Updated
21 June 2002
Responsible Author: Mister
3D
Summary
Windows 2000 is not a "slam dunk" upgrade. Substantial changes were made to the OS between W-98 and W-2000, which may render some of your hardware useless. Listed below are the minimum support requirements and some caveats for upgrading.
TSS recommends you do not upgrade to W-2000 unless you have a really compelling reason to do so.
Minimum
Supported Requirements
- 450mhz processor
- 256mb of RAM
- 8gb hard drive with 2gb of free space
Recommended Minimum
Requirements
- 500mhz processor
- 256mb of RAM
- 20gb hard drive with 4gb of free space
Potential
Issues with a W-2000 Upgrade on Marginal Equipment
- Hardware Obsolescence
Substantial changes were made to W-2000 from previous Windows versions. This could render components like your video card, audio card, or peripheral equipment useless. Thank you Microsoft.
- Minimal Gain
Even though W-2000 is newer and has some nice features, from a user
point of view, there isn't much of a difference between it and W-98. The
cost of upgrading may be more than just money, it could cost time and frustration
as well. In some cases it could be like trying to squeeze a larger, heavier
engine into a small car. More cost, less efficiency. Microsoft wrote W-2000
primarily for newer systems, and they fully expect the public to buy new
equipment to fit their OS.
- The hard drive would have to be formatted to FAT32. Definitely not NTFS.
(Warning: geek-speak follows) The file format system for W-2000 can be either FAT32 or NTFS. HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, TSS cannot support W-2000 on NTFS for the following reasons:
- TSS cannot use our arsenal of support and troubleshooting software on W-2000/NTFS, including our TSS Boot Disk.
- TSS needs access to your hard drive to recover potentially lost data (we could be locked out of W-2000/NTFS)
Once a hard drive is converted to NTFS, it is not reversible
to FAT32 without fully re-formatting the drive. If TSS could not access
your data in an emergency situation, there could potentially be a total
loss of data that was not backed up.
TSS recommends you do not upgrade to W-2000 unless you have a really
compelling reason to do so.
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