Installing Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2000 Professional has the ability to upgrade from all of the following operating systems:
Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Windows 98
Windows 95
Upgrades are not supported from the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 3. x , including Microsoft Windows for Workgroups.
Versions of Windows NT Workstation earlier than version 3.51.
Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server.
Non-Microsoft operating systems.
Planning the Upgrade From Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional
Upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional might require some additional planning due to the differences in the registry structure, as well as differences in how software developers structure their application setup procedures.
Prior to upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional, make sure that you meet the minimum hardware requirements mentioned in Planning Your Installation earlier in this chapter. Also, for information on upgrade issues with Windows 95 or Windows 98, check the Hardware Update link on the Web Resources page at: https://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources .
Hardware Compatibility With Windows 95 and Windows 98
The Windows 2000 upgrade does not migrate drivers from Windows 95 or Windows 98 to Windows 2000. If the driver doesnt exist in Windows 2000, you might need to download a Windows 2000 driver to have available during Setup. Virtually no Windows 95 and Windows 98 drivers are compatible with Windows 2000.
Older, 16-bit device drivers for Windows 95 and Windows 98 and Windows 3. x were based on the virtual device driver (V x D) model. The V x D model is not supported in Windows 2000 Professional. Device drivers in Windows 95 and Windows 98 do not work in Windows 2000. Either Windows 2000 has its own device drivers for these devices, or new ones need to be downloaded.
Many updated drivers ship with the Windows 2000 Professional operating system CD. However, when critical device drivers, such as hard-drive controllers, are not compatible with Windows 2000 Professional and cannot be found on the CD or elsewhere, the Setup program aborts the upgrade until updated drivers are obtained.
The upgrade process stores the system files for Windows 2000 Professional in the existing Windows 95 or Windows 98 system directory, while deleting all the old Windows 95 and Windows 98 files that were originally in the directory.
Software Compatibility With Windows 95 and Windows 98
System tools in Windows 95 and Windows 98, such as ScanDisk, Defragger, and DriveSpace, do not upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. Also, third-party network clients do not upgrade to Windows 2000, so new drivers must be acquired to complete the upgrade.
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Note
Novell has included an upgrade for their Client32 on the Windows 2000 Professional operating system CDROM. The upgrade detects and automatically upgrades a previous version of Client32 during the upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional. For the latest Client32 upgrade, see the Novell Web site at at https://www.Novell.com .
Some applications written for Windows 95 or Windows 98 might not run properly on computers running Windows 2000 Professional without some modification.
For example, applications can:
Maintain registry data in different locations. Windows 95 and Windows 98 store this data in different locations than Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 and earlier.
Make calls to Windows 95 or Windows 98–specific application programming interfaces.
Install different files when installed on Windows 95 or Windows 98 than when installed on Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 and earlier.
There are three ways to overcome these problems:
Reinstall the applications after the upgrade. This step is only applicable to applications that are compatible with Windows 2000 Professional.
Create a new Windows 2000 Professional–based standard configuration with compatible versions of the applications.
Use migration dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) for each application that is not migrated during the upgrade.
For more information about migration DLLs, visit the Software Development Kit (SDK) information in the MSDN Library link on the Web Resources page at: https://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources .
Software vendors and corporate developers can use migration DLLs that move registry keys, install new versions of files, or move files within the file system. These migration DLLs are used by Windows 2000 Setup to resolve these incompatibilities. Setup calls these DLLs to update the application installation. The migration DLL mechanism is fully extensible.
Migration DLLs have four basic functions:
Replace or upgrade Windows 95 or Windows 98–specific files with Windows 2000 Professional–compatible files.
Move Windows 95 or Windows 98 application- and user-specific settings (that Setup did not already move) to their proper locations in Windows 2000 Professional.
Map Windows 95 or Windows 98–specific registry subkeys to the appropriate Windows 2000 Professional locations.
Provide Upgrade Packs. If you upgrade from Windows 95 or Windows 98, during setup you have the option of providing upgrade packs that modify your existing software. Upgrade packs are available from the appropriate software vendors.
Organizations with proprietary applications might want to consider writing their own migration DLLs for in-house applications.
Note
For more information about writing migration DLLs, see the Windows 2000 Software Development Kit (SDK) link on the Web Resources page at: https://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources .
Removing Applications From Windows 95 and Windows 98
If you have applications that have been identified by the Check Upgrade tool as incompatible, you must remove the conflicting applications before installing Windows 2000.
In most situations, the supported operating systems will upgrades smoothly to Windows 2000 Professional. However, each operating system requires a different approach to ensure a smooth upgrade. For example, you might want to use migration DLLs for upgrading certain Windows 95 or Windows 98 applications that are not compatible with Windows 2000 Professional.
Running Winnt32.exe from within Windows NT Workstation 3.51 or 4.0 , Windows 95, or Windows 98 enables Windows 2000 to detect the current operating system and give you the option to upgrade or to do a clean installation. Upgrading from a previous operating system allows you to retain most of your system and network settings, preferences, and applications. If you decide to do a clean installation on a separate partition, your previous operating system remains intact and functional. In this case, Windows 2000 is completely separate from your earlier operating system and does not migrate any of your earlier settings.
For upgrades from any of the supported operating systems, Windows 2000 can be formatted to use either FAT16 or NTFS and can convert both FAT16 and FAT32 partitions to NTFS. You can upgrade by running Winnt32.exe from within the existing operating system, connecting to a network share and running Winnt32.exe, or by inserting the Windows 2000 Professional operating system CD and having it do an Autorun.
For upgrades from Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51, most applications will migrate. Certain proprietary applications, such as applications that were custom-made for your business, will not migrate.
Planning an Upgrade From Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51 to Windows 2000 Professional
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51 provide the easiest upgrade path to Windows 2000 Professional because they share a common operating system structure and core features, such as:
Registry structure.
Supported file systems.
Same security concepts.
Similar device driver requirements.
Upgrading from Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51 is fairly straightforward, and most upgrades do not require significant preparation.
Windows NT Workstation 3.51–based computers must have networking installed before the upgrade. If you do not have networking installed and have never installed networking, do not upgrade or you will not be able to log on to Windows 2000.
If you are upgrading Windows NT Workstation 3. x –based computers, you must first upgrade the older computers to Windows NT Workstation 3.51, and then apply Service Pack 5 prior to upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional.
If you are upgrading or installing Windows 2000 on a Windows NT Workstation 4.0–based computer that is currently using NTFS, the installation process automatically upgrades the file system to Windows 2000 NTFS without prompting. This happens even after installation, and there is no way to avoid this.
If you are installing or upgrading to Windows 2000 and the file system is currently FAT or FAT32, you are asked if you want to upgrade to the NTFS file system.
Hardware Compatibility With Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51
Some hardware devices that functioned successfully on Windows NT Workstation 4.0 work on Windows 2000 Professional; however, it is best to run the Check Upgrade mode to check for driver compatibility issues prior to upgrading the operating system. Some third-party drivers that worked on Windows NT Workstation 4.0 might require updated drivers for Windows 2000 from the manufacturer for that specific device. The NTFS file system that was used in Windows NT 4.0 is transparently updated during the upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional NTFS. Advance work on the test computer typically eliminates any issues concerning deployment or upgrade of Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51.
Software Compatibility With Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51
Because Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51 share common attributes with Windows 2000 Professional, almost all applications that run on Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51 run without modification on Windows 2000 Professional. However, there are a few application incompatibilities between Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Windows 2000. One example is antivirus software. Due to changes between the version of NTFS included with Windows NT 4.0 and the version of NTFS included with Windows 2000, file system filters used by antivirus software no longer function between the two file systems. Another example is third-party networking software (such as third-party TCP/IP or IPX/SPX protocol stacks) originally written for Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
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Important
You must remove any virus-scanners and third-party network services or client software before starting the Windows 2000 Professional Setup program.
Even though the upgrade from Windows NT is easier than upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98, be aware that the following features and applications cannot be properly upgraded:
Applications that depend on file system filters, for example antivirus software, disk tools, and disk quota software.
Custom power management solutions and tools. Windows 2000 support for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and Advanced Power Management (APM) replaces these. Remove the custom tools and solutions before upgrading.
Custom Plug and Play solutions. These are no longer necessary, because Windows 2000 provides full Plug and Play support. Remove the custom solutions before upgrading.
Fault tolerant options such as Disk mirrors.
Third-party network clients and services.
Uninterruptible power supplies.
For more information about Windows 2000 Professional hardware compatibility, see the Windows Upgrade link on the Web Resources page at: https://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources .
– Or –
Contact the software vendor to determine the availability of Windows 2000–compatible upgrades.
Removing Applications From Windows NT Workstation 4.0
The following procedure enables you to remove conflicting applications from Windows NT Workstation 4.0.
On the Windows NT Workstation 4.0 desktop, from the Start menu, click Settings and Control Panel .
In Control Panel , double click Add/Remove Programs .
In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, select the application you want to remove, and then click Add/Remove . This removes the application from the operating system.