Mainstream support ended on June 30, 2005 Extended support ended on July 13, 2010[6]
Windows 2000 is a major release of theWindows NToperating system developed byMicrosoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor toWindows NT 4.0, and wasreleased to manufacturing on December 15, 1999,[2] and then to retail on February 17, 2000 for all versions, with Windows 2000 Datacenter Server being released to retail on September 26, 2000.
Windows 2000 introducesNTFS 3.0,[7]Encrypting File System,[8] and basic and dynamic disk storage.[9] Support for people with disabilities is improved overWindows NT 4.0 with a number of newassistive technologies,[10] and Microsoft increased support for different languages[11] andlocale information.[12] The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, most notably the introduction ofActive Directory,[13] which in the years following became a widely useddirectory service in business environments. Although not present in the final release, support forAlpha (which was a 64-bit platform but only distributed as a 32-bit OS[5]) was present in its alpha, beta, and release candidate versions. Its successor,Windows XP, only supportsx86,x64 andItanium processors.
Four editions of Windows 2000 have been released:Professional,Server,Advanced Server, andDatacenter Server;[14] the latter of which was launched months after the other editions.[15] While each edition of Windows 2000 is targeted at a different market, they share a core set of features, including many system utilities such as theMicrosoft Management Console and standardsystem administration applications.
Windows 2000 was also the first version of Windows NT to completely drop the "NT" moniker from its product name; this change came about after a two-month debate betweenJim Allchin andBill Gates. Jim wanted to remove the NT name to modernise the Windows 2000 branding, whilst Bill thought that keeping the NT branding would integrate better with the rest of the series. Eventually, Jim won the debate and the NT name was dropped.[16][17][18]
Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version ever at the time;[19] however, it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such asCode Red[20] andNimda.[21] Windows 2000 was succeeded byWindows XP a little over a year and a half later on October 2001 while Windows 2000 Server was succeeded byWindows Server 2003 more than three years after its initial release on April 2003. For ten years after its release, it continued to receive patches for securityvulnerabilities nearly every month until reaching the end of support on July 13, 2010, the same day that support ended forWindows XP SP2.[6]
This sectionis missing information about features (other than the boot screen and sounds) introduced during the development. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(May 2021)
Windows 2000, originally named Windows NT 5.0, is a continuation of the MicrosoftWindows NT family of operating systems, replacingWindows NT 4.0. Chairman and CEOBill Gates was originally "pretty confident" Windows NT 5.0 would ship in the first half of 1998,[24] revealing that the first set of beta builds had been shipped in early 1997; these builds were identical to Windows NT 4.0. The first official beta was released in September 1997, followed by Beta 2 in August 1998.[25][26] On October 27, 1998, Microsoft announced that the name of the final version of the operating system would be Windows 2000, a name which referred to its projected release date.[27] Windows 2000 Beta 3 was released in May 1999.[25] Windows NT 5.0 Beta 1 was similar to Windows NT 4.0, including a very similarly themed logo. Windows NT 5.0 Beta 2 introduced a new 'mini' boot screen, and removed the 'dark space' theme in the logo. The Windows NT 5.0 betas had very long startup and shutdown sounds, though these were changed in the early Windows 2000 beta, but during Beta 3, newpiano-made startup and shutdown sounds were made, composed by Steven Ray Allen.[28] It was featured in the final version as well as inWindows Me. The new login prompt from the final version made its first appearance in Beta 3 build 1946 (the first build of Beta 3). The new, updated icons (forMy Computer,Recycle Bin etc.) first appeared in Beta 3 build 1964. The Windows 2000 boot screen in the final version first appeared in Beta 3 build 1983.
When the development team were choosing the final product name for Windows 2000, there was a big debate going on, especially betweenJim Allchin andBill Gates. Jim wanted to remove the NT name to modernise the Windows 2000 branding, whilst Bill thought that keeping the NT branding would integrate better with the rest of the series. This eventually became a very controversial issue, and eventually the NT name was dropped.[16][17] Windows 2000 did not have an actual codename because, according to Dave Thompson of Windows NT team, "Jim Allchin didn't like codenames".[29] Service Pack 1 for Windows 2000 was codenamed "Asteroid".[30]
During development, builds for theAlpha architecture were compiled, but the project was abandoned in the final stages of development (between RC1 and RC2[31]) afterCompaq announced they had dropped support for Windows NT on Alpha. The Alpha 64-bit builds of Windows 2000 were also in development simultaneously with the 32-bit versions (versions of Windows NT for Alpha were 32-bit only due to it using 32-bitapplication binary interfaces on an otherwise 64-bit processor) until it too was discontinued; development of Windows for Alpha 64-bit continued on for some time as a development platform for the 64-bit IntelItanium platform when no other Itanium hardware was available at the time.[5] From here, Microsoft issued three release candidates between July and November 1999, and finally released the operating system to partners on December 12, 1999, followed by manufacturing three days later on December 15.[32] The public could buy the full version of Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000. Three days before this event, which Microsoft advertised as "a standard in reliability," a leaked memo from Microsoft reported on byMary Jo Foley revealed that Windows 2000 had "over 63,000 potential known defects."[33] After Foley's article was published, she claimed that Microsoftblacklisted her for a considerable time.[34] However,Abraham Silberschatz et al. claim in their computer science textbook that "Windows 2000 was the most reliable, stable operating system Microsoft had ever shipped to that point. Much of this reliability came from maturity in the source code, extensive stress testing of the system, and automatic detection of many serious errors in drivers."[35]InformationWeek summarized the release "our tests show the successor to Windows NT 4.0 is everything we hoped it would be. Of course, it isn't perfect either."[36]Wired News later described the results of the February launch as "lackluster."[37]Novell criticized Microsoft'sActive Directory, the new directory service architecture, as less scalable or reliable than its ownNovell Directory Services (NDS) alternative.[38]
Windows 2000 was initially planned to replace bothWindows 98 andWindows NT 4.0. However, this would be changed later, as an updated version of Windows 98 calledWindows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999.
On or shortly before February 12, 2004, "portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0source code were illegally made available on the Internet."[39] The source of the leak was later traced toMainsoft, aWindows Interface Source Environment partner.[40] Microsoft issued the following statement:
"Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it."
Despite the warnings, the archive containing the leaked code spread widely on thefile-sharing networks. On February 16, 2004, anexploit "allegedly discovered by an individual studying the leaked source code"[39] for certain versions ofMicrosoft Internet Explorer was reported. On April 15, 2015,GitHub took down a repository containing a copy of the Windows NT 4.0 source code that originated from the leak.[41]
Microsoft planned to release in 2000 a version of Windows 2000 which would run on64-bit IntelItaniummicroprocessors,[42][43] specially codenamed "Janus".[44][45] 64-bit builds of Windows 2000 were already in development for the Alpha 64-bit platform (which served as testing grounds for Itanium),[5] however the first officially released 64-bit version of Windows wasWindows XP 64-Bit Edition, released alongside the 32-bit editions ofWindows XP on October 25, 2001,[46] followed by the server versionsWindows Datacenter Server Limited Edition and laterWindows Advanced Server Limited Edition, which were based on the pre-releaseWindows Server 2003 (then known asWindows .NET Server) codebase.[47][48] These editions were released in 2002, were shortly available through the OEM channel and then were superseded by the final versions of Server 2003 on April 24, 2003.[48]
A new capability designed to protect critical system files calledWindows File Protection was introduced. This protects critical Windows system files by preventing programs other than Microsoft's operating system update mechanisms such as thePackage Installer,Windows Installer and other update components from modifying them.[63] TheSystem File Checker utility provides users the ability to perform a manual scan of the integrity of all protected system files, and optionally repair them, either by restoring from a cache stored in a separate "DLLCACHE" directory, or from the original install media.
Microsoft recognized that a serious error (aBlue screen of death or stop error) could cause problems for servers that needed to be constantly running and so provided a system setting that would allow the server to automatically reboot when a stop error occurred.[64] Also included is an option todump any of the first 64KB of memory to disk (the smallest amount of memory that is useful fordebugging purposes, also known as a minidump), a dump of only the kernel's memory, or a dump of the entire contents of memory to disk, as well as write that this event happened to the Windows 2000event log.[64] In order to improve performance on servers running Windows 2000, Microsoft gave administrators the choice of optimizing the operating system's memory and processor usage patterns for background services or for applications.[65] Windows 2000 also introduced core system administration and management features, such as theWindows Installer,[66]Windows Management Instrumentation[67] and Event Tracing for Windows (ETW)[68] into the operating system.
The most notable improvement fromWindows NT 4.0 is the addition of Plug and Play with fullACPI andWindows Driver Model support. Similar toWindows 9x, Windows 2000 supports automatic recognition of installed hardware, hardware resource allocation, loading of appropriate drivers, PnP APIs and device notification events. The addition of the kernel PnP Manager along with the Power Manager are two significant subsystems added in Windows 2000.
Windows 2000 introduced version 3 print drivers (user mode printer drivers)[69] based onUnidrv, which made it easier for printer manufacturers to write device drivers for printers.[70] Generic support for 5-button mice is also included as standard[71] and installingIntelliPoint allows reassigning the programmable buttons. Windows 98 lacked generic support.[72]Driver Verifier was introduced to stress test and catch device driver bugs.[73]
Windows 2000 introduces layered windows that allow for transparency, translucency and various transition effects like shadows, gradient fills and alpha-blended GUI elements to top-level windows.[74] Menus support a newFade transition effect.
Improvements inWindows Explorer: "Web-style" folders, media preview and customizable toolbars
TheStart menu in Windows 2000 introducespersonalized menus, expandablespecial folders and the ability to launch multiple programs without closing the menu by holding down theSHIFT key. ARe-sort button forces the entire Start Menu to be sorted by name. TheTaskbar introduces support for balloon notifications which can also be used by application developers. Windows 2000 Explorer introduces customizable Windows Explorer toolbars, auto-complete in Windows Explorer address bar and Run box, advanced file type association features, displaying comments in shortcuts as tooltips, extensible columns in Details view (IColumnProvider interface), icon overlays, integrated search pane in Windows Explorer, sort by name function for menus, andPlaces bar in common dialogs forOpen andSave.
Windows Explorer has been enhanced in several ways in Windows 2000. It is the firstWindows NT release to includeActive Desktop, first introduced as a part ofInternet Explorer 4.0 (specificallyWindows Desktop Update), and only pre-installed inWindows 98 by that time.[75] It allowed users to customize the way folders look and behave by usingHTML templates, having thefile extensionHTT. This feature was abused bycomputer viruses that employed malicious scripts,Java applets, orActiveX controls in folder template files as their infection vector. Two such viruses are VBS/Roor-C[76] and VBS.Redlof.a.[77]
The "Web-style" folders view, with the left Explorer pane displaying details for the object currently selected, is turned on by default in Windows 2000. For certain file types, such as pictures and media files, the preview is also displayed in the left pane.[78] Until the dedicated interactive preview pane appeared inWindows Vista, Windows 2000 had been the only Windows release to feature an interactive media player as the previewer for sound and video files, enabled by default. However, such a previewer can be enabled in previous versions of Windows with theWindows Desktop Update installed through the use of folder customization templates.[79] The default file tooltip displays file title, author, subject and comments;[80] this metadata may be read from a specialNTFS stream, if the file is on an NTFS volume, or from an OLEstructured storage stream, if the file is a structured storage document. AllMicrosoft Office documents since Office 4.0[81] make use ofstructured storage, so their metadata is displayable in the Windows 2000 Explorer defaulttooltip.File shortcuts can also store comments which are displayed as a tooltip when the mouse hovers over the shortcut. The shell introduces extensibility support through metadata handlers, icon overlay handlers and column handlers in ExplorerDetails view.[82]
The right pane of Windows 2000 Explorer, which usually just lists files and folders, can also be customized. For example, the contents of the system folders aren't displayed by default, instead showing in the right pane a warning to the user that modifying the contents of the system folders could harm their computer. It's possible to define additional Explorer panes by usingDIV elements in folder template files.[75] This degree of customizability is new to Windows 2000; neither Windows 98 nor the Desktop Update could provide it.[83] The new DHTML-based search pane is integrated into Windows 2000 Explorer, unlike the separate search dialog found in all previous Explorer versions. TheIndexing Service has also been integrated into the operating system and the search pane built into Explorer allows searching files indexed by its database.[84]
Microsoft released the version 3.0 of NTFS[7] (sometimes incorrectly called "NTFS 5" in relation to the kernel version number) as part of Windows 2000; this introduceddisk quotas (provided by QuotaAdvisor),file-system-level encryption,sparse files andreparse points. Sparse files allow for the efficient storage of data sets that are very large yet contain many areas that only have zeros.[85]Reparse points allow theobject manager to reset a file namespace lookup and let file system drivers implement changed functionality in a transparent manner.[86] Reparse points are used to implementvolume mount points,junctions,Hierarchical Storage Management, NativeStructured Storage andSingle Instance Storage.[86] Volume mount points and directory junctions allow for a file to be transparently referred from one file or directory location to another.
Windows 2000 also introduces aDistributed Link Tracking service to ensure file shortcuts remain working even if the target is moved or renamed. The target object's unique identifier is stored in the shortcut file on NTFS 3.0 and Windows can use the Distributed Link Tracking service for tracking the targets of shortcuts, so that the shortcut file may be silently updated if the target moves, even to another hard drive.[87]
The Encrypting File System (EFS) introduced strongfile system-levelencryption to Windows. It allows any folder or drive on an NTFS volume to be encrypted transparently by the user.[54] EFS works together with the EFS service, Microsoft'sCryptoAPI and the EFS File SystemRuntime Library (FSRTL).[88]
EFS works by encrypting a file with a bulksymmetric key (also known as the File Encryption Key, or FEK), which is used because it takes less time to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than if anasymmetric keycipher were used.[88] The symmetric key used to encrypt the file is then encrypted with apublic key associated with the user who encrypted the file, and this encrypted data is stored in the header of the encrypted file. To decrypt the file, the file system uses the private key of the user to decrypt the symmetric key stored in the file header. It then uses the symmetric key to decrypt the file. Because this is done at the file system level, it is transparent to the user.[89]
For a user losing access to their key, support for recovery agents that can decrypt files is built into EFS. A Recovery Agent is a user who is authorized by a public key recovery certificate to decrypt files belonging to other users using a specialprivate key. By default, local administrators arerecovery agents however they can be customized usingGroup Policy.
Windows 2000 introduced theLogical Disk Manager and thediskpart command line tool fordynamic storage.[9] All versions of Windows 2000 support three types ofdynamic disk volumes (along with basic disks):simple volumes,spanned volumes andstriped volumes:
Simple volume, a volume with disk space from one disk.
Spanned volumes, where up to 32 disks show up as one, increasing it in size but not enhancing performance. When one disk fails, the array is destroyed. Some data may be recoverable. This corresponds toSPAN and not toRAID-1.
Striped volumes, also known asRAID-0, store all their data across several disks instripes. This allows better performance because disk reads and writes are balanced across multiple disks. Like spanned volumes, when one disk in the array fails, the entire array is destroyed (some data may be recoverable).
In addition to these disk volumes, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server supportmirrored volumes andstriped volumes with parity:
Mirrored volumes, also known asRAID-1, store identical copies of their data on 2 or more identical disks (mirrored). This allows for fault tolerance; in the event one disk fails, the other disk(s) can keep the server operational until the server can be shut down for replacement of the failed disk.
Striped volumes with parity, also known asRAID-5, functions similar to striped volumes/RAID-0, except "parity data" is written out across each of the disks in addition to the data. This allows the data to be "rebuilt" in the event a disk in the array needs replacement.
With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced the Windows 9x accessibility features for people with visual and auditory impairments and otherdisabilities into the NT-line of operating systems.[10] These included:
StickyKeys: makes modifier keys (ALT,CTRL andSHIFT) become "sticky": a user can press themodifier key, and then release it before pressing the combination key. (Activated by pressing Shift five times quickly.)
FilterKeys: a group ofkeyboard-related features for people with typing issues, including:
Slow Keys: Ignore any keystroke not held down for a certain period.
Bounce Keys: Ignore repeated keystrokes pressed in quick succession.
Repeat Keys: lets users slow down the rate at which keys are repeated via the keyboard's key-repeat feature.
Toggle Keys: when turned on, Windows will play a sound when theCAPS LOCK,NUM LOCK orSCROLL LOCK key is pressed.
SoundSentry: designed to help users with auditory impairments, Windows 2000 shows a visual effect when a sound is played through the sound system.
Utility Manager: an application designed to start, stop, and manage when accessibility features start. This was eventually replaced by theEase of Access Center inWindows Vista.
Accessibility Wizard: a control panel applet that helps users set up their computer for people with disabilities.
Since Windows 2000, English versions of Windows (NT) can support display and input right-to-left languages (such as Arabic) andCJKV languages, but related files needed to be installed inControl Panel.[93]
Windows 2000 included version 7.0 of theDirectXAPI, commonly used bygame developers onWindows 98.[94] The last version of DirectX that was released for Windows 2000 was DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0), which shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2. Microsoft published quarterly updates to DirectX 9.0c through the February 2010 release after which support was dropped in the June 2010 SDK. These updates contain bug fixes to the core runtime and some additional libraries such asD3DX,XAudio 2,XInput andManaged DirectX components. The majority of games written for versions of DirectX 9.0c (up to the February 2010 release) therefore run on Windows 2000.
Windows 2000's Computer Management console can perform many system tasks. This image shows adisk defragmentation in progress.
Windows 2000 introduced theMicrosoft Management Console (MMC), which is used to create, save, and open administrative tools.[53] Each of these is called aconsole, and most allow an administrator to administer other Windows 2000 computers from one centralised computer. Each console can contain one or many specific administrative tools, calledsnap-ins.[53] These can be either standalone (with one function), or an extension (adding functions to an existing snap-in). In order to provide the ability to control what snap-ins can be seen in a console, the MMC allows consoles to be created inauthor mode oruser mode.[53] Author mode allows snap-ins to be added, new windows to be created, all portions of the console tree to be displayed and consoles to be saved. User mode allows consoles to be distributed with restrictions applied. User mode consoles can grant full access to the user for any change, or they can grant limited access, preventing users from adding snapins to the console though they can view multiple windows in a console. Alternatively users can be granted limited access, preventing them from adding to the console and stopping them from viewing multiple windows in a single console.[96]
The main tools that come with Windows 2000 can be found in theComputer Management console (in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel).[97] This contains theEvent Viewer—a means of viewing system or application-related events and the Windows equivalent of alog file,[98] a system information utility,a backup utility,Task Scheduler and management consoles to view open shared folders and shared folder sessions, configure and manageCOM+ applications, configureGroup Policy,[99] manage all the local users and user groups, and adevice manager.[100] It containsDisk Management andRemovable Storage snap-ins,[101] adisk defragmenter as well as a performance diagnostic console, which displays graphs of system performance and configures data logs and alerts. It also contains aservice configuration console, which allows users to view all installed services and to stop and start them, as well as configure what those services should do when the computer starts.CHKDSK has significant performance improvements.[102]
Windows 2000 comes with two utilities to edit theWindows registry,REGEDIT.EXE andREGEDT32.EXE.[103] REGEDIT has been directly ported fromWindows 98, and therefore does not support editing registry permissions.[103] REGEDT32 has the older multiple document interface (MDI) and can edit registry permissions in the same manner that Windows NT's REGEDT32 program could. REGEDIT has a left-sidetree view of theWindows registry, lists all loadedhives and represents the three components of a value (its name, type, and data) as separate columns of a table. REGEDT32 has a left-side tree view, but each hive has its own window, so the tree displays only keys and it represents values as a list of strings. REGEDIT supports right-clicking of entries in a tree view to adjust properties and other settings. REGEDT32 requires all actions to be performed from the topmenu bar.Windows XP is the first system to integrate these two programs into a single utility, adopting the REGEDIT behavior with the additional NT features.[103]
TheSystem File Checker (SFC) also comes with Windows 2000. It is acommand line utility that scans system files and verifies whether they were signed by Microsoft and works in conjunction with theWindows File Protection mechanism. It can also repopulate and repair all the files in theDllcache folder.[104]
TheRecovery Console is run from outside the installed copy of Windows to perform maintenance tasks that can neither be run from within it nor feasibly be run from another computer or copy of Windows 2000.[105] It is usually used to recover the system from problems that cause booting to fail, which would render other tools useless, like Safe Mode or Last Known Good Configuration, orchkdsk. It includes commands likefixmbr, which are not present in MS-DOS.
It has a simplecommand-line interface, used to check and repair the hard drive(s), repair boot information (includingNTLDR), replace corrupted system files with fresh copies from the CD, or enable/disable services and drivers for the next boot.
The console can be accessed in either of the two ways:
Booting from the Windows 2000 CD, and choosing to start the Recovery Console from the CD itself instead of continuing with setup. The Recovery Console is accessible as long as the installation CD is available.
Preinstalling the Recovery Console on the hard disk as a startup option inBoot.ini, via WinNT32.exe, with the /cmdcons switch.[106] In this case, it can only be started as long asNTLDR can boot from thesystem partition.
Starting with Windows 2000, theServer Message Block (SMB) protocol directly interfaces withTCP/IP. In Windows NT 4.0, SMB requires theNetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) protocol to work on a TCP/IP network.
Windows 2000 introduces a client-side DNS caching service. When the Windows DNS resolver receives a query response, the DNS resource record is added to a cache. When it queries the same resource record name again and it is found in the cache, then the resolver does not query the DNS server. This speeds up DNS query time and reduces network traffic.
The Windows 2000 Server family consists of Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Small Business Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.
All editions of Windows 2000 Server have the following services and features built in:
Hierarchical Storage Management support including remote storage,[108] a service that runs withNTFS and automatically transfers files that are not used for some time to less expensive storage media
IntelliMirror, a collection of technologies for fine-grainedmanagement of Windows 2000 Professional clients that duplicates users' data, applications, files, and settings in a centralized location on the network. IntelliMirror employs technologies such asGroup Policy,Windows Installer,Roaming profiles,Folder Redirection,Offline Files (also known asClient Side Caching or CSC),File Replication Service (FRS), Remote Installation Services (RIS) to address desktop management scenarios such as user data management, user settings management, software installation and maintenance.
A newWindows Time service which is an implementation ofSimple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) as detailed in IETFRFC1769. The Windows Time service synchronizes the date and time of computers in a domain[110] running on Windows 2000 Server or later. Windows 2000 Professional includes an SNTP client.
The Server editions include more features and components, including the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS), Active Directory support and fault-tolerant storage.
The Distributed File System (DFS) allowsshares in multiple different locations to be logically grouped under one folder, orDFS root. When users try to access anetwork share off the DFS root, the user is really looking at aDFS link and the DFS server transparently redirects them to the correctfile server and share. A DFS root can only exist on a Windows 2000 version that is part of the server family, and only one DFS root can exist on that server.
There can be two ways of implementing a DFS namespace on Windows 2000: either through a standalone DFS root or a domain-based DFS root. Standalone DFS allows for only DFS roots on the local computer, and thus does not use Active Directory. Domain-based DFS roots exist within Active Directory and can have their information distributed to otherdomain controllers within the domain – this providesfault tolerance to DFS. DFS roots that exist on a domain must be hosted on a domain controller or on a domain member server. The file and root information is replicated via the MicrosoftFile Replication Service (FRS).[111]
A new way of organizingWindows network domains, or groups of resources, called Active Directory, is introduced with Windows 2000 to replace Windows NT's earlier domain model. Active Directory's hierarchical nature allowed administrators a built-in way to manage user and computer policies and user accounts, and to automatically deploy programs and updates with a greater degree of scalability and centralization than provided in previous Windows versions. User information stored in Active Directory also provided a convenient phone book-like function to end users. Active Directory domains can vary from small installations with a few hundred objects, to large installations with millions. Active Directory can organise and link groups of domains into a contiguousdomain name space to formtrees. Groups of trees outside of the same namespace can be linked together to formforests.
Active Directory services could always be installed on a Windows 2000 Server Standard, Advanced, or Datacenter computer, and cannot be installed on a Windows 2000 Professional computer. However, Windows 2000 Professional is the first client operating system able to exploit Active Directory's new features. As part of an organization's migration, Windows NT clients continued to function until all clients were upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional, at which point the Active Directory domain could be switched tonative mode and maximum functionality achieved.
Active Directory requires a DNS server that supportsSRV resource records, or that an organization's existing DNS infrastructure be upgraded to support this. There should be one or moredomain controllers to hold the Active Directory database and provide Active Directorydirectory services.
Along with support for simple, spanned and striped volumes, the Windows 2000 Server family also supports fault-tolerant volume types. The types supported aremirrored volumes andRAID-5 volumes:
Mirrored volumes: the volume contains several disks, and when data is written to one it is also written to the other disks. This means that if one disk fails, the data can be totally recovered from the other disk. Mirrored volumes are also known asRAID-1.
RAID-5 volumes: aRAID-5 volume consists of multiple disks, and it usesblock-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks. Should a disk fail in the array, the parity blocks from the surviving disks are combined mathematically with the data blocks from the surviving disks to reconstruct the data on the failed drive "on-the-fly."
Windows 2000 can bedeployed to a site via various methods. It can be installed onto servers via traditional media (such as CD) or via distribution folders that reside on a shared folder. Installations can be attended orunattended. During a manual installation, the administrator must specify configuration options. Unattended installations are scripted via ananswer file, or a predefined script in the form of anINI file that has all the options filled in. An answer file can be created manually or using the graphicalSetup manager. The Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe program then uses that answer file to automate the installation. Unattended installations can be performed via a bootable CD, using MicrosoftSystems Management Server (SMS), via theSystem Preparation Tool (Sysprep), via the Winnt32.exe program using the /syspart switch or viaRemote Installation Services (RIS). The ability toslipstream aservice pack into the original operating system setup files is also introduced in Windows 2000.[112]
The Sysprep method is started on a standardized reference computer – though the hardware need not be similar – and it copies the required installation files from the reference computer to the target computers. The hard drive does not need to be in the target computer and may be swapped out to it at any time, with the hardware configured later. The Winnt.exe program must also be passed a /unattend switch that points to a valid answer file and a /s file that points to one or more valid installation sources.
Sysprep allows the duplication of adisk image on an existing Windows 2000 Server installation to multiple servers. This means that all applications and system configuration settings will be copied across to the new installations, and thus, the reference and target computers must have the sameHALs,ACPI support, and mass storage devices – though Windows 2000 automatically detects "plug and play" devices. The primary reason for using Sysprep is to quickly deploy Windows 2000 to a site that has multiple computers with standard hardware. (If a system had different HALs, mass storage devices or ACPI support, then multiple images would need to be maintained.)
Systems Management Server can be used to upgrade multiple computers to Windows 2000. These must be running Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 or Windows 95 OSR2.x along with the SMS client agent that can receive software installation operations. Using SMS allows installations over a wide area and provides centralised control over upgrades to systems.
Remote Installation Services (RIS) are a means to automatically install Windows 2000 Professional (and not Windows 2000 Server) to a local computer over a network from a central server. Images do not have to support specific hardware configurations and the security settings can be configured after the computer reboots as the service generates a new unique security ID (SID) for the machine. This is required so that local accounts are given the right identifier and do not clash with other Windows 2000 Professional computers on a network.[113]RIS requires that client computers are able to boot over the network via either anetwork interface card that has aPre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) bootROM installed or that the client computer has a network card installed that is supported by the remoteboot disk generator. Theremote computer must also meet theNet PC specification. The server that RIS runs on must be Windows 2000 Server and it must be able to access a networkDNS Service, aDHCP service and the Active Directory services.[114]
Microsoft released various editions of Windows 2000 for different markets and business needs: Professional, Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Each was packaged separately.
Windows 2000 Professional was designed as the desktop operating system for businesses andpower users. It is the client version of Windows 2000. It offers greater security and stability than many of the previous Windows desktop operating systems. It supports up to twoprocessors, and can address up to 4GB ofRAM. The system requirements are a Pentium processor (or equivalent) of 133MHz or greater, at least 32MB of RAM, 650MB of hard drive space, and aCD-ROM drive (recommended:Pentium II, 128MB of RAM, 2GB of hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive).[115] However, despite the official minimum processor requirements, it is still possible to install Windows 2000 on 4th-generation x86 CPUs such as the80486.
Windows 2000 Embedded andWindows 2000 Professional Embedded/Windows 2000 Professional For Embedded Systems are versions of Windows 2000 Professional that was designed forembedded use, and targeted atATMs,vending machines and other large embedded devices. Windows 2000 Embedded was cancelled during development in favor ofWindows XP Embedded, however the binary identical FES versions were released and function exactly the same as its retail counterpart, but licensed for embedded use.[116]
Screenshot of Windows 2000 Server withConfigure Your Server component
Windows 2000 Server shares the sameuser interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contains additional components for the computer to performserver roles and run infrastructure andapplication software. A significant new component introduced in the server versions isActive Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based onLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Additionally, Microsoft integratedKerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticisedNTLM (NT LAN Manager) authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purelytransitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 Serverdomains in aforest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a commonschema, configuration, andglobal catalog, being linked with two-waytransitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced aDomain Name Server which allows dynamic registration ofIP addresses. Windows 2000 Server supports up to 4 processors and 4GB of RAM, with a minimum requirement of 128MB of RAM and 1GB hard disk space, however requirements may be higher depending on installed components.[115]
Windows 2000 Server Embedded andWindows 2000 Server For Embedded Systems are binary identical versions of Windows 2000 Server that was targeted at the embedded market. Both versions function exactly the same as its retail counterpart, but is licensed for embedded use.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses. It offers the ability to createclusters of servers, support for up to 8 CPUs, a main memory amount of up to 8GB onPhysical Address Extension (PAE) systems and the ability to do 8-waySMP. It supportsTCP/IPload balancing and builds onMicrosoft Cluster Server (MSCS) in Windows NT Enterprise Server 4.0, adding enhanced functionality for two-node clusters.[117] System requirements are similar to those of Windows 2000 Server,[115] however they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure.
Screenshot of Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, asking the user to complete setup by configuring Cluster and Remote Installation service in theConfigure Your Server component
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is a variant of Windows 2000 Server designed for large businesses that move large quantities of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a centralserver.[118] Like Advanced Server, it supportsclustering,failover andload balancing. Its minimumsystem requirements are similar to those of Advanced Server,[115] but it was designed to be capable of handing advanced, fault-tolerant andscalable hardware—for instance computers with up to 32 CPUs and 32GBs RAM, with rigorous system testing and qualification, hardware partitioning, coordinated maintenance andchange control. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server was released to manufacturing on August 11, 2000[119] and launched on September 26, 2000.[120] This edition was based on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 1[118] and was not available at retail.[121]
Windows 2000 has received four fullservice packs and one rollup update package following SP4, which is the last service pack. Microsoft phased out all development of itsJava Virtual Machine (JVM) from Windows 2000 in SP3. Internet Explorer 5.01 has also been upgraded to the corresponding service pack level.
Service Pack 4 with Update Rollup was released on September 13, 2005, nearly four years following the release of Windows XP and sixteen months prior to the release of Windows Vista.
Microsoft had originally intended to release a fifth service pack for Windows 2000, but cancelled this project early in its development, and instead released Update Rollup 1 for SP4, a collection of all the security-relatedhotfixes and some other significant issues.[122] The Update Rollup does not include all non-security related hotfixes and is not subjected to the same extensive regression testing as a full service pack. Microsoft states that this update will meet customers' needs better than a whole new service pack, and will still help Windows 2000 customers secure their PCs, reduce support costs, and support existing computer hardware.[123]
Several Windows 2000 components are upgradable to the latest versions, which include new versions introduced in later versions of Windows, and other major Microsoft applications are available. These latest versions for Windows 2000 include:
During the Windows 2000 period, the nature of attacks on Windows servers changed: more attacks came from remote sources via the Internet. This has led to an overwhelming number of malicious programs exploiting the IIS services – specifically a notorious buffer overflow tendency.[124] This tendency is not operating-system-version specific, but rather configuration-specific: it depends on the services that are enabled.[124] Following this, a common complaint is that "by default, Windows 2000 installations contain numerous potential security problems. Many unneeded services are installed and enabled, and there is no active local security policy."[125] In addition to insecure defaults, according to theSANS Institute, the most common flaws discovered are remotely exploitablebuffer overflow vulnerabilities.[126] Other criticized flaws include the use of vulnerable encryption techniques.[127]
On September 8, 2009, Microsoft skipped patching two of the five security flaws that were addressed in the monthly security update, saying that patching one of the critical security flaws was "infeasible."[130] According to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-048: "The architecture to properly supportTCP/IP protection does not exist on Microsoft Windows 2000 systems, making it infeasible to build the fix for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 to eliminate the vulnerability. To do so would require re-architecting a very significant amount of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 operating system, there would be no assurance that applications designed to run on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 would continue to operate on the updated system." No patches for this flaw were released for the newerWindows XP (32-bit) andWindows XP Professional x64 Edition either, despite both also being affected;[131] Microsoft suggested turning onWindows Firewall in those versions.[132]
Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server were superseded by newer Microsoft operating systems: Windows 2000 Server products byWindows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Professional byWindows XP Professional.
The Windows 2000 family of operating systems moved from mainstream support to the extended support phase on June 30, 2005. Microsoft says that this marks the progression of Windows 2000 through the Windows lifecycle policy. Under mainstream support, Microsoft freely provides design changes if any, service packs and non-security related updates in addition to security updates, whereas in extended support, service packs are not provided and non-security updates require contacting the support personnel by e-mail or phone. Under the extended support phase, Microsoft continued to provide critical security updates every month for all components of Windows 2000 (including Internet Explorer 5.0 SP4) and paid per-incident support for technical issues. Because of Windows 2000's age, updated versions of components such asWindows Media Player 11 andInternet Explorer 7 have not been released for it. In the case of Internet Explorer, Microsoft said in 2005 that, "some of the security work in IE 7 relies on operating system functionality in XP SP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000." (though ironically, support for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 ended on July 13, 2010).[133]
While users of Windows 2000 Professional and Server were eligible to purchase the upgrade license for Windows Vista Business or Windows Server 2008, neither of these operating systems can directly perform an upgrade installation from Windows 2000; a clean installation must be performed instead or a two-step upgrade through XP/2003. Microsoft has dropped the upgrade path from Windows 2000 (and earlier) toWindows 7. Users of Windows 2000 must buy a full Windows 7 license.
Although Windows 2000 is the last NT-based version of Microsoft Windows which does not includeproduct activation, Microsoft has introducedWindows Genuine Advantage for certain downloads and non-critical updates from the Download Center for Windows 2000.
Windows 2000 reached the end of its lifecycle (EoL) on July 13, 2010 (alongside Service Pack 2 of Windows XP). It will not receive new security updates and new security-related hotfixes after this date.[6][134] In Japan, over 130,000 servers and 500,000 PCs in local governments were affected; many local governments said that they will not update as they do not have funds to cover a replacement.[135]
As of 2011,Windows Update still supports the Windows 2000 updates available onPatch Tuesday in July 2010, e.g., if older optional Windows 2000 features are enabled later. Microsoft Office products under Windows 2000 have their own product lifecycles. WhileInternet Explorer 6 forWindows XP did receive security patches up until it lost support, this is not the case for IE6 under Windows 2000.[citation needed] TheWindows Malicious Software Removal Tool installed monthly by Windows Update for XP and later versions can be still downloaded manually for Windows 2000.[136]
In 2020, Microsoft announced that it would disable the Windows Update service for SHA-1 endpoints for older Windows versions. Since Windows 2000 did not get an update for SHA-2, Windows Update Services are no longer available on the OS as of late July 2020.[137] As of March 2024, many of the old updates for Windows 2000 are still available on theMicrosoft Update Catalog.[138] A third-party tool named Legacy Update allows previously released updates for Windows 2000 to be installed from the Update Catalog.[139] An independent project named Windows Update Restored is also available since 2022 and aims to restore the Windows Update websites for older versions of Windows, including Windows 2000.[140][139]
In October 2002, Microsoft commissionedIDC to determine thetotal cost of ownership (TCO) forenterprise applications on Windows 2000 versus the TCO of the same applications onLinux. IDC's report is based on telephone interviews of IT executives and managers of 104 North American companies in which they determined what they were using for a specific workload for file, print, security and networking services.IDC determined that the four areas where Windows 2000 had a better TCO than Linux – over a period of five years for an average organization of 100 employees – were file, print, network infrastructure and security infrastructure. They determined, however, that Linux had a better TCO than Windows 2000 for web serving. The report also found that the greatest cost was not in the procurement of software and hardware, but in staffing costs and downtime. While the report applied a 40% productivity factor during IT infrastructure downtime, recognizing that employees are not entirely unproductive, it did not consider the impact of downtime on the profitability of the business. The report stated that Linux servers had less unplanned downtime than Windows 2000 servers. It found that most Linux servers ran less workload per server than Windows 2000 servers and also that none of the businesses interviewed used 4-waySMP Linux computers. The report also did not take into account specificapplication servers – servers that need low maintenance and are provided by a specific vendor. The report did emphasize that TCO was only one factor in considering whether to use a particular IT platform, and also noted that as management and server software improved and became better packaged the overall picture shown could change.[141]
^Although DEC Alpha is a native 64-bit platform, All versions of Windows NT for Alpha are only officially available in 32-bit versions, using a 32-bit application binary interface on an otherwise 64-bit platform. 64-bit Alpha builds of Windows were only developed internally and are not available to the public, and mainly served as testing grounds for the 64-bit Itanium platform when no other Itanium hardware was available and was still in development.[5]
^Trinder, Garry (February 17, 2006)."The Xbox Operating System".Xbox Engineering. MSDN.Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. RetrievedOctober 31, 2018.
^Fran Board (April 27, 2022)."Ta-da! It's Windows!".20k.org (Podcast). Twenty Thousand Hertz.Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. RetrievedDecember 7, 2022.
^RC1 was the build 2072 from June 1999 (and last public Alpha/2000 build), the last known internal build was 2128 and the "Gold" release of Windows 2000 was build 2195."Windows 2000?".Alphant.com. Archived fromthe original on November 30, 2011.
^McLaws, Robert (September 20, 2006)."Mary Jo Foley: The Exit Interview". WindowsNow. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. RetrievedJuly 26, 2014.
^John Wiley & Sons (2010). Operating System Concepts with Java, 8th Edition, page 901.
^"NDS eDirectory vs. Microsoft Active Directory?". Novell. November 17, 1999.Archived from the original on February 11, 2005. RetrievedApril 22, 2006.NDS eDirectory is a cross-platform directory solution that works on NT 4.0, Windows 2000 when available, Solaris and NetWare 5. Active Directory will only support the Windows 2000 environment. In addition, eDirectory users can be assured they are using the most trusted, reliable and mature directory service to manage and control their e-business relationships – not a 1.0 release.
^Bekker, Scott (March 5, 2002)."Datacenter Server Limited Edition Released". Redmond Magazine.Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. RetrievedJuly 23, 2014.Although Microsoft has pushed back the schedule for Windows .NET Server, the company is going ahead with the release of a limited edition of Windows Datacenter Server based on Windows .NET Server beta code.
Bolosky, William J.; Corbin, Scott; Goebel, David; & Douceur, John R. "Single Instance Storage in Windows 2000."Microsoft Research &Balder Technology Group, Inc. (white paper).
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