Prior to upgrading to Windows 2000, you should know from your migration plan which (if any) of your applications fail to run successfully under Windows 2000. If the applications are critical to your environment, you'll need to resolve these issues before upgrading. This lesson examines how to do this.
After this lesson, you will be able to
Estimated lesson time: 20 minutes
The Microsoft Windows 2000 Readiness Analyzer reports on both software and hardware incompatibilities that are likely to cause you problems. However, you should really only use the reports the Analyzer delivers as an indication of problems you're likely to encounter. Prior to migrating your enterprise to Windows 2000, you should have tested all your critical applications in the lab to see whether they run properly under the new operating system.
To reduce the amount of testing that's necessary, Microsoft has produced a directory of Windows 2000–compatible applications. You can find out whether your applications are on the list by going to www.microsoft.com/windows2000/upgrade/compat/search/software.asp and entering your application in the search box. Figure 11.8 shows the result of checking the compatibility of Microsoft Word 6.0.
Figure 11.8 Windows 2000 application compatibility search result
Applications are listed along with their current status. Table 11.3 shows the categories of applications and what the categories mean.
Table 11.2 Windows 2000 Compatibility Rating for Applications
Compatibility rating | Meaning |
---|---|
Certified | The highest-level ranking for Windows 2000 applications. The application meets the standards in the Windows 2000 application specification and has passed compatibility tests conducted by Microsoft and an independent-testing organization. |
Compatible | The independent software vendor (ISV) has tested their own application for Windows 2000 compatibility and will provide Windows 2000–related product support. |
Planned | The ISV has committed to providing a Windows 2000–compatible version of this product in the future. |
Caution | Read important information about this application before upgrading to Windows 2000. |
If a particular application doesn't appear in this list, it doesn't mean that it won't function under Windows 2000. Only thorough testing will reveal whether the application will function properly under Windows 2000.
In a large-scale enterprise, you're likely to encounter a number of applications that won't run under Windows 2000. How these problems are resolved will depend on the following:
For example, you might have an application that's currently critical to the enterprise and doesn't run under Windows 2000. If the application is developed by a commercial software vendor, maybe the vendor is committed to producing a new version. A solution might be to run the software currently under Windows NT 4.0 and then upgrade that computer when the new version of the software is released.
NOTE
If problematic software currently runs on a Windows NT 4.0 BDC, if possible, you should move this application to a member server because leaving a BDC on the network will prevent you from switching Windows 2000 to native mode.
Software developed internally will obviously have to be modified if it is to run under Windows 2000. As for commercial software, it's worth researching Web sites for known problems and solutions or contacting the vendors directly for patches or new setup programs.
Software written for Microsoft Windows 9.x, Microsoft Windows 3.1, or MS-DOS can cause particular problems when attempting to run it under Windows 2000. In some cases, however, adjusting your Windows 2000 environment will allow these applications to run. Use the following checklist to determine whether an application can run under Windows 2000:
If the answer to any of these questions for a given application is yes, fix the problem and then see whether the application will run. If you can answer all these questions with a no and the application still won't run, you'll probably require a new version of the software to be able to use it under Windows 2000.
If you're migrating third-party applications, they might use account information that's hard-coded. If, for example, the applications are set up to use a particular domain controller or keep information about a particular account that must be used for authentication, this information might not exist after the upgrade and would thus cause problems running the application. A number of possible solutions exist to this situation:
In this lesson, you learned what to do if applications fail to run under Windows 2000 and how to resolve common problems that might cause them to fail.