Parting 

How to change Windows edition without reinstalling Windows? Using the NET Command

Hello, tell me, is it possible to change the edition of Windows without reinstalling? For example, from the home version to p professional?

The short answer is that you can, but this is not a documented feature and not all functions may work, and it is also a violation of the license if you have not purchased an upgraded edition.

By introducing various editions of the Windows operating system to the market, the manufacturer implies that the user will choose the edition that best suits his needs and financial capabilities. However, in life everything is different: ready-made PCs usually come with a pre-installed system of the simplest (and cheapest) edition, and unlicensed users, without bothering too much, install one of the older editions. All this often leads to the fact that the Windows edition needs to be changed, preferably without reinstalling the system.

The main problem is that the user is faced with the need to change the Windows edition when the system is already “lived in”: the necessary software and equipment are installed and configured, data is laid out in the usual way, etc., etc.

There are two scenarios for changing the edition. One of them can be conditionally called “official”. Microsoft supports the transition from minor to senior editions quite officially. It is enough to purchase a special key or box.

It’s worse when the editorial team needs to be demoted. This usually happens when licensing pirated versions, when boxes or licenses of the required edition are purchased, which does not coincide with what is actually on computers. Officially, Microsoft does not support such changes and recommends installing the system from scratch, but there is one undocumented possibility that we will consider.

Everyone knows that if you run the Windows installer on a loaded OS, then one of the available options will be to update the system while preserving all installed applications and settings.

However, such an update is only possible if the edition of the installed system matches the edition of the distribution, otherwise we will only be offered a new installation:

There are no official ways to get around this limitation, so it's time to turn to undocumented possibilities. We find it difficult to imagine why Microsoft does not support arbitrary changes to the Windows edition by entering the appropriate key and/or updating using the distribution kit of the desired edition, especially since there are no technical obstacles here.

Empirically, it was found that the installer receives information about the system edition from the registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

as a parameter value EditionID. To successfully update with a change of edition, we need to change this parameter so that it matches the edition of the target distribution.


Some sources also recommend changing the parameter ProductName, however, this is completely unnecessary. After change EditionID You should perform the update immediately without rebooting the system. This method is suitable for all current Windows client systems and below we will consider compliance EditionID editions of the operating system.

Windows 7

This version of Windows has the largest official number of editions, but the naming system is simple and clear, which makes it easy to identify the one you need. For Windows 7 the following values ​​are valid EditionID depending on edition:

  • Starter- The initial, most limited edition, was distributed only in the OEM channel, most often with netbooks
  • HomeBasic- Home Basic
  • HomePremium- Home extended
  • Professional- Professional
  • Ultimate- Maximum
  • Enterprise- Corporate, distributed only under the volume licensing program

All editions, except for the Starter and Corporate editions, were available both at retail and through OEM channels, differing in nothing except the type of license, but you will not be able to update from the OEM distribution using the key from the boxed version and vice versa.

Windows 8.1

At first glance, there are fewer editions of Windows 8, just Basic, Professional and Enterprise. But in fact, Microsoft managed to segment them in such a way that, in fact, the editions of Windows 8.1 and acceptable values EditionID it turned out to be even more:

  • Core- Basic
  • CoreSingleLanguage- Basic for one language, OEM only
  • ConnectedCore- Basic with Bing, free for major OEMs
  • CoreConnectedSingleLanguage- Basic with Bing for one language, for manufacturers only
  • Professional- Professional
  • ProfessionalWMC- Professional with Windows Media Center
  • Enterprise

As we can see, there are four Basic editions alone, although you can purchase only two of them at retail or as an OEM supply: Basic and Basic for one language. The versions with Bing are only available to manufacturers, and you can only get it with hardware. However, you may need to revert to this version if you uninstalled the pre-installed version and now want to return the license. In this case, you will need to find an installation distribution, which is quite difficult (they are not and never were publicly available).

Windows 10

The situation with Windows 10 tends to completely repeat the history of Windows 8.1; three editions are also officially announced: Home, Professional and Enterprise. In reality, there are more editions; Home is already available for one language and, perhaps, other options will appear.

At the moment, we can talk about four editions, but this list does not pretend to be complete and will be updated as information becomes available.

  • Core- Home
  • CoreSingleLanguage- Home for one language, OEM only
  • Professional- Professional
  • Enterprise- Enterprise, only in the volume licensing channel

To keep the above data current and timely update, we ask our readers, especially those who purchased devices with pre-installed Windows 10 or updated pre-installed versions of Windows 8.1, to check the meaning of the keys EditionID And ProductName.

Introduction and some facts While the entire global IT community awaits the release of the long-awaited Windows 2003 operating system, we will lift the curtain on what exactly this product is, what delivery options it has, and what components it contains. There is nothing special to invent here, so I compiled this material based on information received from Microsoft itself (press release from the Russian representative office), as well as thanks to the work of Paul Tarrott, the leading site Winsupersite.com, who systematized in a table some of the possibilities of various delivery options for the Windows system Server 2003. So, let's get started...

On March 28, 2003, Microsoft announced the start of replication of Windows Server. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is an integrated server platform that allows customers to increase the efficiency of their IT infrastructure by 30 percent. The new OS successfully passed a serious test using a new testing program, which included a thorough line-by-line audit of the system code. This OS has a number of functions that provide increased reliability and security of the product. The new server platform is already widely supported by partners: by the time Windows Server 2003 is officially released, scheduled for April 24, 2003, more than 70,000 Microsoft partners will be ready to promote, implement and maintain this system. More than 550,000 customers - the largest number in the history of Microsoft server operating systems - took part in the system's preliminary testing program.

"Our challenge was to create a system that would provide unparalleled quality and performance, a system that would perfectly meet the needs of any size company," said Bill Veghte, division vice president. "Preview participants confirm that Windows Server 2003 meets their expectations by delivering lower total cost of ownership, superior performance and reliability. The quality of the Windows Server 2003 server operating system is largely due to the contributions made by our partners and customers."

30% increase in IT infrastructure efficiency


Windows Server 2003 offers improved scalability, reliability, security, and manageability. These qualities, combined with a number of innovative technical solutions used to create this OS, allow customers to significantly reduce costs and increase productivity. Below are some of the results that have been achieved for customers who are already using this system.

Consolidation: the total number of servers can be reduced by 20-30%.

Performance: Up to 2x faster performance under any workload.

Maintenance: 20% reduction in overall maintenance costs.

Productivity: 35% of customers were able to free up IT staff to work on more important projects.

Implementation: Implementation costs are 35% lower than Windows NT Server 4.0.

Windows NT Server 4.0 users will especially benefit from migrating to Windows Server 2003, with up to 100 times more scalability and 10 times lower transaction costs than Windows NT Server 4.0. In addition, these users will benefit from a 40% increase in stability through the use of a robust driver model, as well as system recovery features designed to ensure maximum system performance.

"We are building a reliable, automated system that is secure, stable and manageable," said Ron Brahm, Global Infrastructure program manager for GE Medical Systems. "By moving to Windows Server 2003, we will be able to centrally manage our system and give ourselves greater flexibility."

High performance on any task


The high performance and scalability of Windows Server 2003 allows you to use this system to solve any server tasks: it can be used to support the operation of a database server, application server, Web server, file server, print server, directory service or terminal service. Recent benchmark results, including the widely acclaimed Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) TPC-C, TPC-H, and TPC-W tests, have demonstrated that the combination of Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2000 outperforms all competitors.

The 64-bit version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, also announced on March 28, 2003, provides even greater scalability and performance. The 64-bit version of SQL Server 2000 was designed to support memory-intensive, high-performance applications running on 64-bit Windows Server 2003. This version provides particularly high performance on 64-processor systems based on Intel Itanium 2 processors.

The highest quality Windows server OS


As part of its Secure Information Systems program, Microsoft spent nearly $200 million to train 13,000 of its employees in new security-focused development technologies, implement new processes, and conduct a full line-by-line security analysis of Windows Server 2003. Thus, a highly secure system was created.

“Having personally been involved in the development of every version of Windows Server, I can say that it is the most secure, reliable and performant server OS we have ever created,” said Dave Thompson, vice president of the Windows Server Products group. "Microsoft Corporation. "The reliability and performance of Windows Server 2003 was tested through an unprecedentedly extensive pre-production testing program. It was a long but productive process, and I am very proud of all the people involved in creating this great product."

Throughout the development process, Microsoft continually relied on a large number of independent testers and companies participating in the pre-production testing program. User communities created within the framework of the Joint Development Program, Customer Preview Program and Rapid Adoption Program were also involved in organizing a fruitful dialogue between developers and customers. In addition, Microsoft pioneered the use of the innovative Enterprise Engineering Center (EEC) program, which provides hands-on testing across heterogeneous customer systems.

Windows Media 9, included with Windows Server 2003, is now used to support a number of large Web sites and subscription services. Pre-release versions of this server platform have already delivered more than 300 terabytes of news, sports information, music and video to users.

The release of the Windows Server 2003 code masters marks the end of a three-year development cycle that involved more than 5,000 people and produced more than 650 innovative technology solutions.

Official presentation of Windows Server 2003


Microsoft plans to make the official announcement of the release of Windows Server 2003, Visual Studio .NET 2003 and SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) on April 24, 2003 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Visual Studio .NET 2003, combined with Windows Server 2003, provides a robust platform for quickly building trouble-free, scalable networking solutions.

Delivery options and approximate prices

The Windows Server family includes the following systems:

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition;

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-bit Itanium 2-based systems;

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition;

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for 64-bit Itanium 2-based systems;

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition;

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition;

Windows Small Business Server 2003 (planned for release in the third quarter of 2003).


Comparison of different Windows Server 2003 options

Component or FeatureWebStandardEnterpriseDatacenterEnterprise 64bitDatacenter 64 bit
Compatible with 32-bit Intel x86 systemsYesYesYesYes
Compatible with 64-bit Itanium systems YesYes
Maximum number of CPUs 2 4 8 32 8 64

Maximum amount of RAM2 GB4 GB32 GB64 GB64 GB512 GB
Hot add memory support YesYes
NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) support YesYesYesYes

Distributed File System (DFS)YesYesYesYesYesYes
Encrypting File System (EFS)YesYesYesYesYesYes
Shadow Copy Restore (Win 2000 or Win XP client required)YesYesYesYesYesYes
Support for removable and remote data storage Replaceable onlyYesYesYesYes
Fax services YesYesYesYesYes
Services for Macintosh YesYesYesYesYes

IntelliMirror TechnologiesPartiallyYesYesYesYesYes
Group Policy ResultsPartiallyYesYesYesYesYes
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Command LineYesYesYesYesYesYes
Support for remote installation from an imageYesYesYesYesYesYes
Remote Installation Services (RIS) YesYesYesYesYes
Windows System Resource Manager (WSRM) YesYes Yes

Can act as an Active Directory member serverYesYesYesYesYesYes
Can act as Active Directory domain controller (DC) YesYesYesYesYes
Metadirectory Services (MMS) support YesYesYesYes

Internet Connection Firewall (ICF)YesYesYes Yes
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Certificate Services, Smart Card supportPartiallyPartiallyYesYesYesYes

Includes Terminal Server YesYesYesYesYes
Includes Terminal Server Session Directory YesYesYesYes
Administration via Remote DesktopYesYesYesYesYesYes

Virtual Private Networking (VPN) supportPartiallyYesYesYesYesYes
Maximum number of VPN clients 1 1000 UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Internet Authentication Service (IAS) YesYesYesYesYes
Network bridging support YesYesYesYesYes
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) YesYes Yes
IPv6 supportYesYesYesYesYesYes

Network Load Balancing (NLB)YesYesYesYesYesYes
Cluster Service YesYesYesYes
Maximum number of cluster nodes 8 8 8 8

Includes .NET FrameworkYesYesYesYes
Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0YesYesYesYesYesYes
Default IIS installationYes
Includes ASP.NETYesYesYesYes
Enterprise UDDI Services YesYesYesYesYes

Includes Windows Media Services 9 Series YesYesYes


And now - approximate prices for various system options:

Windows Server 2003 Pricing


Connectors Price in US$Description
Windows Server 2003, External Connector License $1.999 ** Optional additional server license for external users of Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003, Terminal Server External Connector License $7.999 ** Optional additional server license for external users of Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server

* - Windows Server 2003, Web Edition: the system will not be available in mass quantities, to purchase this version you will need to contact your local System Builder, OEM supplier or reseller to find out the details of the purchase.

** - Available only under the Volume Licensing program. For details, contact your local Microsoft product reseller.

Prospects for 64-bit platforms

Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003 desktop operating system provides support for workstations based on the Intel Itanium 2 processor.

Microsoft also announced on March 28, 2003 the launch of the 64-bit Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 operating system. This OS is optimized to work with Intel Itanium 2 processors and allows customers to take full advantage of these high-performance chips.

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 is a high-performance desktop platform that supports a new generation of powerful Windows applications built on Itanium 2 processors. The new OS is aimed at users who perform complex scientific calculations, work with high-performance design and engineering applications, and create 3D animation and video.

"We are committed to expanding support for 64-bit desktop systems," said Brian Valentine, senior vice president of Windows Products at Microsoft. "Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 will allow customers to use one and the same platform to run both complex technical applications and a wide range of Windows office software."

Windows 64-bit architecture allows developers to build 64-bit applications using well-established Windows programming techniques, reducing the time it takes to develop applications that take advantage of the 64-bit platform. Collaboration between Microsoft and Intel in the field of 64-bit systems began in 1996. In 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP 64-bit Edition, a 64-bit desktop OS with support for first-generation Itanium processors.

The new OS was released alongside a number of products in the Windows Server 2003 family, including Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for 64-bit Itanium 2-based systems. Microsoft plans to make an official announcement of these products on April 24 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Developers can obtain Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Version 2003 now through MSDN. Users will be able to purchase the new OS through PC manufacturers starting in the second quarter of this year.

Conclusion

Here is a brief presentation of the system from those who developed and tested it. I think the final opinion about the system will be formed later, but I would still like to point out one fact: the long process of creating Windows Server 2003 is determined primarily by its careful “running in”, catching and correcting found errors, inconsistencies and “loopholes” in the security system . I personally used the actually working current (at that time) beta version of the Windows Server 2003 platform back in November 2001! So you can imagine how much time the product was tested and perfected...

Installation of the Windows Server 2003 operating system.

System requirements for 32-bit processors:

· Standard Edition– CPU 133/550 MHz, RAM 128/256 MB (4 GB max), HDD 1.25-2 GB, CD/DVD-ROM, Display VGA/SVGA.

· Enterprise Edition– CPU 133/550 MHz, RAM 128/256 MB (32 GB max), HDD 1.5 GB, CD/DVD-ROM, Display VGA/SVGA.

· Datacenter Edition– CPU 400/733 MHz, RAM 512/1024 MB, HDD 1.5 GB, minimum 8 processors.

· Web Edition– CPU 133/550 MHz, RAM 128/256 MB (2 GB max), HDD 1.5 GB.

File system type – NTFS.

During OS installation you must:

1 Enter credentials - user name, organization name, computer name, administrator password.

2 Select license type

3 per server – a license for a certain number of clients that the server can serve simultaneously;

4 per user – separate license for each client.

5 Configure network protocol parameters – by default, the TCP/IP protocol is installed with dynamic receipt of settings (via the DHCP protocol).

Role is a server function. One server can play multiple roles.

The Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems includes several server roles. You can configure server roles by installing a server role using the Configure Server Wizard program and managing server roles using the Manage This Server program.

When you add a new role, the Server Configuration Wizard enables the necessary services and makes the necessary security changes. After adding a role, the wizard creates links to access tools and settings for each role.

@ You can also add and remove services the old way - through the Add/Remove Windows Components program and the Services snap-in.

Server roles:

· File server – optimizes the server to support shared folders and file storage. Adds features:

o disk quotas– the ability to control and limit the disk space available to individual users;

o indexing service– quick search by file contents;

o shadow copy ( shadow copy) – a byte-by-byte backup of earlier versions of documents, allowing users to undo changes made to documents stored on the server;

o distributed file system DFS– allows you to create a single logical named space for multiple shared folders located on different servers. Servers can serve multiple DFS roots.

o volume shadow copy service– creates a copy of the original shared data at a given point in time. Backup programs can use this copy to make the shared folder static while current documents change. In addition, you can move shadow copies to other servers for backup storage, testing and data analysis



· Print server – provides access to and manages printers. Allows you to remotely manage printers, easily install network printers, connect and print over the Internet using a URL.

· Applications server – Provides infrastructure for XML web services, web applications, and distributed applications, as well as services for development, deployment, and run-time management. Installs IIS (Internet Information Services), ASP.NET, COM+, FrontPage server extensions.

· Mail server – provides users with e-mail services via POP3 and SMTP protocols.

· Terminal Server – provides multiple users with the ability to run programs, save files, and use network resources from a remote computer as if those resources were installed on their computer. Requires additional licensing.

· Remote Access Server and VPN Server – Routing and Remote Access provides a full-featured software router, remote connection, and virtual private network (VPN) connection for remote computers. Dial-up connections include all services typically available to local network users, including file and printer sharing, Web server access, and messaging services.

· Domain controller – Stores directory data and manages interactions between users and the domain, such as the domain login process, authentication, and directory lookups.

· DNS server – Allows client computers to use the TCP/IP name resolution service used on the Internet.

· DHCP server - Provides centralized management of IP addresses and other related network protocol settings on client computers.

· Media Streaming Server - allows you to use Windows Media Services, manage streaming audio and video data, archive them and deliver them over an intranet or the Internet.

· WINS server - maps IP addresses to NetBIOS computer names, and NetBIOS computer names back to IP addresses. Allows you to reduce NetBIOS broadcast traffic in subnets and support clients using earlier versions of Windows and NetBIOS on the network.

Print servers are used to provide and manage access to printers. The print server role allows you to manage printers through a web browser, print to a printer URL using IPP, and connect printers using Point and Print. Microsoft has made a number of print service extensions in WS2K3:

Support for print clusters - automatic replication of printer drivers across all servers in the cluster.

Active Directory Extensions - Administrators can publish printers to AD so users can search for printers based on location, color, and speed.

Security Improvements - New group policies have been enabled that allow the administrator to prevent clients from accessing the spooler if the server is not serving printing.

Application Server

When you configure a server as an application server, you install Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 and a number of components, such as COM+ and ASP.NET. Microsoft has optimized IIS 6.0 for stability, manageability, fast application development, and security.

The WS2K3 Application Server role provides support for new web services and the .NET platform, including Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) services, as well as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Application servers are often configured to include the following:

Resource pooling

Distributed Transaction Management

Built-in protection

fault tolerance

WS2K3 now includes POP3 and SMTP servers. This allows you to serve your users' basic mailboxes and allows you to receive and send mail from the server. Mail servers provide receiving and sending mail. Incoming mail can be stored on the server and then retrieved by the user using the POP3 protocol. For the mail server role you must have:

Active internet connection

Registered domain name

ISP MX record for your email domain

After installing the terminal server role, you can allow users to connect to the server and run applications on it as if those applications were installed on the client workstation. We'll look at installation, configuration, and new features of the terminal server later. Unlike Win2K, which automatically allows user access after installing Terminal Services, WS2K3 limits access to administrators only. You must add users or user groups to the Remote Desktop Users group.

Remote Access/VPN Server

Remote access servers and VPNs provide an entry point into your network for remote users. Using the Remote Access/VPN Server role, you can implement routing protocols for LAN and WAN environments. This role supports modem connections and VPN over the Internet.

Domain Controller

The domain controller contains the Active Directory database. Domain controllers provide authentication services for users and computers and control access to network resources. The Domain Controller role replaces the DCPROMO tool that was in Win2K. This role allows you to add a domain controller to an existing domain, create a new domain, or create a new tree.

The DNS service allows you to resolve domain names (FQDN) to IP addresses. The WS2K3 version of DNS includes Dynamic DNS Service (DDNS), which allows computers to register themselves with the DNS database. The WS2K3 version of DNS also allows DNS to be integrated with WINS.

The DHCP server allows clients to obtain their IP as needed. The DHCP server also provides additional information for network configuration - the address of DNS, WINS servers, etc.

Streaming Media Server

The streaming server provides Windows Media Services to network clients. Windows Media Services are used to manage and deliver multimedia content - streaming video and audio - over an intranet or the Internet.

WINS allows NetBIOS clients to resolve computer names to IP addresses. Unlike DNS, which requires domain names, WINS is designed for internal intranets to resolve simple NetBIOS names.

Although it is possible to have a Windows network without NetBIOS and WINS, many utilities still depend on the WINS database. Many record types found in WINS are not found in DNS. These types make it easy to find servers on the network running specific services (including Terminal Services). Such a utility is Terminal Server Administration. Without WINS, you will have to manually specify the server to manage.

So, you have successfully installed the Windows Server 2003 operating system on your computer (you can read about the installation process). There's a fun setup process ahead, which you can easily accomplish with the help of this illustrated guide. Of course, you are free to choose the order of these procedures, but here they are presented in the optimal sequence, allowing you to achieve your goal in the shortest possible way. Let's get started.

First of all, let's disable the password request when logging in. In the "Start" menu, select "Run" and enter the command control userpasswords2:

The “User Accounts” dialog will appear, in which you need to uncheck the “Require username and password” checkbox:

After clicking OK, the system will ask for the current (valid) password.

The Windows 2003 security policy provides control over machine reboots and shutdowns. In everyday life this is unnecessary, so let's disable this function. Using the method described above, we issue the command gpedit.msc:

The MMC console will open, in which you need to find the option “Display event tracking dialog”. Look at the screenshot where to look for it:

It should be given the "Disabled" state.

You won't be able to just use additional storage devices such as USB Flash drives. They need to be forced to assign free letters from "Disk Management". However, you can enable the automatic volume mounting feature. Type diskpart

A command line will open in which you should type automount enable:

After pressing Enter a confirmation will appear

The automount parameter first appeared in Windows Server 2003. Do not try to set it in Windows XP, it will not work.

For convenience, you can disable driver signature verification. This is done from the "System Properties" dialog, which can be called up by pressing the key combination WIN+Break

Disabling the scan is done by selecting the appropriate item and pressing OK.

It should be remembered that this action carries a certain risk, which may lead to unstable operation of the equipment.

If you have an expensive or slow Internet connection, it may be wise to skip Windows Update services.

Select "Never use Windows Update to find drivers" and click OK.

After clicking on the “Options” button, we get to “Performance Options”, where on the “Visual Effects” tab you can customize the appearance. Experience shows that using the items "Using typical folder tasks"

",Casting shadows of icons on the desktop", ",Display window contents when dragging", and "Displaying a transparent rectangle when selecting", creates additional comfort when working without causing a noticeable decrease in performance.

After clicking the "Apply" button, go to the "Advanced" tab, where the main performance management parameters are located.

In the section "CPU time allocation", the choice should be made in favor of programs. For the “Memory Usage” section, not everything is so simple. For systems with a small amount of RAM, it is recommended to optimize the operation of programs. If the memory is 512 MB or more, it may be worth optimizing the system cache. In this case, switching between applications will be faster.

Let's go to the "Data Execution Prevention" tab. If you are experiencing problems with applications that cause "Memory cannot be read" messages, select "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only"

Using the "Error Reporting" function on a home computer running Windows Server 2003 is, to put it mildly, questionable...

You can disable the function like this:

Very different attitudes of users towards automatic system updates. Typically, users who do not have unlimited access to the Internet disable this function. We also adhere to this opinion. "System Properties", tab "Automatic Updates",

Now let's look at the desktop and screen settings. Right-click on the desktop to call up the context menu, in which we select “Properties”. Next, let's go to the "Screen" tab.

Using the "Desktop Settings" button, we will open a new dialog.

In it we will mark those elements whose presence on the desktop we need.

By going to the “Screensaver” tab, you should uncheck the “Password protection” checkbox if you don’t want to enter this same password again every time after several minutes of inactivity.

The "Power" button will open the energy saving settings.

In many cases, they can be skipped by owners of desktop computers, but if you have a laptop, a visit is required.

On the "Sleep mode" tab, check the box if necessary.

After that, return to the “Advanced” tab and uncheck the “Request a password when resuming from sleep mode” option that appears.

On the "Power Schemes" tab, make settings according to your needs. Clicking the OK button will take us back to the screen properties settings. Let's go to the "Options" tab, and then click on the "Advanced" button.

Attention! This is a very important part of the setup. If you skip it, you will not be able to use your computer’s video card to its full potential. Open the “Diagnostics” tab and set the “Hardware acceleration” slider to maximum.

In addition to hardware acceleration itself, thanks to this procedure, the video card settings become available to us; you will be able to see them later, after installing the drivers.

By default, Internet Explorer is configured quite aggressively. On a network server this is justified, since it reduces the risk of virus infection and hacker attacks, but for everyday use it is unacceptable. Therefore, you should remove the Enhanced Security Configuration. From the Control Panel, open "Add or Remove Programs".

By clicking the "Install Windows Components" button, we get a window for selecting components. Uncheck "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration"

What's next? For many programs, the presence of certain libraries that are not initially present in the system turns out to be critical. We recommend that you immediately, so as not to experience difficulties later, install the following components available for download (link):

If you want to install themes from other (non-Microsoft) manufacturers, you will need the following file to replace the existing one:

(dll files are installed by simply copying them to the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 directory)
Today it’s just as difficult to do without the .NET Framework, so let’s install it too:

The latest version of NET.Framework 3.5 SP1 can be downloaded.
If you need support for version 4 of NET.Framework, download it.

Now you can install device drivers. Please note that not all equipment officially supports server systems, so if during the installation of drivers you encounter a message of this type

just click the "Yes" button. As a rule, there are no problems after this.

From the "Start" menu, go to administration, where select "Services". The corresponding equipment will open. You need to run Windows Audio, the Image Upload Service (WIA), and, if you want to use XP themes, the Themes service. How to do this can be seen below:

Finally, you need to enable DirectX acceleration. Type dxdiag in the "Run" dialog, after which the "DirectX Diagnostic Tool" will open, in which you need to go to the "Display" tab.

Press successively on all available acceleration buttons. Go to the "Sound" tab, where you enable full hardware audio acceleration.

Now in the Control Panel, find "Sounds and Audio Devices". Check the "Show icon in taskbar" checkbox.

The setup is complete.

When installing programs that are not intended for server platforms, you may encounter certain difficulties. As one of the possible solutions, you can try the NTSwitch utility, which makes changes in the system that mislead the program installer. Most likely, a custom boot will follow, then boot your computer in safe mode and install the program. Then put the system back into server mode. Attention! This is a violation of the license agreement! In addition, this action can lead to complete inoperability of the OS! Proceed at your own risk!

Solving problems with transferring an already installed system to new equipment is described in the article


On the Internet you can find many articles telling that Windows Server 2003 is a newer OS than Windows XP, that it is more reliable and works faster, you just need to configure it to work as a workstation, optimize it, and give it a “human face” ". It is worth noting, however, that the questions “how to install the XXX driver? It’s installed on Windows XP, but it doesn’t want to be installed on the server”, “how to make YYY hardware work on the server?”, “I did everything as described on the ZZZ website, but me..." and there are many like them too.

This means that we need to figure out what the great homespun truth is.

It's pointless to argue that Windows Server 2003 has a higher version number than Windows XP. But it’s quite possible to argue with the fact that WS 2003 is newer than Windows XP. It all depends on which server and which XP. Windows XP SP2, for example, is clearly newer than a server without a fix pack.

But let's start in order.

In several previous versions of Windows NT, the workstation and server were released at the same time and had the same version number. When work began on the Whistler project, and this happened, as usual, immediately after the release of the previous version, in the winter of 2000, they also began to make both server and client versions at once, more precisely, three client versions - one for use at home, the second - in a corporate environment, the third, 64-bit, also for a corporate environment.

In 2000, two more events occurred that influenced the further development of Windows and the progress of work on its creation.

One of these events was the release of Windows Me, the last operating system in the Windows 3.x family - Windows 9x. The staff working on it switched to Whistler, and due to the nature of the experience they had accumulated, the client versions received a noticeable advantage during development.

Another event that went unnoticed by many was the change in Microsoft leadership that took place in January: Bill Gates handed over management of the company to Steve Ballmer, but retained the post of chairman of the board of directors.

As a result, the development strategy has changed, instead of the frequent release of more and more new versions - their release is not too frequent, which gives users (primarily corporate) the opportunity to plan software costs and ensures O greater stability of the operating environment.

Windows 3.x family - Windows 9x: 1990 - 3.0, 1992 - 3.1, 1993 - 3.11 for workgroups, 1995 - 95, 1998 - 98, 1999 - 98SE, 2000 - Me, Total of seven versions over 10 years. Windows NT family: 1993 - NT, 1994 - NT 3.5, 1995 - NT 3.51, 1996 - NT 4, 2000 - Windows 2000. A total of five versions in seven years. That adds up to twelve different versions of Windows in just ten years.

The accumulated experience of releasing operating systems and correcting errors in them, significant delays in the release of Windows 95, 98, 2000 compared to the originally determined deadlines have shown that it is necessary to take a more careful approach to system design at the initial stage, which, naturally, entails an increase in the duration of the development cycle . The task was set to update the OS approximately every three years. Since previous versions of the OS (Windows 2000 and Windows Me) were released in the year 2000, 2003 became the next milestone.

But, as always, plans are plans, and life is life.

Those who attended various events dedicated to the release of Windows 95 probably remember the Windows development scheme that was demonstrated at them. According to this scheme, another version of the Windows 9x family was to be released (later it became Windows 98), and then client systems were planned to be released based on Windows NT. The delay in the release of Windows 2000 and the unsuccessful attempt to make a version of this system for home use (codenamed "Neptune") forced Microsoft to release first the second edition of Windows 98, and then Windows Me.

But the need for a more reliable and stable system for home use has not gone away. And since Windows Me developers were involved in the work on Whistler, it became possible to release the client version before the server version.

At the beginning of November 2000, the first beta of Whistler was released. It included both client versions (home, professional, 64-bit) and server versions. For more than six months, their development continued together, versions were released simultaneously and had the same build number.

In the spring of 2001, it became clear that the client versions would be ready much earlier than the server versions. Naturally, there was no point in artificially delaying their release, and by the beginning of summer the Whistler project was divided into two: the client versions were called Windows XP and moved from the beta version stage to the candidate final version stage, while the server versions remained in the second beta version stage ( after some time they received a new working name - .NET Server).

To make it easier to distinguish between server and client, the first digit of the number for server assemblies was changed from two to three, the remaining three digits were the same. And server assemblies were released for some time together with client ones and had the same kernel version. Only immediately before its release (in August) the Windows XP build number was increased to the nearest relatively round number - 2600. The server build number grew gradually.

Work on the server continued, but for quite some time it continued to maintain the version number 5.1, although the ending SP1 was added to this number. Yes, that's right, the common parts and components of the server and Windows XP continued to be similar. The developments made for the server were included in the alpha and then beta versions of XP SP1, and the corrections made to XP were also made to the server’s program code.

Of course, absolute identity could not be achieved. Since one of the rather significant causes of instability was the operation of hardware acceleration of image and sound output, attempts were made to eliminate these causes. By default, audio output and video acceleration were disabled on the servers. Testers were specifically warned that any bugs found while enabling these features, even those not directly related to them, would not be considered. Moreover, an attempt was made to completely abandon the use of hardware manufacturer drivers and write a universal VESA driver that uses only the basic capabilities of video adapters. But the times when manufacturers considered it their duty to ensure 100% compatibility with at least VGA are long gone. What can we say about less common modes... So it was not possible to achieve reliability using a universal video driver and I had to return to regular drivers and disable video acceleration in the settings.

True, something useful was learned from this attempt - a technology for detecting video driver failures was developed. If such a failure was detected, the system disabled the existing driver, initialized the VGA driver and continued to work through it. Of course, a resolution of 640x480 and 16 colors is not God knows what for today, but it is better than a screen on which everything is mixed into a mess or there is no image at all. You can at least safely save the results of your work and reboot. Unfortunately, not all failures can be detected by software, but in some situations this protection still helps.

It goes without saying that this improvement made its way to XP and was included in SP1.

So, the divergent paths of Windows XP and WS2003 converged again: a fix package was being made for the first, the second was supposed to include this package.

However, there was no point in delaying the release of XP SP1 until the still unfinished server was released. Fixing the state of the server core at the XP SP1 level was also unwise - why give up the opportunity to make it better. Therefore, the systems were separated again - the servers received version number 5.2.

But not only servers. Windows XP 64-bit Edition, which was released simultaneously with other versions of Windows XP and received a fix package along with them, continued its development in the server group. Since a new processor appeared - Itanium 2, it was necessary to add its support to the 64-bit versions of servers and XP. So when the WS2003 family of servers went into production in March 2003, the updated Windows XP 64-bit Professional 2003, which also had version 5.2, was released along with them.

After the server was released, there were many people who wanted to try it live on their home computer, and articles began to multiply on the Internet dedicated to converting the server into an entertainment and gaming system. Since the authors of these articles were not familiar with the progress of development, and the two in the version number was striking, “obvious” conclusions were made that the server has a completely new core (there were even statements that it was written anew, from scratch), that it It works much faster than Windows XP and is much more stable. The apotheosis of absurdity was the idea expressed by the author of one of these articles that although test programs do not show differences in speed, in fact the server is still faster. It is enough to install it - and everything will be visible to the eye.

We will not talk in detail here about how reliable the assessment is “by eye”; many books and articles are devoted to this topic. I think it will be quite enough to say that in order to avoid the influence of self-hypnosis, it is generally accepted to use blind, and, if possible, double-blind methods. When applied to computers, the blind method means that the person being tested alternately works on the systems being compared, and he should not know which system is currently loaded, and the switching is performed by another person. Of course, none of those praising the server's performance bothered with such comparisons.

So let’s leave personal feelings aside, but agree that the test programs do not show any noticeable difference.

In fact, it may well be that improvements made to speed up programs on the server will have a negative impact on workstations. You don’t have to look far for examples; I think everyone remembers how it was discovered that changes made to Windows XP SP1 (borrowed from .NET Server) led to a noticeable increase in the loading time of some programs.

So you should not forget that, as a rule, different programs run on the server and on the workstation under different conditions, and “what is good for a Russian is death for a German.” That is, settings that optimize the server’s operation do not necessarily optimize the workstation.

There is nothing to say about the advantage in stability - any “domestication” of a server begins with the inclusion of video acceleration, that is, a mode that has not been tested on servers at all. Of course, the close relationship of WS 2003 with Windows XP saves the situation - the code was debugged on client systems and therefore, as a rule, there are no problems, but still this code was not tested on servers.

Since then, more fix packages have been released - SP2 for Windows XP and SP1 for WS2003, but this did not change the situation as a whole - there was still an intensive exchange between these two versions, and everything valuable that was invented for one of them was immediately transferred to another. The relatively long existence and improvement of essentially one core made it possible to ensure high stability of systems. According to the developers, in the last one and a half to two years, errors and problems associated with the operation of the kernel have been detected much less frequently than before, and, interestingly, they turn out to be the same for all similar kernels - both client and server, and for 32-bit, and for both 64-bit. I think this quite convincingly proves that the nuclei (in their current state) are very close to each other.

Of course, if you compare Windows XP at the time of its release with the final version of WS2003, the server will have some advantages. But in its current state, with all the latest patches and updates, the difference is smoothed out. And the same thing remains as in previous versions - the difference is in the internal settings. For the server - ensuring the most efficient operation of several programs simultaneously. For the client - the maximum performance of one program, the one with which the user is currently working.

So leave what is Caesar's to Caesar.