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Migrating from NT4 to 2000

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by davevw 1 view

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We currently have about 150 workstaions at 5 different locations. Each location is part of the WAN. Each location has its own server. We are looking to upgrade everything to Win2000. Would it be easier to upgrade the workstations (all NT) or to upgrade the servers first? Also we are looking to upgrade from Office 97 to 2000. Where should this fit in? Any suggestions? Also does anybody know first hand if AutoCAD R14 will run on 2000?
Thanks in advance.
Dave

5 replies

by stecker

Opinions vary, but in my experience, it is best to migrate the servers first, here's why...

By creating your back end infrastructure first, you allow yourself to build your AD structure and Group Policy implementation, and test it with non production machines first, before applying these changes company wide. Also, there is an issue with backing out of a Windows 2000 AD installation when you have Win2K clients. These Win2K clients will need to be removed and re-added to your domain before they will authenticate to a NT 4 DC again. (this only applies if your AD installation gets hosed, and you need to re-establish your NT 4 account database as a recovery).

This leaves your Office 2000 deployment. I don't know how you plan on deploying your workstations, but I am a firm believer in a "new" image, not upgrades. Incorporate Office 2000 into your image, use Sysprep, and blast the new image onto your pc's during your desktop migration.

Good luck

by michaelm

We had a similar senario and upgraded our main office servers first to w2000 and then proceeded to do the servers connected by the wan link. Once all was settled and working fine, we then did a clean install on all workstations. We found a clean install worked far better than an upgrade on the workstation. Doing the servers first allows you to get your AD structure correct and working fine.

Mick

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