Windows 2000 Installation and Update Methods

The first topic that we’re going to take a look at is the Installing Windows 2000 Professional. I know this immediately appears to be a ‘skip this’ topic, but installation options in Windows 2000 have changed significantly, and it is something you’ll need to know for the exam. The items we’ll cover in this article include:

  • Meeting Upgrade / Hardware Requirements
  • Standard Installation Options
  • Imaging Windows 2000 Professional
  • Unattended Installations
  • Remote Installation Services
  • Deploying Service Packs

Meeting Upgrade / Hardware Requirements

The following operating systems can be upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional:

  • Windows 95 (all versions and OSRs)
  • Windows 98 (all versions and OSRs)
  • Windows NT 3.51 and 4 (with or without any service pack)

The following are the minimum hardware requirements:

  • P133 Processor
  • 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended)
  • 2GB hard disk with at least 650 MB free space.
  • Standard Installation Options

Windows 2000 Professional still allows you to do plain-vanilla installations. That means we can install from the setup disks, CD-ROM, or off the network. Important stuff you should know:

  • There are now 4 setup disks instead of 3. These are no longer created using winnt32 /ox. The CD now includes a Bootdisk directory, where you can find both makeboot.exe and makebt32.exe to create the 4 disks.
  • If your system BIOS supports booting from CD, you still don’t need the disks.
  • Installing over the network still only requires that the i386 directory be shared from a distribution point. Note that if starting an installation from a system running 95, 98, (as well as NT or W2K) or higher we now use Winnt32.exe. Winnt.exe with DOS, older Windows or no OS.