RE: Windows 2000 & Windows 98

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Skygee

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Anyone know for sure which AMD chipsets and/or Gigabyte 'DualBIOS' motherboards are known to support Windows 2000 Professional?
 
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For Windows 2000, you can't use a USB floppy if drivers are required at installation time. However it shouldn't be an issue if the SATA controller is configured in IDE mode.

To be honest I can't figure out why you want Windows 2000 native. It would be so much simpler to virtualize it as you could buy an AM3+ motherboard, etc. I've been running it virtualized an it's fine. You could even dedicate a hard disk to it if you want to.

Skygee

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Are you saying that drivers are the deciding factor? That any board/chipset for Phenom II x6 1075T that supports XP Pro, will also run Win 2000, whether it says so or not?


Does this include "ACPI BIOS"...someone said this was another consideration?
 
Not exactly. If the motherboard support page does not explicitly list Windows 2k as supported then it may still be possible to run it, but some features will be missing. Like I said they have similar driver models, but 2k is older and no longer supported which makes things a little harder.
 

Skygee

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Is there any way to make sure whether or not a given motherboard will run Windows 2000 Pro prior to actually buying it? Was told different stuff by different people. One says to only consider boards that specifically say it supports this OS...that knocks out every board I know of that works with Phenom II x6 1075T, so would have to pick another CPU. Someone says to make sure the (southbrigde?) chipset supports OS, by checking on AMD homesite...have never found this well-hidden trove of info yet. Another says it all depends on whether drivers are available, but couldn't direct me beyond that...which sounds like what you're saying.

I don't care whether Win2000 can run all the bells'n'whistles of current hardware. Only care about making sure:
1. It will run on my custom-build.
2. It will access the internet.
3. It will print on either a color inkjet, or B&W laser printer.
That would be all I need to use this OS, but if this is too much to hope for, then I need to forget about inclusion of it in my build. Please let me know if this is a lost cause!
 

Skygee

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Okay...not what I was hoping to hear, but thanks for telling me! So as far as northbridge/southbridge chipsets on Gigabyte or Asus motherboards go, is Intel the only option? So far as I understand it (not very far), if the board chipsets are Intel, it will not fit any AMD CPU (I'm hoping for Phenom II x6 1075T), but other brand chipsets like nVIDIA, VIA, etc., might.
 
With an AMD Phenom II x6 1075T CPU, your only option is an AMD chipset and no Windows 2000 support.

There are a few nVidia based motherboards:

- ASUS M4N98TD EVO
- GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2 (really inexpensive, limited expandability, but it supports an X6 processor)

I haven't checked if nVidia supports Windows 2000.
 

Skygee

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Well, I think you got confused with the Asus board...looks like AMD chipset to me. But think you're on to something with the nVIDIA idea! Looks like the way to go, as AMD chipsets appear to be a deadend for Win2000, and I can't stand Intel. Also, maybe Via chipset boards? The GA-M68MT-S2 is bit too low-rent for me though. Need ATX or larger, at least five SATA & five PCIe/PCI slots (hopefully 2 for nVIVIA SLI), firewire, floppy drive, & gigabit ethernet....not gonna find all that on dinky microATX or cheapo boards. So far, nVIDIA looks to have better support for Win2000 than AMD, but still researching.
 
Well, I think you got confused with the Asus board...looks like AMD chipset to me.
The Asus mother is based on the "NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI" chipset: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4N98TD_EVO/#specifications What is it that you don't like with that Asus motherboard? It's very close to your requirements and it supports the Phenom II x6 1075T. AMD don't provide Windows 2000 drivers and they certainly can't be blamed for it.
 

Skygee

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Sorry...must of screwed up search, as board I saw had AMD chipset. This one looks to have everything but DualBIOS, buffered ECC, and floppy. Can live without the first two. Floppy drive, not sure about...been told not having one is risky. Do you know about floppy drives? Asked on forums before and was told that there is no way to add one if board does not have floppy connector. But recently saw in book 'Building the Perfect PC' (pg. 60) that if a motherboard doesn't have floppy drive and "If for some reason you want an internal FDD, buy an internal USB model, which connects to a set of USB header pins on the motherboard." True or not?
 
For Windows 2000, you can't use a USB floppy if drivers are required at installation time. However it shouldn't be an issue if the SATA controller is configured in IDE mode.

To be honest I can't figure out why you want Windows 2000 native. It would be so much simpler to virtualize it as you could buy an AM3+ motherboard, etc. I've been running it virtualized an it's fine. You could even dedicate a hard disk to it if you want to.
 
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Skygee

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Well, I'm fairly sure the board you recommended does not have floppy drive connector, so if a USB floppy is a no-go, what are my options?

Read couple books on VMWare and Virtualbox...looks complicated. Got enough on my plate already to last a year or two, so not interested in virtual stuff now. Maybe later.

What about if I put the Win2000 on IDE/PATA HDD...would USB floppy still be useless?
 
Read couple books on VMWare and Virtualbox...looks complicated. Got enough on my plate already to last a year or two, so not interested in virtual stuff now. Maybe later.
I'm not familiar with Virtualbox, but VMware Player is very easy. Since it's free, give it a try and then decide.
What about if I put the Win2000 on IDE/PATA HDD...would USB floppy still be useless?
It would be useless, but a floppy probably wouldn't be required to complete the installation.
 
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