Site navigation:

counter
Valid HTML 4.01!

Performing an attended installation of Windows 2000 Server

Windows 2000 Logo

Welcome to the first article published on this website, "Performing an Attended Installation of Windows 2000 Server." This is my first attempt at writing a technical article as a way to share with others what I have learned on my road to the MCSE. Please note that all the graphics in this article can be clicked on for a larger view. And now, without further ado, let's begin!

Before Installing

There are two ways to install Windows 2000 Server: attended and unattended. In this guide, we will focus on the easier of the two, attended installation. If you have ever installed a Microsoft operating system, then you will find that installing Win2k Server is just as simple. Before installation, however, let us verify the system requirements of the OS:

These requirements are taken off of the Microsoft site. To view the most recently updated requirements, browse to http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/sysreqs/default.asp

In addition, it would benefit you to check if your hardware is on Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List. Personally, I have not encountered any problems with non-certified hardware, but if you are in a corporate or mission-critical setting, it is crucial to go with certified hardware. Microsoft also will not provide support for non-certified hardware, so keep that in mind when purchasing hardware for a new server. The URL for the HCL is http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/

Once we have verified the hardware requirements, we must decide on how we want to proceed with attended installation. There are three different scenarios that we have to deal with: clean-install, dual-booting, and upgrading.

Clean-Install

Clean-install is an installation of an OS to a computer that does not have an existing OS on it. This is the simplest form of installation, since you do not have to worry about overwriting or needing to back up existing files. In this scenario you just start Win2k setup and let it take care of the rest.

Dual-Booting

In this situation, you already have an OS such as Windows 98 installed on the computer, and you want to add Windows 2000 Server in addition to Windows 98. Normally, you would not want to dual-boot between your server operating system and another, but this situation works well for those who are doing testing or for those like me who are trying to get their MCSE certification.

Upgrading

Upgrading entails installing W2k Server on top of an existing operating system. Unless you are upgrading a server with Windows NT Server 4.0 on it, you normally would not use this option, nor would you be able to, since NT Server 4.0 is the only operating system that can be upgraded to Win2k Server. An example of when to use upgrade is a corporation migrating NT 4.0 systems to 2000.

In this guide we will focus on the clean-install aspect of installing Win2k Server. Once you know how to do a clean-install, setting up a system for dual-booting or upgrading will be much easier. Now, let us proceed with installing Win2k Server.

Next: Beginning Setup --->

Disclaimer: All articles written on this site are based on my own experiences only. They are not meant to be comprehensive or as a "final word." Please do not consider them as such. If you are using them in a mission-critical environment, I take no responsibility if you hose your network or system. ALWAYS TEST before you implement new systems in a mission-critical environment. All articles copyright 2002 and 2004 by Jonathan Young. Not responsible for death or injury resulting from reading, following, or implementing any of the articles and/or essays on this site.