Summary

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To successfully install Windows 2000 Server, it is very important that you assess your system, document it, plan your installation, and then methodically follow through with your plan. When documenting your system configuration, it's crucial that you make sure that your system is powerful enough to run Windows 2000 and that all components are on the HCL. It's also important to thoroughly record all the information you can about the computer, including the network and hardware settings for the system. Also, you can save time as well as a very large headache if you plan ahead by deciding such things as what file format to use on your partitions, whether to perform a dual boot, and whether to automate your installation.

When it comes time to perform your Windows 2000 installation, there are a number of different phases of setup, including the optional Windows-based phase (if you're installing from Windows 95/98/NT), the text-based phase of setup, and the Windows 2000–based Setup Wizard. If you have any trouble during setup or immediately after setup completes (such as not being able to boot into a previous operating system), you can try a number of things to solve your problem, from updating your BIOS to refreshing the Master Boot Record with a previous operating system's boot information. In the next chapter, we move on to configuring the newly installed Windows 2000.