well, drat. I guess that's out. Not unless I get some clarification or pay up. I guess I'll pull it out and see if I run into any problems.

I believe I can still run SpywareBlaster as it's free for educational use. Since family history centers are organized under FamilySearch/Genological Society of Utah as a educational non-profit, that works for official FHCs, but not the unofficial ones this thread is about.

Well I didn't have much luck getting Microsoft OneCare installed on these machines. I began installing them yesterday morning, which by the way takes about 35 minutes to download at 1.5 Mbs. I then tried to configure them with my Qw...st settings. There is some kind of automatic configuration setting with the Windows Live login. I was not sure what the login was for our building so I went home and called around until I found the login that was used to register with Qw...st origninally. When I got back to the church the Internet was down.

The OneCare package comes with a firewall and other items that make it a whole system of tools that get installed. I'm not sure what was causing the problem.

This led to many hours on the phone with Qw..st (I first called the GSD). At the end of unistalling OneCare and trying more different internet configuration then I care to admit, Qw..st found a problem on their end with some extra static setting with the account. They were vague as to what the setting was but they finally changed it on their end and I was back up and running. This was after hours of hearing the problem was on my end. During the troubleshooting I uninstalled OneCare and don't plan on going back. It was a tough road for me. Nevertheless, I'm willing to accept it may have been just a simple configuration error on my part.

Either way I'm either going to buy a seprate simple antivirus for these three computers at a discounted non profit price or find something that is suitable for free for non-profit use.

Thanks again for your help with the maintenance suggestions.

At my local community college, the public labs basically send down a standard
image to the Hard Drive on every reboot. It makes startup times incredibly slow,
but any changes made by malware or user interaction are not persistant.

I don't know how complicated the setup is, but I remember reading about
some open-source software that was designed for this, so cost shouldn't
be too prohibitive.

- Atticus Ewig

Microsoft Security Essentials was released today by Microsoft.

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials/

It is targeted for home use. I read through the terms but didn't see whether it would be appropriate or not for these non-official family history rooms.

Initial reviews of this product are good and it is free.

Looks like Microsoft is free for commercial use...and good for non-profit.

See the following note.....

http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/forums/p/ ... 02776.aspx