After going through the hassle of getting the Windows Server 2003 R2 CDs burned, I figured installing R2 on the new test server was going to be a breeze.  Naturally I thought wrong.

Microsoft hasn’t changed the installation routine on R2 much from the

original version of Windows Server 2003. Everything went pretty

smoothly right up until the point where I tried to connect the server

to the network. Even though Windows Server 2003 R2 is a brand new

operating system it couldn’t detect the Ethernet controller in my

PowerEdge 1850.

Fortunately, a quick trip to Dell’s Web site fixed that. I downloaded

the drivers, put them on a USB key, and now have them installed on the

PowerEdge. Now it’s just a matter of continuing the install until the

NEXT problem shows up.