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Win2000 Hardware Specs Win2000 Upgrade Win2000 News Win2000 Pro Compressed Folders

If I were Building a System Today... Rev 7 (2/14/03).

Suggestions for Windows 2000 Professional Workstations:

A recent conversation with Niroo Dave, one of our May 2001 PC Builders prompted us to step back and take a look @ the obvious we all too often take for granted - After we Build Our PC, What's Next? For the uninitiated this might seem to be a daunting task. Niroo asked in what order to proceed next. OK... Let's break it down - Whether you're already running Win2000 or contemplating an upgrade to Win2000, we offer the following information as a guide.

After the hardware phase we move onto software. Decide your O/S and whether to utilize FAT32 or NTFS File System. Cutting to the chase, unless you have an affinity towards FAT32, we suggest installing NTFS. And if you should decide to go from NTFS back to FAT32, that's ok too.

Both the OEM & Retail versions of Win2000 support FAT32 yet neither will format a HD that way. You'll need a Win98SE Boot Disk + the HD Manufacturers Utilities Disk. Both OEM & Retail Win2000 will however format accordingly for NTFS therefore, K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sweet & Simple)! Both OEM & Retail are also Bootable CD's. You may need to set your new PC Bios to 'Boot CD' in the Bios Boot sequence.

Did you buy an OEM or Retail Win2000 CD? New PC - M/B + CPU or OEM HD? OEM - Difference? Price. And... Tech Support is YOU, not Microsoft for OEM Windows. Read EULA (End User License Agreement). Get Microsoft TechNet if you require Tech Support - Cheaper in the long run. Everyone out-sources Tech Support these days. We are our own best Tech Support. That's another story!

After installing Win2000, yes, FDISK & FORMAT are part of that, get your drivers installed. 1.) M/B Chipset Drivers (Via 4-in-1); AGP and on-board audio (CT-5880) 2.) Video Drivers 3.) LAN Cards 4.) Now peripheral drivers, Promise ATA/100 & ATA/133 Controller Cards, Modems, if you still use one of those, etc. And peripheral drivers for fancy keyboards and exotic mice.

For those System Builders out there, don't ready any of this! This is for the little guy Building their own PC(s)!

Set your Video Resolution and color bit depth as preferred. For a 19" Monitor 1024x768 Resolution is a good place to start. Get your Firewall & AntiVirus running. Now you're ready to get on the Net and update the O/S beyond SP2 and Security Hot fixes. Run the Security Tests - Microsoft Personal Security Advisor. Get your Security protocols in order.

Any applications used should be installed as you use them and not all @ once! If you use your PC daily, run Scandisk twice per month & Defrag weekly. Frequency may change if using Digital Audio Video Tools. Check Vendor recommendations. We suggest getting Executive Software's Diskeeper to Defrag even NTFS partitions. Servers, use Server version. Check out our Downloads page for other tools & utilities which may be helpful in time. Enjoy! GB 

Windows 2000 News & Issues of Relevance:

1. Windows 2000 Tools and Utilities:
   1. Windows 2000 Registry Repair Utility: (11/7/2003).
2. Specify what Windows 2000 does if the system stops unexpectedly: (3/25/2003).
3. 263201 - Default Processes in Windows 2000 (11/30/2002).
4. Windows 2000 Common Criteria Secure Configuration Guide (11/26/2002).
5. From Tom Tyner: Sysinternals Freeware - Information for Windows NT and Windows 2000 - PsInfo (5/27/2002).
6. Windows 2000 Print Services (5/15/2002).
7. Windows TCP/IP Tweak Settings: For Broadband (5/10/2002).
8. Win2000 Ntldr Is Missing (04/14/2001).
9. How To Create Win2000 Boot Floppy (4/12/2002).
10. Microsoft TechNet: (MBSA) Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer For Windows 2000 or Windows XP (4/9/2002).
11. Microsoft TechNet Online Support: HOW TO: Monitor for Unauthorized User Access in Windows 2000 (2/19/2002).
12. Windows 2000 Professional: Clearinghouse of Resources (2/12/2002).
13. www.microsoft.com: Windows 2000 Readiness Analyzer
14. Superspeed software. Performance software Disk cache Ram disk. (12/18/01)
15. BetaNews Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 Begins Testing - D/L Link, 111 MB's!!! (11/06/2001).

16. Wntipcfg.exe- Windows NT IPConfig Utility - (GUI Tool) View & Release IP Resources from Win2000 Resource Kit - And you prefer what - DOS to do this? D/L: Wntipcfg.exe

17. Windows 2000 - User State Migration Tool - Resource Kit Tool.

18. Microsoft.com: Desktop Deployment Solutions from Third-Party Companies

19. Sysinternals Freeware - Information for Windows NT and Windows 2000 - Miscellaneous Tools for Windows NT-2K See: VolumeID

20. Window Planet Software Section Windows 2000 Installation / Tweaking Guide

21. Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Suggestions 

22. Microsoft PressPass - The Journalist's Resource for Microsoft News

23. Migration Tools

24. ACPI - OnNow ACPI / APM &  Power Management

25. Free Win2000 Resource Kit Tools - Downloads

26. Microsoft Personal Security Advisor - HotFixes -

27. BIOS Compatibility and Windows 2000 -
28. Windows Software Compatibility List (Q136660) -
29. Glossary of Windows 2000 Services -
30. Windows 2000 for Tech Enthusiasts
    
31. Aladdin Internet Security Solutions - Recommended By AL Massey
    • eSafe Proactive Protection vs. Reactive Protection
32. ZDNet: d e v e l o p e r: eSafe Protect Provides Formidable Barrier
33. Windows 2000 Downloads
34. Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 
35. WinInformant.com - Windows 2000 SP2 bug fixes revealed

1. Enabling Compressed Folders in Windows 2000

• Windows History

• Windows XP Resources

• Windows XP Launch