WINDOWS 2000 UPGRADE PROCEDURES

Windows 2000 offers several upgrade paths. The following operating systems can be upgraded to Windows 2000:

• Windows 95 (All Versions)

• Windows 98 (All Versions)

• Windows NT 3.51

• Windows NT 4.0

Before upgrading to a new operating system, your first consideration should always be to make a complete backup of the current operating system and data. This is crucial if you wish to have a path back to your current operating system and information. Next, you should scan your current operating system with updated antivirus software so that any viruses are not transferred during the upgrade process. Finally, you should uncompress any compressed drives.

Upgrading from a previously installed operating system to Windows 2000 is a fairly simple task. The most important thing to keep in mind for a successful upgrade is that the Windows 2000 setup program must be run from within the operating system you want to upgrade in order for your settings and information to be transferred to Windows 2000. To upgrade from Windows 9x or Windows NT using the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM, do the following:

1. Boot your system into Windows 9x or Windows NT.

2. Insert the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM.

3. If your system autodetects the installation CD-ROM, your current operating system is detected, and you are asked if you want to upgrade to Windows 2000. Select “Yes” if you want to upgrade, and continue with the upgrade process. If the installation CD-ROM is not autodetected, select Start > Run, and type in the CD-ROM drive letter, followed by “\I386\WINNT32.EXE”, and click OK.

To upgrade from Windows 9x or Windows NT to Windows 2000 over a network, do the following:

1. From within the operating system you want to upgrade, connect to a network share that contains the Windows 2000 installation or setup files.

2. Navigate to and run \I386\WINNT32.EXE from the shared network location.

3. Answer “Yes” to perform the upgrade, and follow the installation instructions provided.

   Note

   If you have trouble running a previously installed application after you have upgraded to a new operating system, you are advised to reinstall the application on the upgraded operating system.

If you would like more information on upgrading to Windows 2000 from Windows 9x or Windows NT visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/professional/howtobuy/upgrading/path/win9x.asp.

What About Windows Me (Millennium Edition)?

There is no recommended upgrade path provided by Microsoft to upgrade from Windows Me to Windows 2000. This is because Windows 2000 was actually released before Windows Me. That’s right, Windows 2000 is not a supported upgrade from Windows Me.

If you attempt to upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional from within the Windows Me operating system, you will most likely encounter a message stating that the version of Windows you are attempting to install is newer, and will ask you if you want to upgrade. If you select OK to the upgrade, you will most likely encounter the following error message:

Cannot load C:\windows\upgdlls\w95upg.dll\WIN9XUPG\W95UPG.DLL.

This is because Windows 2000 is looking for the upgrade path from Windows 9x! Windows Millennium will be described in much more detail in Chapter 27.

For more information regarding this unsupported Microsoft upgrade, visit the following Microsoft site: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;272627.