Preparing Your Network Infrastructure for Windows 2000

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Preparing Your Clients

Because Windows 2000 is designed for interoperability, client computers running previous versions of Windows are interoperable with Windows 2000 in a mixed-mode environment. However, upgrading your client computers to Windows 2000 Professional offers improved client computer and user security, improved reliability, and increased functionality.

Not all versions of Windows can be upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional. You can upgrade the following versions of Windows and Windows NT to Windows 2000 Professional:

Windows 95   All versions are supported for upgrade, including OSR2.x. However, if your clients are running Windows 95 from a server, you need to install it directly on the computer, or perform a clean installation of Windows 2000 Professional.

Windows 98   All versions are supported for upgrade. See "Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Considerations" later in this chapter.

Windows NT 4.0 Workstation   All versions are supported for upgrade. See "Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Considerations" later in this chapter.

Windows NT 3.51 Workstation   All versions are supported for upgrade.

An important requirement for your client computers is hardware and driver compatibility with Windows 2000.

Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Considerations

Some applications and drivers that worked with the previous operating system will have problems functioning properly in a Windows 2000 Professional environment. The following sections discuss issues that you might encounter when upgrading Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows 98 clients.


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Note

Windows version 3.1 and earlier are not suitable candidates for upgrade.

Upgrading Windows NT Clients

Windows NT clients are, in general, easily upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional, with the following considerations:

Upgrading Windows 95 and Windows 98 Clients

The upgrade path for Windows 95 and Windows 98 clients is generally easy. However, keep the following cautions in mind as you consider upgrading these clients:

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