Win2k Upgrade version bypass?

[BorisLaskey]

Hi,

I\'m working on a Disaster Recovery plan and have managed to slipstream SP1 into a bootable Win2k install CD.  Anybody know how to get round having to put in my NT CD when prompted as I only have an Upgrade version of Win2k.

If I have to resort to burning NT files into a seperate directory (sorry, \'folder\') on the CD what are the minimum files I need?

Not a major problem but it would be nice to get round it.

[Josetann]

Ok, I haven\'t done this but it should work (in other words, try on a CDRW disk in case I\'m wrong).  Make a directory/folder named win2k, then another named upgrade.  In the upgrade directory, copy the i386 directory from your WinNT4 CD (so the files would be at c:win2kupgradei386 for example).  Now copy all your win2k CD files to the win2k directory.  Make your CD with all the files in the C:win2k directory (so it\'ll look exactly like a normal win2k CD, except with the upgrade directory).  At this point you can follow the directions on this site to make the CD bootable, get rid of the serial check, etc.  When the CD starts setup and asks for the WinNT cd, just point it to d:upgrade, and it should find all the files it needs.

This would be alot easier if you just made a copy of a fullversion win2k CD.  I\'m not sure exactly how legal that\'d be, I don\'t see any problems as long as you have the upgrade license for each PC, and are eligible to use that upgrade (i.e. a previous WinNT license for each one).

[BorisLaskey]

Tried it but it does not work.  Unfortunately Win2k upgrade does not give you the option of specifying a path it just asks for the CD.

I\'ve tried writing an unattended script for the install and can do everything apart from getting round inserting my NT CD.  Makes a bit of a mockery of an unattended disaster recovery plan.  Even Back Up Exec\'s disaster recovery asks for the NT disc.

Apart from getting hold of a full version CD I can\'t see any other way round this.

Thanks anyway

[Josetann]

Hrm.  Well I know you can specify a directory for win9x upgrade to look in, just assumed win2k would do the same.  Have you asked MS about it?  I have heard reports, though very sketchy, that MS has helped people in the past.  You can come back and let us know .

I\'d check to see how legal it\'d be to use the fullversion CD, with the serial bypass (only since you couldn\'t use your real serial, since it\'d be for the upgrade version).  As long as you have the actual licenses I\'d assume you\'d be ok.  But I\'m not a lawyer.

[Josetann]

New idea, not sure if it\'ll work or not but it\'s worth a shot.  In the article about removing the serial check, copy the whole setupp.ini file.  This \"might\" tell it that it\'s really the fullversion and not the upgrade.  For example, try this:

[Pid]
ExtraData=646E77637A6F6D79626A1D94089595
Pid=51873270

Let me know if that works.

[Glock22]

Not sure if you\'re still looking for a simple solution to this but.........
Make a 98 boot floppy and copy sys.com, format.com and fdisk.com to the floppy
Boot with the 98 floppy or CDR and format the destination drive so you can have a clean install. After the drive is formated, type \"  sys c:   \" at the prompt. Insert your Win2k Upgrade CD and reboot.

It took me about two days to figure this out, but I have done it and it does work when going from 98 to 2kPro. BUT you must use a 98 boot floppy or CD as the Install will think you have win98 just from the MSDOS version used. The only draw back is that when you boot you get the OS boot option screen but you can remove that later in the control panel.