Resolve Upgrade and Application Compatibility Problems

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Before upgrading a server to Windows Server 2003, use the Winnt32.exe command-line tool with the /checkupgradeonly parameter to identify potential upgrade problems, such as inadequate hardware resources or compatibility problems.

Two application compatibility problems you might need to resolve include:

  • Distributed File System (DFS) root shares are not supported if they are hosted on a file allocation table (FAT) partition.

    In Windows Server 2003, DFS root shares must be located on NTFS partitions with no files or directories under the DFS link.

    For more information about deploying DFS, see "Designing and Deploying File Servers" in Planning Server Deployments in this kit.

  • Windows 2000–based computers running Remote Installation Services (RIS) might cause errors in a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain.

    When using Windows 2000 RIS server in your Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Domain, you might receive the following error when using the Client Installation Wizard (CIW):

    " Unable to create or Modify Computer account" 
Error: 00004E4F

    This error occurs because Windows Server 2003 creates machine account objects differently from Windows 2000. To prevent this error from occurring when creating machine accounts, configure the Windows 2000–based RIS servers in your environment to point to a domain controller running Windows 2000. This is done by adding the DefaultServer registry parameter to the Windows 2000 RIS servers.

    For more information about configuring optional registry parameters for the Boot Information Negotiation Layer (BINL) service, see article 235979, "Optional Registry Parameters for the BINL Service" in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. To find this article, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at https://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources.

    You must remove the Windows 2000 Administration Tools Pack before upgrading to Windows Server 2003. For more information about Windows 2000 administration tools and upgrade issues, see article 304718, "Administering Windows 2000–Based Computers Using Windows XP Professional–Based Clients," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. To find this article, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at https://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources.

To identify potential upgrade and compatibility problems

  • At the command line, connect to the I386 directory located at your installation source and type the following command:

    winnt32 /checkupgradeonly

Resolve any reported problems prior to performing the upgrade.