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This is the first article out of a series of Windows 2000 related
tutorials and guides. Check BSRF site for updates.
=====> An overview on Microsoft Windows 2000 family <=====
This tutorial will make your Windows 2000 installation easy, smooth,
and almost effortless. First thing – decide what distribution of
Windows 2000 are you going to install: Microsoft has released (for
now) 3 different Windows 2000 releases:
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows 2000 Server
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
The Microsoft Windows 2000 caries the "Built on NT Technology logo"
to symbolize its belonging to the NT technology. It also features
a true multi-lingual support making it easy to switch between different
language packs. It is meant to:
== Keep the stability and performance of the NT technology ==
Windows 2000 keeps the traditional values of all NT systems: Stability,
Performance, and Information Security. It features the new NTFS
5.0, which allows high information security values by giving the
user the ability to encrypt the file system (EFS), assigning closed
and secured space to use VPN, unleashing the Kerberos security system,
user quotas, and much more.
== To lower the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) ==
Windows 2000 has many built-in capabilities, such as IntelliMirror
and the Active Directories. These features allow more efficient
business solutions and management.
[== Different Releases ==]
- The Professional edition is targeting the home and the small
business markets, or as Microsoft says, “desktop operating system
for the Business Internet”.
- The Server edition is for the average organization network.
It includes much more server, network management, and administration
tools. Featuring Active Directories, Kerberos and PKI systems,
Windows Terminal Services, and more. The Windows 2000 Server supports
up to 4GB of RAM and 4 processors.
- The Advanced Server edition was released for major networks
and corporations. It features support up to 8 processors, excellent
load management, and surprising stability. The Advanced Server
release features the Enterprise Memory Architecture - EMA, improved
Symmetric Multiprocessing - SMP, imporoved databases performance.
I’ll mostly focus on the professional release, because it’s meant
for home and small business users, while the other two mostly useful
for large organization with major networks.
I assume you already have the installation disk so I’m not going
to explain where to get it and how much does it cost. I’ll just
note that one can get it free with an MSDN subscription or to buy
it in a local computing store.
=====> "Let the games begin" or Installing Windows 2000 <=====
[=== Clean or Upgrade ===]
I’ve been asked this question many times and answer is quite simple
– it depends on your needs. Lets reviewthe pros and the cons of
a clean installation and an upgrade
- The biggest advantage of a clean setup is that you’re relatively
safe from various drivers and applications incompatibilities.
If you install Windows 2000 on an existing Windows installation,
Win2k might use the old driver already on your system, which may
lead to system instabilities.
- On the other hand, it is obvious that when you perform an upgrade
all your already-installed programs will function under the new
OS.
So it’s up to you to decide, to upgrade or to perform a clean installation.
To be on the safe side – do a clean installation, but if you’re
unable to reinstall your entire software – upgrade.
-> The Setup <-
(Note: Choose the most convenient way to run setup. The first one
is both for upgrading and clean installations)
Running Setup 1: Now, after making that important decision,
insert the Win2k installation CD into the CD drive, while in Windows,
and start the setup program (it’ll autorun if the feature is enabled
on your system, else run the “setup.exe” file at the CD root directory).
On the first screen, choose whether to Upgrade or to perform a Clean
Installation.
Running Setup 2: (for clean installation only)
In case you don’t have previous version of Windows installed, you
can boot directly into the setup. First, enable CD-ROM boot in your
BIOS (be careful, don’t change anything unless you’re completely
sure what you’re doing. Consult the vendor manual), then insert
the CD and boot your computer. If your BIOS cannot boot from a CD-ROM
drive, you can make boot diskettes with the Boot-Maker program,
included on the installation CD (\bootdisk\makeboot.exe).
Installation (basic configuration and copying files)
Follow the setup wizard to perform pre-installation basic configuration.
After a few system diagnostics the setup will begin copying the
files.
After the file copying has finished setup will restart the computer
and boot to Windows 2000 core for the next stage of the installation.
This phase of the installation is in MS-DOS like environment, but
it is Windows 2000 Core which performs it.
[== NTFS or FAT? ==]
NTFS is much faster, reliable, and high-performance file system
then FAT32 or FAT. I highly recommend choosing to upgrade the drive
to NTFS. But, note that in case you have a dual boot system, other
operating systems won’t see the NTFS partition, i.e. you won’t be
able to access that partition from DOS or from Windows 9x.
[== Components to install ==]
This is your personal decision, according to your needs. I can
only describe the main components and their purpose.
IIS – Internet Information Services:
In case you plan to run your own web, ftp, and/or mail server –
install the pack. Another usage to IIS is for local testing of ASP
files, which also require you to install the IIS web server. Anyhow,
you can always install or remove it later, through the control panel.
IIS allows creating multiple sites on one IP address, making it
easy creating Intranet sites.
IIS features support for dynamic content, such as ASP, CGI and ISAPI,
allowing web developers to include ActiveX components into their
web sites. IIS has the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) providing safe
data transfer between the client and the server.
Another major feature of IIS 5.0 is its ability to be administared
over the web, using the Administration Web Site snap-in.
Indexing Service
The indexing service is useful on large hard disks with a good
performance. It indexes the files on the system for faster searching
capabilities. It allows searching within files on the hard disk
for specific words.
You can control and manage the Indexing Service through its snap-in
console in the MMC. You can check the indexing proccess, choose
the directories to be indexed, and configure the service for optimal
performance.
The other components are mainly network-related, and unnecessary
unless you’re a part of a LAN (Local Area Network).
[== Troubleshooting ==]
Like most Microsoft products, Windows 2000 has a user-friendly
and simple setup interface. But, some errors might still surface.
-> STOP Errors
In case you get a one-time STOP error (aka BSoD – Blue Screen of
Death) just reboot, and setup will resume the installation. But
if you keep getting STOP errors, you might have a hardware that
is incompatible with Windows 2000. In that case you should consult
the HCL - Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (included on
installation CD, \support\hcl.txt), and/or download the Microsoft
Windows 2000 compatibility check program (on Microsoft’s web site).
Here are some of the most common STOP errors in Windows 2000 and
their explanation:
- IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL -
Meaning that the core tried to gain access to a certain memory segment
which is at a higher level of an Interupt Request Level (IRL) then
allowed. While the proccess only allowed to have access to and IRL
level no higher then their own.
Recommendation: This error is probably caused by a faulty driver
or a system service. Try using the "Last Good Known Configuration"
option in the safe boot menu (F8 on boot).
Note: If the error surfaces while installing Windows, check that
all of your drivers are compatible with Windows 2000 (consult the
HCL).
- KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED -
This error is generated when the core can't handle a certain directive.
Recommendation: The error might show you the name of the faulty
driver. Try disabling it while booting into Safe Mode.
Note: The situation can sometimes resolved using the Recovery Console.
- NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM -
This error is generated when there is a problem with the Ntfs.sys
driver, which is meant to access information on NTFS drives.
Recommendation: Check your IDE/SCSI HD drivers for compatibility,
and execute the chkdsk command to verify data consistency.
There are more STOP errors in Windows 2000 then I could review
in this article. Consult the Microsoft Knowledge Base on http://www.microsoft.com/.
==========[ That's it for now
=====[ If you have any question mail me at cypher@cypherdome.com
CheerZ,
- Cypher.
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