Windows Xp Upgrade

[Nutty_Pumpkin]

Hello,
I just found our old server in a closet and it runs windows 2000 server family. This is a problem because i want to upgrade it to Xp and Windows Xp only supports upgrading from windows 2000 server professional. Can you help me to upgrade it?

Thanks In Advance.

 

[quasist]

It reminds me how I made XP pro from XP home by regedit with no problem. Only when I tried make it back to XP home through same regedit windows said that my actions will nullify the license

 

[mindlord]

I just have to ask.
If it isn't broke, why fix it? Win2k is still supported by MS, and works as a server quite well.
Second, if it's a server, and you're determined to "upgrade" it. Why aren't you upgrading to something more suited to being a server, like Linux?

 

[sterling976]

QUOTE

If it isn't broke, why fix it? Win2k is still supported by MS, and works as a server quite well.



+1 If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I agree that you should probably be examining linux as an option if Win2k doesn't do what you need it to. It's stable and free, and has done a pretty good job in the last year or two getting hardware support up to snuff, which was my main complaint a few years back.

But if you're bound and determined to put XP on that server, you can do a side-by-side installation of XP with Win2k. You'll get an extra prompt at boot-time to select which one you want to use, and you can specify the default in c:\boot.ini. Just make sure you're not overwriting your %WINDOWS% directory when you install XP. I think you're safe there -- Win2k uses c:\winnt by default, and I think XP uses c:\windows, but I've been Windows-free for about 9 months now and don't have a means to verify.

Unless you count google.

 

[Chip]

If you really want XP on the machine, do a clean install. Upgrades never work out well.

Back up any data you need from the server, reformat the drive, and install from scratch.

 

[TaG]

XP is an upgrade from W2k? If you need Windows, W2k is very stable. If you don't need windows, I would go with Linux. There are many good server distros.

 

[rokdcasbah]

be careful when you say closet, because I originally read that as server closet and assumed the thing was still online. I think some others may have read it that way too.

But I guess you mean it's offline and abandoned and you want to re-purpose it.

Back up everything.

A Windows "upgrade" just means you have a cheaper license and the install disc usually checks for your old license before nuking your system anyway. Even if it didn't, there's no 2000 > XP upgrade path that I know of.

Out of the box XP will only let you connect remotely with one person. If you had, say, 10 Terminal Server licenses, you'd be throwing them away. But you might not need them anymore anyway. Just something to consider.

If you do reinstall 2000, make sure you patch it for Daylight Savings Time, and turn off the DHCP server on there, since I'm guessing you already have one somewhere in the building.

Another thought: if you don't have WSUS running inside the building, and your workstations are all Windows machines, I'd say keep Win2K and install WSUS. You can't do that with XP.

 

[Nutty_Pumpkin]

Ok just to clear a few things up,
1.I am a noob at windows...
2.The server was my dads old one and i just want a normal computer.
3.I tried to install Ubnutu 8.04.1 desktop Did not work
4.If you do suggest a way please write a detailed way.
5.I do not have a copy of Windows 2000
6.Thank You! Sorry i am a noob

 

[Tiptup300]

Just reformat......and install a fresh copy of xp.

 

[TaG]

2.The server was my dads old one and i just want a normal computer.
3.I tried to install Ubnutu 8.04.1 desktop Did not work
OK. Why did 8.04 not work?

Without knowing the answer, the first thing you can do is ensure that you have a good image. When you pop the cd in and boot one of the options is to test the disk to make sure there are no errors. If there are any errors, bin the cd. If you have to re-download, 8.10 is out now.

Did you run Ubuntu and then try and install, or select the install option from the main menu? I have heard of problems the straight install way, besides by booting Ubuntu and starting there you get a chance to see it working.

 

[sterling976]

Did you run Ubuntu and then try and install, or select the install option from the main menu? I have heard of problems the straight install way, besides by booting Ubuntu and starting there you get a chance to see it working.

I had the exact opposite problem installing 7.10 the first couple times. The livecd was slow and would crash about halfway through the install, but I managed a text-based install just fine.

@pumpkin -- TaG's advice is solid. If it doesn't work for you, we can probably still help with your Ubuntu install, but we'd need to know, at a bare minimum:

• The computer's specs (CPU, memory are most important)
• Which specific 8.04 image you're using (32-bit or 64-bit)
• How far along in the installation process you get
• Any specific error messages you see when it fails (try searching on these at ubuntuforums.org)

One other thing to try is the text-based installer. It installs the full monty, but isn't as resource-intensive during the install, and can be easier on older machines.

Good luck!


EDIT: Malformed bullet list

 

[Nutty_Pumpkin]

2.The server was my dads old one and i just want a normal computer.
3.I tried to install Ubnutu 8.04.1 desktop Did not work
OK. Why did 8.04 not work?

Without knowing the answer, the first thing you can do is ensure that you have a good image. When you pop the cd in and boot one of the options is to test the disk to make sure there are no errors. If there are any errors, bin the cd. If you have to re-download, 8.10 is out now.

Did you run Ubuntu and then try and install, or select the install option from the main menu? I have heard of problems the straight install way, besides by booting Ubuntu and starting there you get a chance to see it working.

It was a good copy... I use ubuntu on my intel mac.

Just reformat......and install a fresh copy of xp.

Can you please tell me the right way of doing this?
Thank you

 

[Squirrel61]

Can you please tell me the right way of doing this?
Thank you

The method I'm using all the time and which has never caused me any problems:

Boot from the XP install CD. Wait until everything has finished loading and the partition selection screen appears. Delete all partitions (except when you want to preserve one) following the on-screen instructions and confirmations. At the end you should have a screen displaying the whole harddisk as unpartitioned space. Highlight it and press enter. Then choose to full-format it as NTFS (or FAT32 if you wish to). Then proceed installing.

I've tried doing it several other ways (pre-partition and or pre-format it using other programs) and found that occasionally, XP is complaining about the formatting. When you do like described, I've never had any problems.

 

[sterling976]

The method I'm using all the time and which has never caused me any problems:

Boot from the XP install CD. Wait until everything has finished loading and the partition selection screen appears. Delete all partitions (except when you want to preserve one) following the on-screen instructions and confirmations. At the end you should have a screen displaying the whole harddisk as unpartitioned space. Highlight it and press enter. Then choose to full-format it as NTFS (or FAT32 if you wish to). Then proceed installing.

I've tried doing it several other ways (pre-partition and or pre-format it using other programs) and found that occasionally, XP is complaining about the formatting. When you do like described, I've never had any problems.

That works great if you have a copy of the 'full version' CD instead of the 'upgrade version.' If you only have the upgrade CD, you need to already have a full version of an 'approved' flavor of Windows installed on the target machine or have a copy of the install CD for a full version of an 'approved' flavor of Windows available while you try to install. At some point I believe the install asks you for the disk.

It's been so long since I've installed Windows that I can't remember if XP followed that paradigm, but I'm pretty certain it did. I know 98 and ME (*shudder*) did. I'm also pretty certain that Microsoft wouldn't approve of an upgrade from 2k to XP, since the whole point of the 'upgrade' CDs was a customer loyalty incentive -- "you already bought a prior version of Windows at full price, so we'll give you a discount off of the upgrade." -- and 2k and XP were completely different product lines.

The only problem is if you lose the original disk or disks 10 years later and no longer have Win98 installed anywhere.

At any rate, a quick trip to google for 'Windows XP upgrade vs full' will probably clarify if anyone's interested. I'm not, so I didn't bother doing this myself.

Pumpkin, am I correct in assuming you have the 'upgrade' disk for XP? If that's the case, and I'm correct about the upgrade disk not liking win2k as a base install, I don't think there's a whole lot of help for you. Your options are:

• Find a pirated copy of XP and install that (NOT RECOMMENDED)
• Find a pirated copy of Win98, install that and then upgrade with your legitimate XP upgrade disk (NOT RECOMMENDED)
• Buy a copy of XP secondhand and install that.
• Buy an old copy of Win98 secondhand, install that and then upgrade with your legitimate XP.
• Try a different operating system

I don't endorse the first two options, for two reasons. Firstly, it's probably illegal, depending on where you live, and definitely unethical, regardless of where you live. Secondly, most sources of such software are dubious at best, and you're likely to end up with a virus- and malware-infested build from the get-go.

I also don't really recommend upgrading from Win98. As Chip said, those upgrades almost never go well.

If you do decide to get a new XP disk, Squirrel61's instructions are spot-on.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I highly recommend Ubuntu. If it's working on your intel Mac and you like it, I think it's worth pursuing. I've found ubuntuforums.org to be invaluable dealing with installation problems similar to the ones you've seen.

Anyway, that's all I've got.

 

[Squirrel61]

If I remember right, an upgrade to XP is possible from W98SE, ME or 2000 Pro. So any of these discs should be good to authorize for a full install using the upgrade version from XP. I even think to remember that there was a loophole to get the upgrade version doing a full install without using any previous versions install disc for authorizing. But it surely isn't as easy as with Vista, where you can install a 30-day trial from an upgrade disc and use that to authorize the same disc for a full install :lol:

 

[Nutty_Pumpkin]

The method I'm using all the time and which has never caused me any problems:

Boot from the XP install CD. Wait until everything has finished loading and the partition selection screen appears. Delete all partitions (except when you want to preserve one) following the on-screen instructions and confirmations. At the end you should have a screen displaying the whole harddisk as unpartitioned space. Highlight it and press enter. Then choose to full-format it as NTFS (or FAT32 if you wish to). Then proceed installing.

I've tried doing it several other ways (pre-partition and or pre-format it using other programs) and found that occasionally, XP is complaining about the formatting. When you do like described, I've never had any problems.

That works great if you have a copy of the 'full version' CD instead of the 'upgrade version.' If you only have the upgrade CD, you need to already have a full version of an 'approved' flavor of Windows installed on the target machine or have a copy of the install CD for a full version of an 'approved' flavor of Windows available while you try to install. At some point I believe the install asks you for the disk.

It's been so long since I've installed Windows that I can't remember if XP followed that paradigm, but I'm pretty certain it did. I know 98 and ME (*shudder*) did. I'm also pretty certain that Microsoft wouldn't approve of an upgrade from 2k to XP, since the whole point of the 'upgrade' CDs was a customer loyalty incentive -- "you already bought a prior version of Windows at full price, so we'll give you a discount off of the upgrade." -- and 2k and XP were completely different product lines.

The only problem is if you lose the original disk or disks 10 years later and no longer have Win98 installed anywhere.

At any rate, a quick trip to google for 'Windows XP upgrade vs full' will probably clarify if anyone's interested. I'm not, so I didn't bother doing this myself.

Pumpkin, am I correct in assuming you have the 'upgrade' disk for XP? If that's the case, and I'm correct about the upgrade disk not liking win2k as a base install, I don't think there's a whole lot of help for you. Your options are:

• Find a pirated copy of XP and install that (NOT RECOMMENDED)
• Find a pirated copy of Win98, install that and then upgrade with your legitimate XP upgrade disk (NOT RECOMMENDED)
• Buy a copy of XP secondhand and install that.
• Buy an old copy of Win98 secondhand, install that and then upgrade with your legitimate XP.
• Try a different operating system

I don't endorse the first two options, for two reasons. Firstly, it's probably illegal, depending on where you live, and definitely unethical, regardless of where you live. Secondly, most sources of such software are dubious at best, and you're likely to end up with a virus- and malware-infested build from the get-go.

I also don't really recommend upgrading from Win98. As Chip said, those upgrades almost never go well.

If you do decide to get a new XP disk, Squirrel61's instructions are spot-on.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I highly recommend Ubuntu. If it's working on your intel Mac and you like it, I think it's worth pursuing. I've found ubuntuforums.org to be invaluable dealing with installation problems similar to the ones you've seen.

Anyway, that's all I've got.

I have installed ubuntu 8.10 onto my secondary hdd and kept windows 2000 and my first hdd and a 3rd one thats for storage!
Thanks guys it was worth a shot!

 

[sterling976]

I have installed ubuntu 8.10 <snip>

You have chosen... wisely.