Starting Out

Before you begin to install Windows 2000 Professional on the older computer, be sure that there are no data files or other important information still being stored on that old computer. Also, make sure you have your Windows 2000 CD and serial number ready. Be sure that you are prepared to sit and attend a 1-2 hour installation process.

A Note About These Screenshots

Unfortunately, I cannot provide any decent-looking screenshots of the BIOS or installation portions of Windows 2000. This is because you need screenshot software running in the background to capture screens, and there is no such opportunity to do this through BIOS or the Windows 2000 installation engine. Any screenshots included were taken with a digital camera.

Checking Out the BIOS

The BIOS must be configured to boot from CD-ROM before you can actually begin installation. To access the BIOS on most computers, you will press some specific key during boot. In the computer that I plan on using as a server, that key is “F2.” After pressing the key and waiting a bit, the BIOS will appear. Now, BIOS screens appear different on different computers due to the fact that there are many different BIOS manufacturers. Usually, though, the setting to boot from CD-ROM is located in the “Boot Order” dialogue.

Make sure that “Boot from CD” is at a higher priority than “Boot from HD.”

Booting From CD-ROM

Now, pop that Windows 2000 CD in the drive and wait for the “Setup is inspecting this computer’s hardware configuration” screen to appear. You are now in the first stage of installation. Over the next few minutes, a large set of low-level drivers will load, as indicated by the bottom of the screen.

Setup is busy loading files.

Now, a new screen should appear, asking you what you wish to do. Choose to set up Windows 2000 now by pressing Enter. After agreeing to Microsoft’s license agreement stuff, another screen should appear with all of your current partitions and/or hard drives. Delete all current partitions, and set up a new one in the largest “Unpartitioned Space.” Setup will then ask you to format your hard drive using either NTFS or FAT. Choose NTFS, as it enables all of Windows 2000’s better security features. Then, a progress bar will appear as the partition is formatted, as well as when setup installs the installation files. Once this is complete, you will need to restart your computer.