YIPEE, a Windows 2000 thread

[john3347]

I am glad to see this thread. I must be one of the only 3 people in the world that are still using Windows 2000. I have some old software (remember 8 character file name limitation?) that does what I need better than anything since that will not run well even on XP. I also have a flatbed scanner that scans better than any of the current multifunction scanners now available. I also find Windows 2000 to be the most stable and generally "smoothest" OS ever from Redmond. Guess what! I am still receiving security updates for this OS. Were it not for lack of support by application developers, I would still be using this as my primary OS.

 

[TorrentG]

Trust me when I tell you...if Windows 7 is not 110% stable and perfect for you, there is something wrong being done. (Speaking openly, in general to everyone.) I have months of uptimes on my P4 machines, one non-hyperthreading with only 768 MB RDRAM. I use these machines for everything, and I'm on them 10+ hours a day.

It's all in the drivers and software installed (or not installed for that matter.)

Windows 7 is a rock. Best I've even seen by far, and I've seen 'em all. I mean out of Windows versions. I have a little Linux experience. Not enough to praise or speak against, but with Windows 7, I honestly have no current needs to venture so much there.

 

[DancingmadRB3]

While I suppose it is "seasoned", I can't agree that it's all too secure.
In comparison even to Windows XP, 2000 falls out in terms of firewalls, compatbilities of AV's, and overall safety.
And in terms of stability: it took 10 years to get to where it is today. Almost all other Windows OS since then have been more stable out of the box than windows 2000 ever will be.

Actually I never had one issue with 2000, barely a bluescreen even with the first release.
As for security, well yes after a while 2000 became less secure but it was rock solid on most of the servers I have used it on.
Your mileage may vary though

 

[djpahris]

I windows 2000 and all the older versions of windows, Im a 14 year old kid, The first computer i ever touched was my neighbors Windows 95, witch i was about 4 or 5 and she was verry close to our family and we used to visit her and i would always play around on her computer, then when i was about 5 or 6 my grandma bought me a Windows 2000 computer and i absolutely loved it and i got to learn alot more abut computers, then my second computer was a windows xp witch i still have today, and for xmas of 2009 i got a windows vista laptop witch suprisingly i only got the BSOD once, but it was sluggis, then my step dd upgraded it to windows 7 for me, then this past xmas i got another laptop witch has windows 7, witch is prety good, but now my uncle is going through a divorce so he is staying with us and he brought over his old win xp and windows 2000 and i absolutely love, but now he wants me to install windows 7 on it for him :/ so ive been having fun on it while i can. Windows 2000 is one of the best OS's fr4om microsoft and it is verry smooth and fast, and something about the classic look just draws me into so i just LOVE WINDOWS 2000!!!!

 

[Stretchr]

Well, you certainly are entitled to your opinion. Unfortunately for you, I own and have complete control over all 8 of my computers and I am the one who decides when to upgrade and what to upgrade to. I will be the one who decides when is time to upgrade. Now, who's rolling in the mud laughing?

I have to admit, I kind of like RIML, especially when only a dirty reply will do! But, of course, I'm "mature" as well and I tend to appreciate originality over imitation.

Cheers,
Stretchr

 

[catilley1092]

My first computer came with Win 2K Pro preinstalled, and I used it for 6 years before dual booting with XP Pro. No viruses, no problems. In fact, I have 2 installs of the same OS in VM Ware Player (you can still get all updates that was released for it). You only need to update IE5 to IE6, and Windows Update will do the rest. It runs FF 4 nicely, ESET NOD32 keeps it safe, it's still quite a usable OS.

But it doesn't run well on a modern computer as a regular install. One needs to get a computer built to run XP (a P4 or Mobile is fine), use the most up to date browser that you can, and there are several modern AV's that will protect it nicely. If XP had ran as well as 2K did, I'd probably never had known Win 7.

And full versions of Win 2K goes for as much as $200 today, so there are some (besides me) that still thinks it's good.

 

[Legend Fox]

Windows 95 and 2000 are still the best operating systems. I use now Windows 7 but its too much for me. If i had a choice between Windows 95 / 2000 or the Windows 7 than i will choice the Windows 95 / 2000.

 

[catilley1092]

Here are the full retail copies of Windows 2000. This site also offers other Windows software. This is legit software, unlike those found on online auctions.

Link Removed - Invalid URL

 

[meridius10]

Windows 2000 has its quirks, is not as user friendly as XP in relation to plug and play and I couldn't get any new mobile broadband dongle to work with it.

However, give it an ethernet connection, put it on a computer that had W98 on it and watch it speed past XP. This really is a good operating system for old processors such as Pentium III and for old laptops or pc's.

 

[catilley1092]

Windows 2000 Pro is still running fine for me. Early this month, I bought a IBM ThinkPad T42, in pristine (like new) condition. It arrived with the original OEM XP Pro, freshly installed.

I looked in my box of spare accessories, and found a brand new Hitachi 60GB IDE HDD that was a drop in fit. It was bought 3 years ago for a prior Dell Latitude D610 that I had up until a year ago, and had actually forgotten that I purchased it (still in the unopened package, with the HDD sealed).

So I left the OEM ThinkPad HDD as is, and created a dual boot on the new HDD (2K Pro, XP MCE edition), and added a data partition also. Windows 2000 runs nicely on the ThinkPad, IBM (now Lenovo) still had the original drivers for the OS, although I had to manually install them. They have an auto updating site for current supported OS's only.

Windows 2000 Pro, although an aged OS, is still quite useable. There are still options for some of the latest browsers (FF & Opera), but not for the latest Adobe Reader, Flash or Java, although there are versions of each still available from File Hippo that works fine. There's still plenty of software available for the OS. Also, being that it's in a dual boot with XP MCE, it still benefits from software that won't install on the OS (such as defrag software).

There are still a few AV/IS solutions that works well with the OS also. I'm getting ready to move forward from NOD32 AV (it expires next week) to ESET Smart Security, the trial version runs well on 2K. Adding Malwarebytes Pro really helps a lot, it's a lifetime subscription, and can be found at Newegg for as little as $9.95 (on promo). It's imperative that if one is going to use this OS, to run a modern browser (like FF or Opera) & a paid AV/IS solution. Avast Free is OK, but there is where Malwarebytes Pro becomes a must.

There is also an "unofficial" SP5 that was written for Win 2K, but due MS pushing XP at the time, it was never released. It's a great SP to add to the OS. For starters, it moves you up to IE6 w/o having to find a link to d/l it from (Windows Update doesn't work with IE5). The unofficial Win 2K SP5 can be found here:

|MG| Microsoft Windows 2000 Unofficial SP 5.1.2195 Download

Just download it & run it, it can even be slipstreamed into the install disk. It's no different from installing other SP's. There's a ton (over 400 updates & hotfixes) there.



For the most part, Windows 2000 has been kicked to the curb, but for those who has the hardware to run it, it's still a adequate OS for basic needs. And BTW, I've ran it since 2000, and have never been infected with a virus or malware from it, although there were those who claimed that the OS had "thousands" of holes in it (one is a well known MS article writer, Mary Jo Foley). Whether it has or had those holes, I don't know, but I can say that I've been secure running the OS.

Cat

 

[meridius10]

Actually my main problem with W2K is that I am now on mobile broadband and not ethernet. This does not work with W2K and the previous vodafone one was also incompatible.

Do you think your SP5 unofficial download will have the necessary ddl's etc. to make it work like XP?

 

[catilley1092]

meridius, it's hard to say. Many mobile broadband ISP's no longer supports Windows 2000. Most requires XP SP2, at the minimum.

But you can always try! Download the SP from whatever you're running, then copy it to a CD or flash drive & install it on W2K. I'm not sure that a internet connection is necessary for the SP to install, as I keep my computers connected to the internet, except when I do my monthly backups after Update Tuesday. Although W2K no longer updates, with the exception of 1 update that I got a few months ago (I believe after installing the SP), it dual boots with XP, that's why I backup it after then.

Also, and many W2K users doesn't know this, you can download the most recent Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Tool manually, as well as download & use the Microsoft Safety Scanner. So there's still some limited support from Microsoft for W2K.

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool can be download manually from here:

Link Removed

Never mind what the site says about what OS's it will run on, it still runs on W2K, as well as the Microsoft Safety Scanner.

Best of Luck,
Cat

 

[meridius10]

Many thanks for the feedback. I think as far as mobile broadband is concerned, I have almost run out of patience with W2K. On ethernet it is fine. But times are moving on and I now have a new laptop with Windows 7 SP1, so will just use the old one for testing.

If I ever use it again, I will look at the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool you mentioned.

 

[catilley1092]

Many thanks for the feedback. I think as far as mobile broadband is concerned, I have almost run out of patience with W2K. On ethernet it is fine. But times are moving on and I now have a new laptop with Windows 7 SP1, so will just use the old one for testing.

If I ever use it again, I will look at the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool you mentioned.

Being that's the case, you can run W2K in a VM (through VirtualBox or VMWare Player). You can bypass registration for the VMWare Player by downloading it straight from File Hippo.

FileHippo.com - Download Free Software

It's in the lower left hand of the page, under "Developer Tools". And since the virtual machine program will use your host connection, it doesn't matter what OS you run. It has a tool called "NAT", which shares your connection with the guest OS.

Once you've setup & ran a couple of VM's, you'll see how easy it is. And the best thing, if the VM gets infected by a virus or malware, you're 3 clicks away from permanently deleting it all. Just don't setup shares with your host (your OS) folders. It's tempting to do so, as you can easily access your downloads to install to the VM. But it's better to use a USB flash drive, CD/DVD, or simply redownload the programs that you want.

As long as you have a 64 bit Windows 7 with 3GB RAM (4GB would be better), you can do it, lending 512 or 768MB to the VM. You can probably do the same with a 32 bit Windows 7, but you would really need to stick with 512MB RAM, possibly even 256MB. As a 32 bit OS doesn't have as much virtual memory as a 64 bit does.

Generally speaking, if both computers (a 32 & 64 bit one) is performing a single task with an equal amount of RAM, having an identical CPU, neither would be faster over the other. This is assuming that both computers are of the same make, model & specs. But if there are several programs open, then the 32 bit computer cannot keep up with the 64 bit one, and if there are enough open programs running wide open, the 32 bit one can crash.

It's like riding down a road that has a single lane in both directions versus riding down one with 2 lanes in both directions. All other things equal, the 64 bit computer will distance itself fast. But regardless, it's not going to hurt to run a VM, Windows 2000 can easily run on 256MB RAM, many ran with that amount installed from the factory. My Dell Latitude C640 shipped with that amount, in those days, if one had 1GB RAM, that person had something. It cost me over $100 to upgrade to 1GB RAM (2 512MB sticks) in or around 2003-2004.

Best of Luck in your future endeavors.

Cat

 

[KEENAN]

Greetings:
We have a plethora of HP DC7900 SFF boxes & we need to install & run WIN 2K PRO. I cannot find drivers for this machine.
Due to the age of our HMI we can only use WIN 2K. Loading on XP has failed me. We need native parallel ports for the keys.
We VM'd on Win 7 PRO but had issues.
Can any one offer suggestions?
thanks,
Keenan

 

[ragnarok1968]

I did some searching on the internet and support officially ended in 2010. its a 13 year old OS. you'll have to go to each of your hardwares vendors to see if they still offer any drivers but I highly doubt it.

however, I did find service packs 2,3,4 info Link Removed

 

[ragnarok1968]

found intel drivers for usb support Link Removed

 

[ragnarok1968]

Lan Drivers Link Removed

 

[ragnarok1968]

more maybe here-> Windows 2000/XP Device Driver Resources