|
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.
Credits
written by Cypher <cypher@cypherdome.com>
version 1.0
Disclaimer
This guide is based on my personal knowledge only, and
should not be considered as an alternative for certified
Microsoft installation procedures.
The author takes no responsibility for your actions. |