We have just installed a 2013 BreMa EKO 903.

It is running "windows imbedded standard"
Some form of XP.
I havent been able to get much from the web.
Most refers to workgroups and that no longer exists.
Anyone know how to get this seen on our network?

Unfortunately Biesse support says they do not support networking.
Grrrrrr. They don't have an upgrade to win 7. And they cant help with old op system.

Older machine fun :-)

Not sure if this helps but I have an older Biesse Arrow which also doesn't play nice with Windows 7. We have a Windows 95 box connected to the CNC with a shared folder that is accessible from W7.

When creating programs on the W7 computer we save to the shared folder on the W95 box which then also show up on the CNC.

This kind of stuff drives me nuts, I can't believe they are not supporting it. I'm sure someone, somewhere has done it...We have our old XP Weeke networked, as well as a Holzma, saw that is -get this- running Windows NT. Circa 1999.

2013 isn't even that old...

Well Biesse seems to be pretty far behind on OS.
We just got a new Rover A running on Win7.
That OS is not even supported anymore :(

Hello everybody, this is Cesare Magnani Brand Sales Manager for Biesse CNC.

General statement first:
Any Windows XP or Windows Embedded CAN BE attached to a network and operate in it.
Is not that "Biesse does not support networking". Biesse doesn't do networking, as networking has to be done by a certified IT professional as it is a very sensitive system in anybody's company. Our technicians are not authorized to do that.
The problem is that some companies, like Bob's, may elect not to connect an XP PC to their network because of possible security vulnerabilities that can open up not having Microsoft supporting that operative system anymore.
Stop supporting means NOT releasing security updates anymore. For example Gary's Holzma and Weeke are potentially vulnerable to attacks because of their obsolete operative system not supported by Microsoft, like any other machine using XP or NT or 2000, regardless the brand or the origin. It appears that Gary has chosen that is not an issue that is important to him, and like him many other, and I would probably chose the same. How real are those vulnerability I honestly do not know and I believe are in certain cases overblown.
I have also to say that those Biesse machines do not have Windows XP but in actuality "Windows Embedded Standard" and the difference is important because Microsoft stopped supporting it (not Biesse) only recently, long after they stopped supporting XP. Again "Stop supporting" means they are not releasing updates anymore, which does NOT affect machine operability at all. Biesse is keeping in stock a good supply of computers with that operative system to keep supporting those machines for years to come.
Last we have for most of those "XP" machines an upgrade program to Windows 7 as we do have an upgrade program for Windows 7 machines into Windows 10.
Bob's Eko 902 is no exception.
Bob please contact our Support team and ask for a quote to upgrade to Windows 7.
Windows 7 IS STILL supported by Microsoft. Free support will end in 2020, which is very close ;), after that it appears that they will support on device by device for a fee bases. No idea what kind of money they are talking about, I guess we will know soon. Please keep in mind that supporting just means releasing security updates, so regardless what Microsoft does, machine operation is not going to be disrupted and that Biesse is keeping in stock a good amount of PC to keep supporting existing machines in operation for many years to come regardless the operative system.

Sorry for the lengthy email ...

Thanks Cesare.

We are looking at few options.
1. Biesse upgrade to Win 7 machine if available.
2. Place on old machine with win 10 on it near the EKO. Then have 2 thumb drives, one in each EKO and Win 10 machine.
After sending the new programs to the win 10 thumb, we would swap them. Sneaker net but not much running :)
3. A win 7 machine we have can see the EKO. We would set up a old win 7 machine to copy the files to. Then set a scheduled task every minute to copy the files to the EKO.
Need to do some research on this, as I don't know if this will cause a security risk.
4. Just take the security risk.

thanks for the responses.

FYI: After checking around, I understand there is quit a long development time on PC based machines.
It seems Biesse is not the only manufacturer with this issue.
It just is what it is.
They are just releasing Win 10 on their new machines and will have an upgrade available for the Rover A.
So we will be able to stay up to date.

On another note, Win 10 keeps having its life extended. It will be around until at least 2025 and most probably a bit longer.

All,
There is extended support for win7 available, cost depends on your organization relationship with Microsoft.

See the link below for the pay version, some versions are free if you have an enterprise license.

Maybe Biesse can look into Ecosystem Partner Servicing Offering for embeded updates as an alternate. I believe the cost is the equivalent of Windows 10 Pro cost /3 and the extended support ends in 3 years.

We have a Rover with embededXP, from the machine. We created a shared folder on the machine that is shared to members of the machine work group. We can write to the machine and copy files off of the machine. You can logon by machinename\username and using the workgroup as domain and the username.

If your machine name is Biesse1 and the Work group is Biesse and the username is Biesse then the logon would be
\Biesse1\Biesse and the password is the machine password or account password.

The machine companies logic of not allowing updates is solid logic, if Microsoft issues an update that interferes with the machine operation then the machine goes down. Its safer to sandbox the machine form the network and restrict access.

Our rover can see Biesse America, Italy and use Team viewer, thats it, the internet is blocked, our network is blocked expect specific pc's and specific times.

For all machines we create ghost drive of the machines hard drive, a copy of that drive which is kept offsite and an online backup of that drive.

We use a 3rd IT company that monitors our network 24x7; keeps all updates installed on the network EXCEPT floor machines.

The biggest threat now is ransomware and intrusion.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4527878/faq-about-extended-security-updates-for-windows-7