Installing Windows  «Prev  Next»

Introduction to Windows Networking

Windows Legacy Operating System
  1. Select the correct Windows operating system
  2. Define hardware requirements
  3. Decide how and when to use disk partitioning
  4. Determine when to use NTFS or FAT during setup
  5. Define Windows licensing modes
  6. Determine requirements for joining a domain or workgroup
  7. Install Windows Professional and Server

Understanding Operating Systems
Windows is an operating system for use on both client and server computers. It was produced by Microsoft and released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999 and launched to retail on February 17, 2000. Windows is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the last version of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation.
It is succeeded by Windows XP (released in October 2001) and Windows Server 2003 (released in April 2003).
Four editions of Windows were released:
  1. Professional,
  2. Server,
  3. Advanced Server, and
  4. Datacenter Server
the latter was both released to manufacturing and launched months after the other editions.
While each edition of Windows was targeted at a different market, they shared a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications.

The problem is that Windows does not have drivers for modern hardware.
Question: How can a CD produced in 2000 have drivers for hardware that would not exist until years later?
If the hardware was sufficiently popular the manufacturer may provide Windows drivers, but considering the very small user base that Windows currently has that is unlikely. If you are attempting to install Windows on a new computer you are likely going to have trouble obtaining drivers, if they are available at all. This is an even more serious problem with laptops. A better option would be to install a modern OS, such as Windows 7 or Windows 10. If you really must run Windows you can then install a virtual machine such as VirtualPC or VirtualBox and install Windows on top of that.