Windows 2000 Installation on Acer Aspire1 Netbook

btman16

Hello,

I was on Winworld downloading Windows 2000 Professional service pack 4 iso files, and when I tried to install it on my Netbook it froze at "setup is starting windows 2000" and wouldn't let me partition the drive or install windows at all.

I am trying to do a downgrade and am wondering if something is wrong with the image?

So I just downloaded original windows 2000 professional english and am going to try that.

Why would it have frozen? Is it due to a bad image? Or is it because I'm using an external usb cd drive?
Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to any assistance you are willing to provide.
Thanks,

Brandon

thinkpadman

The image files are fine.

I think the issue is relating more to having a SATA hard disk in netbooks. They only came about after XP Service Pack 2 was released. Windows 2000 by default was installed on IDE drives at the time. Having a quick look, some people claim to have it working on this model by changing the hard disk mode to IDE from the BIOS.

There's a YouTube video of someone getting it running, and had mentioned:

The requirements are two: 1) You must have set "IDE Mode" in the BIOS. 2) You must have installed Windows XP SP3 in IDE Mode Then follow these steps: 1) Create a folder "Windows 2K" and copy the content of your Windows 2K CD/ISO there; 2) Substitute the 2K's WINNT32.exe with XP's WINNT32.exe 3) Start the setup. 4) After the usual steps restart your netbook and enter into the "text mode" setup; immediately after you must press F5 and select "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (PC)"

TCPMeta

If you research the hard disk controller you might find a SATA driver but you'll need a floppy drive to install the driver or slipstream it to the CD.

btman16

Hi,

IF this is the case, why do I have to install xp in ide mode first?

Can't I switch the hard drive to ide then boot from the cd?

Thanks,

Brandon

Methusalix

You may also try the Universal ATA driver for Windows and provide it at the start via F6 key.

btman16

Hi,

What is the purpose for installing xp after switching to ide mode and replacing winnt32.exe?

Why can't I switch to ide mode for the hard drive, then boot from the cd again to install windows 2000?
What am I missing?

Sorry for all the questions, I've never had to do this when downgrading windows so I really appreciate all your help.

Also where is winnt32.exe on the 2000 cd, and in windows xp?

Thanks,

Brandon

yourepicfailure

They want you to enter BIOS and change hdd controller mode from SATA to Legacy. Then extract installation files from Win2k ISO, download an XP iso and pull off a specific file, winnt32.exe, from it and replace the one located in the Win2k setup files. Then start setup by opening the new winnt32.exe that you copied into the win2k setup files.

It's fairly straightforward, actually.

thinkpadman

Normally downgrading is straight-forward in principle, though depending on the hardware used it's either easy or almost unworkable.

Doesn't hurt to try booting from the CD with IDE mode chosen in the BIOS, and choosing ACPI PC instead of standard PC during setup. I've just never bothered to do this.

From what I've seen on the net, it appears that people who do this and got it going had the netbook in a dual-boot config between 2000 and XP. Others do it by using an SD or USB stick and making it bootable.

WINNT32.EXE is the Windows based installation program found under the I386 directory on the CD. Running this will gives you the option to install a fresh install, but upon completion you would then need to repair the MBR (master boot record) on the hard disk using XPs setup's repair function to dual boot correctly. This is due to Windows 2000 overriding the existing one on the hard disk. You shouldn't be needing to replace a WINNT32.EXE.

It'll be easier to stick with XP to be honest.