Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

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caringforkids315
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Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by caringforkids315 » Sat May 01, 2010 12:05 pm

Our office currently has 8 computers using Windows XP PRO (32 bit) with 1 of these(a desktop computer) serving as the SERVER. I would like to replace this SERVER computer with a new model with Windows 7 (to be the server). Is there any reason why I should not be able to use a new computer with the "HOME PREMIUM 64 bit" edition as the server on the network with 7 other Windows XP PRO (32 bit) computers?

I noticed that the hardware requirements section of the open dental website specifically say that 'HOME' editions should be avoided in favor of 'PROFESSIONAL OR ULTIMATE' editions. The only problem with this reasoning is that very few stores (i.e. Staples, etc.) have the option of buying a new machine the 'PROFESSIONAL' edition of Windows 7.

Thanks,
-Matt

Ivis M.Getz, DMD
http://www.caringpediatricdentistry.com

afeuer
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Re: Windows 7 HOME PREMIUM - not a good choice?

Post by afeuer » Sat May 01, 2010 12:24 pm

Windows 7 home premium should work fine. It's a good idea to use a separate computer for the server. Computers that are used all day and within reach of the patients tend not to be very reliable. Just remember what happens if the server goes down...

Also, if you use password protected file sharing it is going to be a huge headache. You basically can't do password file sharing from windows 7 to windows xp. I've spent many many hours trying and still haven't gotten it to work. Of course disabling all passwords works just fine, but thats up to you.

-Adam

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jordansparks
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Re: Windows 7 HOME PREMIUM - not a good choice?

Post by jordansparks » Sat May 01, 2010 1:34 pm

That version is fine. I just clarified it in the manual. As Adam said, networking issues when using different versions of Windows in a mixed peer-to-peer environment are common. Two that are particularly annoying to me is that frequently computers or shared folders won't show when browsing the network, and printer drivers are different causing problems with printer sharing. But as long as you can accept the annoyances, you can get by ok.

Adam, have you tried using the same username and password for logging on to both computers? Once you do that, the issues are fewer.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

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drfredc
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Re: Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by drfredc » Wed May 05, 2010 3:21 pm

All Win 7s are equal to or better than XP home or Pro on a new computer.

The fine print with Microsoft XP editions OSs is they are limited in how many computers in your LAN that they can hook up with.

As I recall, Home and Pro editions of XP were limited to 10 connections. XP is also limited to about 3 Gs of memory.

Supposedly, Windows 7 (all editions) can have 20 connections, although there is some who say it can be higher, if not unlimited. Supposedly, the XP limit was/is related to security issues, which MS thinks they've finally got sorted out in W7 and Vista.

Windows 7 memory limit is 4G for 32 bit versions. Memory limits varies in 64 bits from 8G (Basic) to 192G (Pro/Enterprise/Ultimate 64)..

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/1102- ... it-windows
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/max- ... ows-7/4254

A connection is considered a Windows log on name. In other words, if you log in as Bubba, then switch to Gonzo, on the same computer, you have two connections open. Accessing mapped drives is not an additional 'connection'. I'm not sure about Logmein (or other remote) services. They might count as a connection. I don't think Open dental is considered a connection, unless you've got it open on two different Windows logins.

----------------

Beware, when you install/connect your devices and printers on the Win 7 machine, it's possible to run into driver problems if the device (printer or USB device) is on the old side. Ditto for some older software titles. There supposedly are workarounds -- Beware 'supposedly' doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to upgrade software programs and/or hardware (printers) to get everything to work with Win 7. Then once you've got the Win 7 server running, the compatibility of XP workstations with new Win 7 devices running from the Win 7 server could be an issue. It's a potential can of worms, or not... Don't scrap the old XP server and equipment until you get the new Win 7 server and your network all working together... As a option, there are XP 64 based servers, but they occasionally also have driver issues as not every device for XP has a XP 64 version...

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jordansparks
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Re: Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by jordansparks » Wed May 05, 2010 4:24 pm

WinXP Home has a 5 connection limit. The shared AtoZ folder does use a connection. The MySQL does not use a connection because it's on a port.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

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drfredc
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Re: Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by drfredc » Thu May 06, 2010 3:16 pm

" WinXP Home has a 5 connection limit. The shared AtoZ folder does use a connection. The MySQL does not use a connection because it's on a port."

The 5 limit fits with my experience and MS online docs dated 2007 say it's 5. However, for all I know, there are workarounds and/or updates that may have changed that for those who know how to tweek this stuff.

So, if I understand you, the shared AtoZ Open Dental folder on the server uses a connection.

That means if you've got 8 computers (including server and workstations), running XP Pro on the server, your total connections are really at 9, with 10 as the XP pro limit? Are you aware of any digital xray software that use a similar AtoZ style folder and therefore also use up a connection?

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jordansparks
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Re: Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by jordansparks » Thu May 06, 2010 6:55 pm

Nearly all digital x-ray software uses shared folders similar to our AtoZ folder. Also, if the connection limit is 10, then you can have 11 total computers in the office without going over the limit.

There's no way around the 5 connection limit that I've ever seen. The only software programs that claim to be able to get around it are actually just viruses that make that claim so that you'll install the viruses.
Jordan Sparks, DMD
http://www.opendental.com

afeuer
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Re: Windows 7 Home Premium - not a good choice?

Post by afeuer » Mon May 10, 2010 1:32 pm

Jordon, I did use the same username and password on both machines. I looked online for a long time and I haven't found any solution except to disable password protection... sucks.

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