Installing Windows 2000

If you ask me, I would suggest that you install Windows 2000 Advanced Server because you can try out most of the stuff that Windows 2000 has to offer and as the Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is hard to get, you might as well settle for this. They even have a 120-day evaluation version and that should be good enough for most people. Before we begin, let's consider 3 different ways of installing Windows 2000:

• Using Connectix Virtual PC or VMWare Virtual Machine: Well, this is a cool way to do it because you don't have even a little bit of risk of ruining your existing operating system. VMWare Virtual Machine only runs on Windows 2000/XP but Connectix Virtual PC works with almost anything. The disadvantage is that you may not be able to use some keys such as Ctrl+Alt+Delete. I think Virtual PC is slightly better because it allows you to use Alt+Tab, Alt+Esc, the Start button and some other keys without getting your actual operating system to wake up and think you're trying to send it a command.
• Using PowerQuest PartitionMagic: PartitionMagic can be used to almost reliably resize a FAT16 or FAT32 partition so you can convert all the free space on your existing hard disk into a new partition. This does take a bit of time and patience for PartitionMagic to work its magic, especially if you have one of those 80GB or 180GB hard drives but if you just have a 10GB hard drive, it doesn't really kill.
• A true install on a blank hard disk: This is the easiest - just push in the CD and let it rock!

1. Install Virtual Machine or Virtual PC and then restart your computer (just to be on the safer side).
2. Create a new Virtual PC and go on to the Blank Hard disk install section. VMWare Virtual Machine may need its VMWare tools.

1. Install PowerQuest PartitionMagic
2. Resize your current partition, but make sure you leave at least 1GB of free space for your Operating System to use as Virtual Memory (especially if you are using Windows).
3. Apply the changes and quit PartitionMagic.
4. Restart your computer.
5. Go on to the Blank Hard disk install, but when it asks you to select a partition to install, be extra careful.

1. Insert the Windows 2000 setup CD into the CDROM drive and boot from the CD by restarting your computer(you may need to enter the computer setup and change the booting order to allow the CDROM drive to be checked before the Hard drive).
   If your computer cannot boot from a CD, use a Windows 98/ME boot disk and run the WINNT.EXE file located in the I386 directory by typing D:\I386\WINNT.EXE, where D: is your CDROM drive.
   
2. Follow the onscreen instructions. When asked to select a partition, select the unpartitioned space and create a new 3GB partition; use this partition to install Windows 2000.