Upgrading to Windows 2000 from windows 98. 1

[Guest_imported]

Our System is currently an HP Pavillion, PII w/256MB of Ram and 20 Gig total on two hard drives. Our hard drive is partitioned in to 5 or 6 partitions.

We (my husband and I) have attempted to upgrade to Windows 2000 server edition but when we printed out and read the read me file, we were compleatly overwhelmed by all the domain jargon. My somewhat fearful husband ended up putting Win 2000 server only on one of our drives(D drive not C). Now when we boot up we have to put in a disc because we get a message that says operating system not found.

Even though this is a problem, the main problem is I would like to upgrade the entire system to 2000 either server or professional.

Is there anything I can tell my husband that will ease his mind about Windows 2000?

Is there any reason we would not want our system to be upgraded to win 2000?

Which windows, server or professional, or other if we are headed in the wrong direction here, should we be upgrading to? I have heard that windows 2000 is the most stable environment yet and thats why we wanted to go this route.

Many people have 98 and 2000 and have a dual boot. Why do they do this? What is the purpose of this dual boot if one operating system is better?

Since one uses Fat32 and the other uses NTFS, can they share programs or data, can you give me a simple example of how that "sharing" or "not sharing" works.

Thank you all for your answers and help in advance. I would really like to convince my husband to take the plunge and upgrade fully to windows 2000. All help, or links to further help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again,
Karen
sewninluv@hotmail.com

 

[sixthsense]

hi
first of all which boot disk r u talkin of??
well if u dont want the server services then
u should go for the proffessional as it is much more faster than the server and uses less resources.
and should work well with any processor above 500Mhz and 64mb ram though i'll suggest 128mb

well if there r any specific programs that u need to run on these machines then first do a check on a dummy system that the program is workin fine. for ex applications like POS designed in foxprofor DOS wont run on win2k etc.well and also u'll have to upgrade the exsisting programs like antivirus or office suite that r compatible with win2k.
well that can be a reason for not going for win2k

well as far at stability is concerned well my personal views r that its the most stable windows operating system till date.

people like to keep dual boot to run the programs that dont run on win2k anymore mostly the dos one's and for many other reasons also

well i'll sugget keeping NTFS as ur file system unless u want to dual boot.it has many benefits over FAT system which i'll not list and i think all would agrree dont u guys ;-)

well feel free to put any more questions
Kapil
Technical Director
Infovalley Interweb Pvt. Ltd.
Microsoft Certified System Engineer
visit

http://www.interwebspiders.com

If u find the information provided here useful to u then let me know by clicking on the link below s-)

 

[Guest_imported]

Hello, thank you for your response. I have a few more questions.

First.........
Can you expound on this please? What are the benifits of NTFS?.....
"well i'll sugget keeping NTFS as ur file system unless u want to dual boot.it has many benefits over FAT system which i'll not list and i think all would agrree dont u guys"

Also, as I have been doing some research on win 2000 I have come accross Windows XP being compared to Windows 2000. What do you suggest for stability as well as compatability? I came accross someone sugesting that Windows XP is better than Win 2000 professional. What do you think about this?
Here is the web site I found this information on...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/guide/featurecomp.asp

I am dead set on upgrading from 98 to another operating system I just need to know what will be the best system to go with.

Does XP use Fat32 or is it NTFS?

If we do not use any programs that run in DOS would you suggest upgrading compleatly to 2000 or XP if that is what you recommend, instead of having a dual boot with 98?

I just don't like the idea of having two operating systems on my machine. It seems too confusing and unessasary in my case since I do not have any programs that run in DOS. Also, is it possible that I do have programs that run in DOS and I just don't know it? We do not do any gaming at all.

Thank you again in advance for your help,
Karen
sewninluv@hotmail.com

 

[sixthsense]

hi again
well XP does not uses fat it is only a refined version of the microsoft win9x series operating system
i doubt its stability???
so i would suggest u to go win windows 2000 professional

well some of the features of win 2000 i'll mention here which u'll not get in win98 or xp
->The NTFS file system
->The Windows File Protection feature--this prevents - designated system files from being over written by programs
->Fewer reboots--fewer reboots are required after you make system changes

now for the NTFS file system well here r a few things that will convince u enough to go for it :

The NTFS file system is the recommended file system nby microsoft because of its advantages in reliability and security and because it is required for large drives. The FAT and FAT32 file systems are similar to each other, except that FAT32 is designed for larger disks than FAT. NTFS has always been a more powerful file system than FAT or FAT32. Windows 2000 Server has a new version of NTFS that includes many important security features such as:
->Permissions that you can set on individual files rather than just on folders.
->File encryption, which greatly enhances security.
->Active Directory, which you can use to view and control network resources easily.
->Domains, which are part of Active Directory, and which you can use to fine-tune security options while keeping administration simple. Domain controllers require NTFS.
->Recovery logging of disk activities, which helps you restore information quickly in the event of a power failure or other system problems.
->Disk quotas, which you can use to monitor and control the amount of disk space used by individual users.
->Better scalability to large drives. The maximum drive size for NTFS is much greater than that for FAT, and as drive sizes increase, performance with NTFS does not degrade as it does with FAT.

i think that should hepl u to make the dicision

Kapil Technical Director
Infovalley Interweb Pvt. Ltd.
Microsoft Certified System Engineer
visit

http://www.interwebspiders.com

If u find the information provided here useful to u then let me know by clicking on the link below s-)

 

[Guest_imported]

Thank you very much your information has been very helpful. I will probably go with the win2000 professional operating system. Thanks again, Karen

 

[n0795]

Karen
I use windows 2000 pro and I have a windows 2000 server for IIS and one for DNS.
I must say I am happy with both of them, Apart from the fact they are alot more of a nightmare to trouble shoot but if you know what you are doing you should be ok.
Windows 2000 is without a doubt more stable than win98.
But my advice to you is if you do not need the security/features that win2000 offers then stay with win98 other than these reasons upgrading will not really benifit you and could cause you more problems than you want to deal with.
As far as XP if you want to go that route I would first read up on the Registering side of things Microsoft are cracking down and from what I hear it isnt going to benifit any of us.
you may register it twice then you have to pay again after that or buy a unlimited package for a set price.
I also hear that if you so much as upgrade your system "VGA card , CPU" it wants you to register again....! Im not sure if that is a fact and I will belive it when i see it.!

Nick
Technical Support
MCE A+
Dallas TX

 

[butchrecon]

This might make your upgrade option easier. Win98 can not be upgraded to Win2K SERVER. Only Win2K Professional. So It looks as though you dont have a choice (But this is a good option either way). James Collins
Systems Support Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.

 

[n0795]

James is correct
even if it were possible you probably wouldnt want 2000 server unless you were going to host web sites or run a DNS server.
Or be a domain server.
Also if you go with win2000 pro you probably want to do a clean install rather than upgrade.
Upgrading can be a pain.
i still think you have no real need to move from windows98 but if you do i suggest at least 128mb ram or even 256mb

Nick
MCE A+