Windows 2000 Advanced Server Question

[beansbaxter]

I am in desperate need of some help here.

I recently just got a hold of MS Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Both my 2000 Pro and 2000 Server CD's both allow you to boot off them just fine when installing. However, this is not the case of Advanced Server, for it doesnt allow boot up and there are not any boot up files on the CD.

The CD says you are required to boot up off floppy...so within a folder on the CD, Microsoft has 4 floppy images that install using the batch-level program in the directory. The program asks you to insert 4 formatted floppy disks so that it can write the files too them.

Yet, the floppy disks dont allow booting off them either. Disk 1 doesnt even have any startup system file to allow boot off. I even tried making a bootable floppy, but there isnt any run program from these pre-made discs. I would assume, since there numbered out of 4, that #1 would be the boot disk. But none of the floppies allow boot off.

Please help me here....advise me...has anyone installed Windows 2000 Advanced Server that can help me here????

 

[bigrash]

Did you try a different boot disk. You can go to bootdisk.com and download a different set of bootdisks to see if they work.

Sorry, I never installed Win2k Advanced Server so I'm not sure exactly what the process is , but I hope that site helps

 

[Bluga]

huh? I always boot ADV Server from CD.

There's no difference in terms of booting for PRO or ADV Server.

 

[ProviaFan]

Hmm, let me guess, did you get your CD from Microsoft?

 

[aircooled]

Actually, I also have some early ADV Server CD's that force you to boot from floppies. I was able to create the boot floppies and it worked fine.

Do what bigrash9 said and visit Bootdisk.com. You will surely be able to download images of all 4 floppies.

 

[beansbaxter]

Yes, my CD is from Microsoft...its an original with the snazzy lookin hologram and everything. It was 2 CD set, but the second CD is just tools and stuff.

I am very familiar with installing Windows 2000 Pro and Server, and your right about being able to boot from those. But those same boot up files are not on this Advanced Server CD. The readme file on the CD's root directory also mentions the floppy boot up.

On another note, I totally know that there is no way you can just run the Setup.exe file from the command line prompt, yet when I did try it, it specifically says the program is required to boot off floppy.

Were there different distribution builds with Advanced Server, perhaps one that has floppy boot up discs while another build allows CD-ROM boot up. Of course this makes absolute no sense, but maybe it is possible. Are boot up discs that come with operating systems like free domain software that can be distributed? Or is it illegal to even copy a boot disk? I wouldnt think it would be illegal since its not the actual operating system CD-ROM.

 

[beansbaxter]

Just curious though...why would Microsoft put on the Advanced Server CD four seperate image files to allow us to make four floppy boot up diskettes, and then for them not to work? Just doesnt make any sense to me.

Is there any way to just do a CAB extraction from the I386 directory and just install Windows from that? I know this has always worked with 9x, but can you do that with 2000? Just curious.

 

[beansbaxter]

That bootdisk.com looks awesome; I have never seen any website like it.

The index home page is working, but the links arent. I'll try it again later I guess. Any other sites that are up to par with it that anyone would recommend?