Lesson 1: Preparing to Install

When you install Windows 2000, the Windows 2000 Setup program asks you to provide information about how you want to install and configure the operating system. Good preparation helps you avoid problems during and after the installation.

Before you start the installation, complete the following preinstallation tasks:

• Identify the hardware requirements to install Windows 2000, and make sure that your hardware meets these requirements.
• Determine whether your hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
• Determine how you want to partition the hard disk on which you are going to install Windows 2000.
• Choose a file system for the installation partition.
• Choose a licensing mode for a server that will be running Windows 2000.
• Identify whether your computer will join a domain or a workgroup.
• Complete a checklist of preinstallation tasks to help ensure a successful installation.
• Run the Windows 2000 Upgrade Compatibility Verification tool.

You must know the minimum hardware requirements for installing and operating Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server to determine if your hardware meets these requirements (see Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1). Make sure that your hardware meets or exceeds these requirements.

Figure 2.1 Hardware requirements

Table 2.1 Windows 2000 Hardware Requirements

Before you install Windows 2000, verify that your hardware is on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). Microsoft provides tested drivers for only those devices that are included on this list. Using hardware that is not listed on the HCL could cause problems during and after installation.

For a copy of the HCL, see the Hcl.txt file in the Support folder on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM.

You will also find the most recent versions of the HCL for released operating systems on the Internet at the Microsoft Web site (http://www.microsoft.com).

Microsoft provides the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for Windows 2000 products because Windows 2000 requires greater control of the hardware, compared to other operating systems such as MS-DOS and Windows, for security, stability, and efficiency reasons. This in turn implies a deeper knowledge and utilization on the part of the operating system of the computer hardware. Small incompatibilities and differences from industry standards of that hardware can have an adverse effect on the stability of the Windows 2000 operating system.

The Windows 2000 Setup program examines the hard disk to determine its existing configuration. Setup then allows you to install Windows 2000 on an existing partition or create a new partition on which to install Windows 2000.

Depending on the state of the hard disk, you can choose one of the following options during the installation:

• If the hard disk is unpartitioned, you must create and size the Windows 2000 partition.
• If the hard disk has partitions and has enough unpartitioned disk space, you can create the Windows 2000 partition by using the unpartitioned space.
• If the hard disk has an existing partition that is large enough, you can install Windows 2000 on that partition. Installing on an existing partition will overwrite any existing data.
• If the hard disk has an existing partition, you can delete it to create more unpartitioned disk space to use to create the Windows 2000 partition.

Although you can use Setup to create other partitions, you should create and size only the partition on which you will install Windows 2000. After you install Windows 2000, use the Computer Management administrative tool to partition any remaining unpartitioned space on the hard disk.

Microsoft recommends that you install Windows 2000 on a 1 GB or larger partition. Although Windows 2000 requires a minimum of about 685 MB of disk space for installation, using a larger installation partition provides flexibility in the future. Then, if required, you can install updates to Windows 2000, operating system tools, or other files that are required by Windows 2000.

When you determine the disk space required for installing Windows 2000 on a computer, you must decide whether you are doing a clean installation or an upgrade, and whether you will be installing from CD-ROM or over the network. You must also know the cluster size being used.

If you are doing an upgrade and installing from CD-ROM, Setup creates the temporary folder $Win_nt$.~bt. If you are doing an upgrade and installing over the network, Setup creates the temporary folders $Win_nt$.~bt and $Win_nt$.~ls. The $Win_nt$.~ls folder contains the actual Windows 2000 files to be installed. There must be enough available space to allow for these folders.

To determine the space requirements for these folders, open the Txtsetup.sif file located in the I386 folder of your source files. The last section in this file is [DiskSpaceRequirements] and contains the values used by Setup. Notice that the sizes of these folders vary depending on the cluster size. The cluster sizes listed in the Txtsetup.sif file are 512, 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, and 256K. Once you select the appropriate cluster size, the first number listed represents the space required for the $Win_nt$.~ls folder, and the second number listed represents the space required for the $Win_nt$.~bt folder.

If you are doing an upgrade and installing from CD-ROM, Winnt32 checks the space for the $Win_nt$.~bt folder on the system partition. It then checks to find the location of the %windir% and the operating system of the installation in use. Winnt32 checks the partition containing the %windir% directory to see if there is enough space for the computed sum of the $Win_nt$.~bt folder size and upgrade growth size. Setup subtracts the cache size (temporary Internet files, etc.) to be deleted from the required disk space. If there is enough room, Setup proceeds. Otherwise, it generates a warning.

If you are doing an upgrade and installing over the network, Winnt32 checks the space for the $Win_nt$.~bt folder on the system partition. It then checks to find the location of the %windir% and the operating system of the installation in use. After determining the operating system, Winnt32 checks the partition containing the %windir% to see if there is enough space for the $Win_nt$.~bt folder size and upgrade growth size.

Winnt32 then checks any drive on the system for the space required for the compressed $Win_nt$.~ls folder. If the $Win_nt$.~ls folder is in the same partition where the operating system is to be installed, the files to be moved during Text Mode are accounted for in the disk space calculation.

After you create the installation partition, Setup prompts you to select the file system with which to format the partition. As with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 supports NT file system (NTFS) and file allocation table (FAT). New to Windows 2000 is support for FAT32. Figure 2.2 summarizes some of the features of these files systems.

Figure 2.2 Summary of file systems features

Use NTFS when the partition on which Windows 2000 will reside requires any of the following features:

• File- and folder-level security. NTFS allows you to control access to files and folders.
• Disk compression. NTFS compresses files to store more data on the partition.
• Disk quotas. NTFS allows you to control disk usage on a per-user basis. For additional information, see Chapter 8, "Managing File Resources."
• Encryption. NTFS allows you to encrypt file data on the physical hard disk.

The new version of NTFS in Windows 2000 supports remote storage, dynamic volumes, and the mounting of volumes to folders. Windows 2000 and Windows NT are the only operating systems that can access data on a local hard disk that is formatted with NTFS.

FAT and FAT32 allow access by, and compatibility with, other operating systems. To dual boot Windows 2000 and another operating system, format the system partition with either FAT or FAT32.

Setup determines whether to format the hard disk with FAT or FAT32 based on the size of the installation partition.

FAT and FAT32 do not offer many of the features that are supported by NTFS (for example, file-level security). Therefore, in most situations, you should format the hard disk with NTFS. The only reason to use FAT or FAT32 is for dual booting. If you are setting up a computer for dual booting, you would only have to format the system partition as FAT or FAT32. For example, if drive C is the system partition, you could format drive C as FAT or FAT32 and format drive D as NTFS. However, Microsoft does not recommend dual booting a server.

In addition to the license that is required to install and run Windows 2000 Server and the license that is required to install and run an operating system on each client computer, you also need to license each client connection to the server.

A Client Access License (CAL) gives client computers the right to connect to computers running one of the Windows 2000 Server family of products so that the client computers can connect to network services, shared folders, and print resources. When you install one of the family of Windows 2000 Server products, you will discover that the licensing modes in Windows 2000 are the same as in Windows NT 4.0: you can select the Per Seat or Per Server licensing mode.

The following services do not require Client Access Licenses:

• Anonymous or authenticated access to any of the Windows 2000 Server products with Microsoft Internet Information Services 4.0 (IIS) or a Web-server application that provides Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) sharing of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files.
• Telnet and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) connections.

The Per Seat licensing mode requires a separate CAL for each client computer that is used to access a computer running one of the Windows 2000 Server products for basic network services. After a client computer has a CAL, it can be used to access any computer running a Windows 2000 Server product on the enterprise network. Per Seat licensing is often more economical for large networks where client computers will be used to connect to more than one server.

With Per Server licensing, CALs are assigned to a particular server. Each CAL allows one connection per client computer to the server for basic network services. You must have at least as many CALs that are dedicated to the server as the maximum number of client computers that will be used to concurrently connect to that server at any time.

Per Server licensing is preferred by small companies with only one computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server. It is also useful for Internet or remote-access servers where client computers might not be licensed as Windows 2000 network client computers. In this situation, Per Server licensing allows you to specify a maximum number of concurrent server connections and reject any additional logon attempts.

During installation, you must choose the type of network security group that you want the computer to join: a domain or a workgroup (see Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3 Domain or workgroup membership

During installation, you can add the computer on which you are installing Windows 2000 to an existing domain. Adding a computer to a domain is referred to as joining a domain. If you are installing Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server, the computer is added as a member server. A computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server that is a member of a domain, and is not a domain controller, is called a member server.

Joining a domain during installation requires the following:

• A domain name. Ask the domain administrator for the Domain Name System (DNS) name for the domain that you want to join. An example of a DNS-compatible domain name is microsoft.com, where microsoft is the name of your organization's DNS-identity.
• A computer account. Before a computer can join a domain, you must create a computer account in the domain. You can ask a domain administrator to create the computer account before installation, or, if you have administrative privileges for the domain, you can create the computer account during installation. If you create the computer account during installation, Setup prompts you for a name and password of a user account with authority to add domain computer accounts.
• An available domain controller and a server running the DNS Service (called the DNS server). At least one domain controller in the domain that you are joining and one DNS server must be online when you install a computer in the domain.

As with Windows NT 4.0, you will only join a workgroup if you are in a small network without a domain or in preparation for joining a domain later on.

During installation, you can add the computer on which you are installing Windows 2000 to an existing workgroup. Adding a computer to a workgroup is referred to as joining a workgroup. If you are installing Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server, the computer is added as a stand-alone server. A computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server that is not a member of a domain is called a stand-alone server.

If you join a workgroup as a stand-alone server during installation, you must assign a workgroup name to your computer. The workgroup name that you assign can be the name of an existing workgroup or the name of a new workgroup that you create during installation.

The Windows 2000 Upgrade Compatibility Verification tool examines your hardware and software for known problems that might be encountered after upgrading to Windows 2000. It creates a report to determine the hardware files and any upgrade packs needed to successfully run Windows 2000.

If files are needed, the administrator should go to the hardware or software manufacturer's Web sites for updates or check the Microsoft Internet site at:

http://www.microsoft.com.

You run the Windows 2000 Upgrade Compatibility Verification tool by using one of the two methods that follow.

Winnt32.exe /checkupgradeonly

Chkupgrd.bat

For Windows 9x upgrades, Setup creates a report named Upgrade.txt in the Windows installation folder. For Windows NT 4.0 upgrades, it saves the report to the Winnt32.log in the installation folder.

Depending on the problems that are discovered, the areas in the report could include:

• DOS Configuration. This section includes any entries in Autoexec.bat and Config.sys that are incompatible with Windows 2000. These entries may be associated with older hardware or software that is incompatible with Windows 2000. Additional technical information is provided in the Setupact.log file, located in the Windows folder. The Setupact.log is discussed in a later lesson.
• Windows Messaging Services. This section lists any messaging (MAPI) programs that Setup detected that do not function in Windows 2000.
• Plug-and-Play Hardware. This section lists any hardware that may not support Windows 2000 without additional files.
• Software Incompatible with Windows 2000. This section lists any programs that require upgrade packs because they do not support Windows 2000, or because they may introduce problems with Windows 2000 Control Panel.
• Software to Reinstall. This section lists any programs that may require an upgrade pack because they use different files and settings in Windows 2000. If an upgrade pack cannot be obtained, use Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel to remove each of these programs. After upgrading to Windows 2000, reinstall or upgrade the programs.
• Program Notes. This section describes issues that might affect some of the programs you use. For example, you must disable full-screen animation after Setup is complete.
• General Information. This section provides important information that you need to be aware of before you upgrade. For example, any files in the Recycle Bin will be deleted during the upgrade.

The following is a preinstallation checklist that you can use to make sure you have all the necessary information available before you begin the installation process.

This lesson identified all the preinstallation tasks you must understand and complete before you install Windows 2000. The first task is to identify the hardware requirements for installing Windows 2000 and to ensure that your hardware meets these requirements. It is important that your hardware be on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), so that it is compatible with Windows 2000. After you have determined that your hardware is on the HCL, you must determine how you want to partition the hard disk on which you are going to install Windows 2000. You must also determine whether you are going to format the partition as NTFS, so that you can have better security and a richer feature set, or as FAT or FAT32, so that other operating systems can access the data on the installation partition.

A Client Access License (CAL) gives client computers the right to connect to computers running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server. With Per Seat licensing mode a separate CAL is required for each client computer that accesses a Windows 2000 computer. When a client computer has a CAL, it can be used to access any computer running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000 Advanced Server on the enterprise network. With Per Server licensing, CALs are assigned to a particular server. Each CAL allows one connection per client computer to the server, and you must have at least as many CALs that are dedicated to the server as the maximum number of client computers that will be used to concurrently connect to that server at any time.

During installation, your computer must join a domain or a workgroup. If your computer is the first one installed on the network, or if for some other reason there is no domain available for your computer to join, you can have the computer join a workgroup and then have the computer join a domain after the installation. This lesson also provided a checklist of preinstallation tasks that you can complete to help ensure a successful installation of Windows 2000.