This document outlines supported and unsupported upgrade paths for editions of the Windows Server® 2008 R2 operating system.
Unsupported Upgrade Scenarios
- Upgrades to Windows Server 2008 R2 from the following operating systems are not supported:
- Windows® 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP, Windows Vista®, Windows Vista Starter, or Windows 7
- Windows NT® Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003 RTM, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 Web, Windows Server 2008 R2 M3, or Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta
- Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems, Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Cross-architecture in-place upgrades (for example, x86 to x64) are not supported.
- Cross-language in-place upgrades (for example, en-us to de-de) are not supported.
- Cross-edition upgrades (for example, the Windows Server 2008 Foundation SKU to the Windows Server 2008 Datacenter SKU) are not supported.
- Cross-build type in-place upgrades (for example, fre to chk) are not supported.
Supported Upgrade Scenarios
| From Windows Server 2003 (SP2, R2) |
Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 |
|
Datacenter
|
Datacenter
|
|
Enterprise
|
Enterprise, Datacenter
|
|
Standard
|
Standard, Enterprise
|
| From Windows Server 2008 (RTM-SP1, SP2) |
Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 |
|
Datacenter
|
Datacenter
|
|
Datacenter Core
|
Datacenter Core
|
|
Enterprise
|
Enterprise, Datacenter
|
|
Enterprise Core
|
Enterprise Core, Datacenter Core
|
|
Foundation (SP2 only)
|
Standard
|
|
Standard
|
Standard, Enterprise
|
|
Standard Core
|
Standard Core, Enterprise Core
|
|
Web
|
Standard, Web
|
|
Web Core
|
Standard Core, Web Core
|
.gif) Note |
| Windows Server 2008 RTM is marked as "RTM-SP1" because a user sees "Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1" in the system information. |
| From Windows Server 2008 (RC, IDS, RTM) |
Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 |
|
Datacenter
|
Datacenter
|
|
Datacenter Core
|
Datacenter Core
|
|
Enterprise
|
Enterprise, Datacenter
|
|
Enterprise Core
|
Enterprise Core, Datacenter Core
|
|
Foundation
|
Standard, Foundation
|
|
Standard
|
Standard, Enterprise
|
|
Standard Core
|
Standard Core, Enterprise Core
|
|
Web
|
Standard, Web
|
|
Web Core
|
Standard Core, Web Core
|