WINDOWS 2K PROCEDURES

Users report the following procedures work successfully under Windows 2000 and XP

   

Solution1 - Microsoft Knowledge Base  -  Solution 2 - Swap Motherboard

Solution 3 - Upgrade - Force Hardware Detection  -  Solution 3a - Upgrade - Alternative Procedure 1 

Solution 3b - Upgrade - Alternative Procedure 2 - Solution 3c - Upgrade - Alternative Procedure 3

Solution 4 - Device Manager - Solution 5 - Delete ENUM

Solution 6 - Basic Driver Boot - Solution 7 - New Hardware Profile

Solution 8 - SYSPREP


Solution 1; Microsoft Knowledge Base Recommendation:

Microsoft Knowledge Base article - Q249694 “How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware And Troubleshooting Windows 2000 Hardware Abstraction Layer Issues.”

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q249694

Windows Backup (Ntbackup.exe) has the ability to merge differences in hardware configuration information between computers and maintain critical registry entries unique to the new computer to which you are restoring information. This capability makes it possible to perform a full backup of your source computer and restore it on top of a fresh Windows installation on your destination computer to migrate to new hardware.

(This procedure is a bit complex, and appears to be intended for moving an existing OS installation from one PC to another using two networked PCs (each having different hardware).  It doesn’t appear to be for a single-PC hardware upgrade operation.)

 


 

Solution 2; Simply swap motherboards and reboot; W2K detects changes:

Do nothing.  Just change the motherboard, hardware, and reboot.  Win2K redetects all changes automatically, and installs the correct drivers.  Reboot in Safe Mode to delete old hardware from device manager.  Effective only if old and new motherboards use the same chipset, I/O controllers, and there’s little variation in hardware.

 


 

Solution 3; In-place Upgrade to force fresh hardware redetection:

What an In-Place Upgrade Changes:

It does NOT change the installed components and programs. It does NOT change any passwords. It does NOT change third-party registry entries. It rolls back any hotfixes, service packs, and Microsoft Internet Explorer upgrades to their base versions. It refreshes the registry and restores default registry values. It reapplies default permissions. It reregisters Component Object Model (COM) components and Windows File Protection (WFP) files. It reenumerates Plug and Play devices, including the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). It reenumerates and changes drive letters, based on the current drives and partitions that are seen during the in-place upgrade and on the rules that are documented in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q234048 How Windows 2000 Assigns, Reserves, and Stores Drive Letters

Windows 2000 is not plug and play when it comes to motherboards.  When swapping motherboards with different HALs or chipsets in a W2K system you must reinstall W2K to force windows to redetect the chipset.  The reinstall is done as an upgrade. The advantage of this procedure is that you get the setup engine doing a close inspection of the new setup, and loading drivers as needed.  No Emergency Repair Disk is required.

  • Review and complete Pre-Action Procedures described in the Pre-Action Procedures section above. 
  • Change motherboards or move hard drive to new system.  (See Alternate 3A below for alternate procedure starting here).  
  • Power up, and enter BIOS setup. Note the BIOS revision to be sure you have the most current version.  Make any BIOS adjustments needed.  Note ACPI in BIOS.  Keep it enabled if Windows is installed with ACPI or disable it if Windows is installed without it.  Save your settings, exit, and shutdown. Note:  If your BIOS isn't current, flash upgrade your bios, reboot, recheck your bios settings, and shut down. It’s preferable to flash from the hard drive; floppy disks and floppy drives are more likely to fail or encounter physical errors during a flash sequence. If you must use a floppy, be absolutely certain both the disk and drive are good before you start. 
  • Boot the new system from the Win2000 CD (from the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM, run Winnt32.exe from the \I386 directory); (great if you have a slipstreamed Windows 2000 installation CD w/ SP2; see HERE for details), or 4 boot floppies. (If the hard drive is accessible, you can run Winnt32.exe on the hard drive, or Setup.exe on the CD from Explorer).  Have your CDKEY ready.       
  • If  Win2K doesn’t have I/O disk controller drivers for your motherboard, to avoid Inaccessible_Boot_Device error screen (See Inaccessible Boot Device solution section at the end of this document), insert the floppy disk containing driver (TXTSETUP.OEM), and add it using the F6 key when prompted.  (The F6 prompt is shortly after the screen changes from black to blue (during white text on blue screen)).  Next, press ‘S’ to specify an additional driver.  Windows then prompts for the disk containing the driver file TXTSETUP.OEM.  After necessary drivers are loaded, press Enter to continue with Setup. Note:  You do not need to install the ATA-100 driver during the WIN2K install process on a non-RAID IDE motherboard; WIN2K will simply treat it as an ATA-66 drive. Once Setup is complete,  install SP2, and WIN2K will see the drive as ATA-100.  If the disk is on a SCSI or RAID controller, you must use the 3rd party mass-storage device <F6> option, or WIN2K won’t see the disk.           
  • If third-party drivers are not needed at this time or will be installed later, skip F6, then, at the first screen asking you if you want to perform a repair or new install, select Install Windows 2000 -> Upgrade to Windows 2000.  (Don't select repair or recovery on the first screen! The first repair option only verifies Win2K files against the Win2K CD versions and makes no system setting changes).
  • Setup will find the existing Win2K installation (usually C:\winnt) and ask if you wish to install over it or repair it. At this second prompt, select Repair. Note:  If the Setup program does not detect a previous installation but just continues to the partitioning screen, there is a problem. An in-place upgrade may not be possible 
  • Setup will run the upgrade code that will re-enumerate the hardware and set itself to boot from the new controller.  The upgrade will retain all settings but will update drivers for the current motherboard and hardware. (You can reinstall windows over windows with no problems. It basically just skims over your existing installation and fixes bad files and fills in the blanks if something is missing. Everything will be the same after your reinstall.) 
  • All programs, settings, and configurations will still exist after this upgrade, however, if you don't have a slipstreamed Windows 2000 installation CD w/ SP2, (see HERE for details), all drivers are reset to Windows basic, and Microsoft updates will need to be reapplied.  Run Microsoft Windows Upgrade (on Windows Start menu) to reapply updates as needed.  Reports state that IE will be back to IE5.0 and will need to be updated.  Any Service Packs will need to be reinstalled.  All security updates that have been installed need to be reinstalled.  It is best to install the security updates based on the time order. 
  • Install optimized chipset drivers, ATA100 drivers, and other branded drivers as needed (those not previously installed using F6 in #4 above).

 

Solution 3A  Alternate procedure for In-place Upgrade:

  • Alternate Solution 3A:  Proceed per Solution 3 steps, except that no hardware is changed until the first reboot power-down during the upgrade install. 
  • Before changing any hardware in the old system, insert the Win2000 CD and bootup.  Start the Windows 2000 Setup, and proceed with the Install-Upgrade as described (“Upgrade current version to Windows 2000”).  Once the system has copied files and first asks you to reboot, say OK.  At the POST on this first reboot, turn off the power.  Remove old hardware.  Install the new motherboard and other new hardware.  Boot to enter BIOS; adjust settings.  Shutdown.  With the Win2K CD still in place, power back on; Win2K will continue the installation with a complete hardware rescan, detecting new hardware and installing drivers.  Proceed with steps 9 and 10 as described above.

 


 

Solution 3B  Alternate procedure for In-place Upgrade:

  • Alternate Solution 3B:  Proceed per Solution 3 steps, except that no hardware is changed until the first reboot power-down during the upgrade install, AND the Upgrade is commenced from within Win2000 running on the hard drive, not by booting up to the Win2000 Installation CD.
  • Before changing any hardware in the old system, while running Win2000 on the hard drive, insert the Win2000 Setup CD and start Win2000 setup from within Win2000 (From Explorer or Start-Run, run Setup.exe on the CD); (important to start from within Windows 2000, otherwise you don't get the option to upgrade).  Proceed with Upgrade as described; choose to 'UPGRADE CURRENT VERSION TO WINDOWS 2000'.  Once the system has copied files and asks you to reboot, say OK.  At the POST on this first reboot, turn off the power.  Remove old hardware.  Install the new motherboard and new hardware.  Boot to enter BIOS; adjust BIOS settings.  Shutdown.  Power back on; Win2K will continue the upgrade installation with a complete hardware rescan, detecting new hardware and installing drivers. Proceed with steps 9 and 10 as described above.

Note:  Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

No Upgrade Option When Setup Is Started from Disks or CD-ROM (Q181049)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q181049

SYMPTOMS

  • When you boot your computer from the Windows 2000 floppy disks or CD-ROM to start the Windows 2000 Setup program, you are not given an option to upgrade your operating system. When you start the Setup program in this manner, you can perform only a new installation of Windows 2000.

CAUSE

  • This behavior occurs because the Windows 2000 Setup program does not support upgrading when you boot your computer from the Windows 2000 floppy disks or CD-ROM.

NOTE : It is possible to boot from Windows 2000 floppy disks or CD-ROM and do a repair installation if Windows 2000 is already installed on the machine. For more information, please see the following article:  

  • Q292175 How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows 2000

RESOLUTION

  • To work around this behavior, start the Windows 2000 Setup program from within the operating system you want to upgrade. To do so, run the Winnt32.exe program from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM.  

 


Solution 3C  Alternate procedure for In-place Upgrade:

  • Alternate Solution 3C:  Proceed per Solution 3 steps, except that all devices in device manager are deleted prior to last shutdown before hardware change. 

  • Boot into safe mode; remove old hardware. (“You MUST boot into safe mode and remove the old hardware - or risk odd occurrences on your machine”).  

 


Solution 4; Delete all devices in Device Manager; Reboot to redetect:

  • Since the only thing at issue here is the operating system drivers (mainly the PCI bus, disk controllers, USB, etc...), the easiest thing to do is to just uninstall all of your devices from device manager prior to the last time you shut down your box before the new installation.  Delete devices.  Shut down.  Change hardware.  Boot into BIOS to make adjustments.  Reboot.  When Windows restarts, it will not have any devices installed, so it will detect the new ones and install the drivers.  

 


Solution 5; Delete ENUM key in the registry; Reboot to redetect:

  • (Caution:  Removing the ENUM key is NOT recommended for a NT-based OS such as 2000 or XP.  In contrast to consistent good results in Win98, in Win2K, reports state that deleting the enum key is not a good idea, especially if Windows 2000 has been installed in ACPI mode.  There’s a chance of killing the installation if you delete the enum key in Win2K.  Also, the machine will not boot to detect new drivers unless the mass storage controller driver is installed. If the controller driver is deleted, you will likely get the INACCESSIBLE_ BOOT_DEVICE blue screen on next boot.  Be sure to create a backup of the registry (or individual keys to be deleted) so the registry can be restored if deleting Enum does not work).

 

  • Review and complete Pre-Action Procedures described in the Pre-Action Procedures section above. 

  • Backup the following registry key: Key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Enum 

  • Uninstall or otherwise disable (you can use msconfig) all device specific TSR's and other non-essential programs that load at startup.  This includes AntiVirus Software and firewalls.  Remember to reenable later. tab-stops:

  • Boot into safe mode. tab

  • Start RegEdit.  In the registry, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002 and delete the ENUM key.  (This deletes the current hardware information, causing the hardware registry data to be rebuilt.)

  • Shut down and make motherboard and hardware changes.

  • Power up, and go into BIOS setup. Note the BIOS revision to be sure you have the most current version.  Make any BIOS adjustments needed.  Note ACPI in BIOS.  Keep it enabled if Windows is installed with ACPI or disable it if Windows is installed without it.  Save your settings, exit, and shutdown. Note:  If your BIOS isn't current, flash your bios, reboot, recheck your bios settings, and shut down. It’s preferable to flash from the hard drive; floppy disks and floppy drives are more likely to fail or encounter physical errors during a flash sequence. If you must use a floppy, be absolutely certain both the disk and drive are good before you start.

  • Reboot.  Press <F8> on Windows startup; select the "Last known configuration” option.  This will cause Win2000 to use ControlSet002 without any of the hardware detected.  Hardware is detected in 1 step and 1 reboot.

  • Shut down and boot into Safe Mode.  Check Device Manager for errors and duplicate entries.  Correct as needed. 

  • Shut down.  Reboot normally.

 


 

Solution 6:  Boot on basic Microsoft drivers, then change drivers:  

  • (The objective is to get a bootable system by installing basic Microsoft default drivers which are compatible with most hardware.  After the system is running, new hardware can be detected, and specific optimized drivers can then be loaded).

  • Review and complete Pre-Action Procedures described in the Pre-Action Procedures section above.

  • Boot the PC system using the existing (previous) motherboard. **If you've installed the UltraATA Driver (if so, Device Manager->IDE Controllers->Primary Channel will be lacking its usual "Advanced Settings" tab) then uninstall said driver from Control Panel and reboot before continuing **

  • From the Device Manager, open up the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" section. (On a typical system there will be three entries under this - the controller itself, and then the primary/secondary IDE channels.)

  • Double-click on the entry for the controller, and change the driver to the generic default Microsoft "Standard Dual-Channel PCI IDE Controller".  Set DMA to "PIO Only".  (Double click on the IDE controller icon in the Device Manager.  Click on the "Driver" tab.  Click on "Update Driver".  Click next.  Click "display list of the known drivers for this device so that I choose a specific driver" button.  Click next.  There it is.)  This is to IDE controllers what the Standard VGA driver is to video cards - i.e., it'll work on just about anything, but is rather slow and basic.  This avoids the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE BSOD (See IBD solution section at the end of this document) you might otherwise get due to differences in old and new controllers.

  • If you use a USB keyboard or mouse, follow the procedure for the IDE controllers for both USB roots if you have two. The driver name is "Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller"

  • Under "System Devices", find the Northbridge; that's the CPU to AGP or CPU to PCI controller.  The driver you need is "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge". Anything else under system devices that's branded should be either set to standard or uninstalled.

  • Video card and display drivers may be set to default driver.

  • Disable all network and sound adapters.

  • Shut down the system, and replace the motherboard as required. 

  • Power up, and go into BIOS setup. Note the BIOS revision to be sure you have the most current version.  Make any BIOS adjustments needed for new hardware.  Note ACPI in BIOS.  Keep it enabled if Windows is installed with ACPI or disable it if Windows is installed without it.  Save your settings, exit, and shutdown. Note:  If your BIOS isn't current, flash your bios, reboot, recheck your bios settings, and shut down. It’s preferable to flash from the hard drive; floppy disks and floppy drives are more likely to fail or encounter physical errors during a flash sequence. If you must use a floppy, be absolutely certain both the disk and drive are good before you start.

  • Reboot into Windows.  As the new IDE controller is compatible with the "Standard Dual-Channel PCI IDE Controller" driver, then the system should, all being well, boot into Windows 2000.

  • At this point you should install the optimized IDE/ATAPI drivers (i.e. VIA 4in1 drivers), and other drivers as needed.

 


 

Solution 7; Create a new Hardware Profile; Reboot to redetect:

(This is a non-destructive alternative to deleting the enum registry key or deleting devices in device manager).

  • Review and complete Pre-Action Procedures described in the Pre-Action Procedures section above.  

  • Open Control Panel / System / Hardware / Hardware Profiles. If no additional hardware profiles were created since OS installation, there will be one profile named “Profile 1”.  This is the current hardware profile. 

Note:  If you cannot boot the old system and must boot on the new system, you MUST boot into Safe Mode on your first boot with the new board to accomplish the following steps 3 and 4.

  • Identify the current profile and rename it to something representing the existing hardware configuration; i.e. “OldMobo Orig”, or “OldMobo 1”.  The “Orig” or “1” designation distinguishes this file from the copy to be created next, and the profile that Windows creates later.

  • Copy the existing current profile to create a duplicate profile; i.e. “OldMobo Copy” or “OldMobo 2”.  At this point you should have two identical profiles, 'Orig' and 'Copy' or ‘1’ and ‘2’. (The duplicate is created to trigger a system prompt on reboot which is needed to get the required hardware redetection.  The only time Win2000 prompts you for the name of a hardware profile is when two profiles are so similar that it cannot differentiate between them). 

  • Don’t make any hardware or driver changes until you reboot; you are running the ‘Orig’ or ‘1’ profile at this time and you don’t want new changes written to that profile.

  • Shut down the PC, remove power, and do the motherboard swap.

  • Power up, and go into BIOS setup. Note the BIOS revision to be sure you have the most current version.  Make any BIOS adjustments needed for new hardware.  Note ACPI in BIOS.  Keep it enabled if Windows is installed with ACPI or disable it if Windows is installed without it.  Save your settings, exit, and shutdown. Note:  If your BIOS isn't current, flash your bios, reboot, recheck your bios settings, and shut down. It’s preferable to flash from the hard drive; floppy disks and floppy drives are more likely to fail or encounter physical errors during a flash sequence. If you must use a floppy, be absolutely certain both the disk and drive are good before you start.

  • Boot into Windows.  If the “Inaccessible_Boot_Device” BSOD error is encountered here, then one of the procedures described in the Inaccessible Boot Device section of this document must be applied to make the disk bootable before proceeding.  (Typically, change the hard disk controller to generic default Microsoft "Standard Dual-Channel PCI IDE Controller").

  • If the boot into Windows is successful, you should be asked which profile you wish to use. Do not select either of the “Orig” /”1” or “Copy” /”2” profiles, instead, select 'None of the Above'.  

  • With “None of the Above” selected, having no profile to load, Windows will redetect all the hardware.  If Windows needs the Win CD or newer drivers, simply point the install at the directory where you copied Windows or drivers.  If using a VIA chipset, install VIA 4in1 drivers at this time.  (You may have to re-boot the machine once or twice, making sure that you choose "NONE OF THE ABOVE" each time until Windows tells you that it has created a new hardware profile, and states the new configuration name).

Note:  One report states that through this process of selecting “None of the Above”, Windows is actually updating the original (“orig” or “1”) profile, not creating a third or new profile.  If this is correct, to boot with the new settings, then, select the original profile.  Also, do not delete the “orig” or “1” profile thinking it is for the old motherboard.

Note: The name given to the newly created profile.  Use this profile when booting on the new hardware configuration.

  • Boot into Safe Mode.  Check Device Manager for errors and duplicate entries.  Correct as needed.  

  • Install any optimised drivers missed during redetection.

  • The great thing about this procedure is that if everything goes wrong, you can put the old board back, select the 'orig' /’1’ profile, and be back with a booting system.

 

Optional: 

Once you have the new system properly installed, if you know for sure you won’t ever boot on the old system again:

  • Delete the 'old' profiles (orig, and copy, or 1 and 2).  Deleting unneeded profiles cleans up the registry.  

  • Boot into Safe Mode and remove left-overs from the old board in device Manager.

 


 

Solution 8; Microsoft’s System Preparation Tool (SysPrep):

  • Use the SysPrep tool to deploy machines with a standard image.

  • Research SysPrep; Search Microsoft Knowledge Base per OS: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;rid;kbinfo

  • Download Sysprep from:   http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/tools/sysprep/default.asp

  • Tool Summary:  SysPrep removes all devices and shuts-down the PC. This rolls the hardware database back to a factory state, and as long as the new motherboard and old motherboard use the same HAL (ACPI or Standard PC, single CPU) the system will correctly redetect all hardware devices in the PC.  On next boot it will take you through re-detection of devices and re-naming the PC.  Existing software applications do not have to be reinstalled.

  • Sysprep is used to pre-populate the intended upgrade system with the necessary mass storage controller prior to installing the new motherboard.  The correct directory structure for the Sysprep files and a modified sysprep.ini file is important.

  • A couple of caveats, back up your profile data (just in case) and if you were using a Standard PC HAL you may need to execute sysprep with the "-pnp" parameter for it to correctly identify the hardware. On an ACPI system with no legacy hardware (ie. no ISA cards) this is not necessary.

Note:  Using SYSPREP and imaging software (DriveImage or Ghost) to move a Windows 2000 installation to new hardware (even to motherboards having a different hard disk controller):

Also Note: Sysprep will remove much user and network information from the machine (unfortunately, doesn't seem to do this completely when you need it to), and also the product ID, so that you have to re-enter all of this stuff.  It will not help with problems caused by changes in the hardware.