Installing Windows 2000 BY: Joshua Wilburn, Arnol Vaquero

Requirements for installing Windows 2000 In order to install Windows 2000 you would need the following: The processor must be at least in the Pentium class of processors. The system must have at least 64 MB of RAM. The hard drive or partition that the operating system files are installed on must be at least 2 GB. The monitor must be a VGA monitor. The CD-ROM must be capable of reading at a speed of 12X or higher. The network card must connect the computer to a network since Windows 2000 is a network operating system. The Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) is a tool that can be used before installation to verify that hardware will work with Windows The use of hardware that is not listed on the HCL might cause problems during and after installation. The HCL can be viewed by opening the HCL.TXT file in the Support folder on the Windows 2000 Professional CD- ROM.

Steps in Windows 2000 installation

Step #1 The first step is to get your computer to boot from the CDROM. If you are performing a clean install and your CDROM drive is bootable, then you should be able to insert the Windows 2000 CDROM and boot your computer. Make sure that you do not have a floppy disk in the drive. If you are installing over an existing operating system and your CDROM is bootable, then you will want to enter your BIOS and change the boot order to boot from your CDROM first. If your CDROM is not bootable, then you will need to make boot disks in order to begin the installation, which can be done using the Makeboot.exe utility on the CDROM.

Step #2 When setup starts, you will see the message Set-up is loading files. This will take some time to complete. If it seems to be taking more time than you expected, look at bottom of the screen to make sure that it is actively loading files.

Step #3 Once the files are loaded, you will be presented with a screen that will offer 3 options as follows: –To set up Windows 2000 now, press enter –To repair a Windows 2000 installation, press R –To quit setup without installing Windows 2000 press F3 Since we are installing Windows 2000, we will press enter

Step #4 The next screen displays the license agreement. Press F8 to agree.

Step #5 The next screen will show your current partition configuration and offer the following 3 choices: –To set up Windows 2000 on the selected item, press enter - If you select this option, then Windows will be installed on the highlighted partition. –To create a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C - If you select this option, enter size of partition you wish to create in MB and press enter. You should create a partition that is at least 2GB in size if not larger. –To delete the selected partition, press D - When deleting a partition, you will receive a warning message that all data will be lost from the partition and you must press "L" to continue.

Step #6 If you have selected a partition to be formatted, you will be presented with the option to format it as NTFS or FAT. You will probably want to format it as NTFS, although if you are unsure, you can format it as FAT and convert it to NTFS later.

Step #7 Setup will now format the partition and then copy files to it. Once complete, Windows 2000 will reboot and will begin the GUI-based portion of setup.

Step #8 After the Windows 2000 splash screen appears, you will see Welcome to the Windows 2000 setup Wizard. Press next to continue.

Step #9 Now the plug and play process starts and Windows will attempt to identify your hardware and install drivers for these devices.

Step #10 Next, you have the option to customize your Regional Settings which includes items such as keyboard layout and locale. These can be changed after setup is complete.

Step #11 Next you will be prompted to enter your name and company name and on the next screen you will enter the computer name and admin password. Do not lose or forget this password.

Step #12 The next section will show Windows 2000 Components. Select the components that you want to install. If you are unsure, just hit next.

Step #13 Setup will spend some time completing final tasks and then will reboot. Make sure that you remove the CDROM before rebooting. If you changed your boot order in your BIOS, you will want to change it back.