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Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 1 – booting from CD)

By iscw

Before deploying OCS 2007 you need a basic network infrastructure. This series of posts will take you through the installation and initial configuration of Windows Server 2003, which is the operating system used both for the Domain Controller (DC) role and the OCS servers needed.

Later posts will cover the configuration of Windows Server 2003 as a DHCP server, as a domain controller and the installation of OCS 2007. This is the first post covering one of the prerequisites of an OCS 2007 deployment. The installation of a Windows Server 2003.

For this installation I use an old computer, but the installation (and the OCS deployment) could easily be performed using Microsoft Virtual PC for both servers and workstations.

  1. I start out by inserting a Windows Server 2003 CD in the CD-ROM drive and restarting the computer. At this point I expected the computer to prompt me for booting from the CD, but nothing happened, despite the boot sequence being correctly set up with CD-ROM before harddisk. It turns out that my legal, home-burned image of Windows Server 2003 had not been finalized on the CD and therefore could not be recognized by the CD-ROM drive. After burning a new CD, this time with NERO instead of Windows default burning, the CD is recognized perfectly by the computer when booting.
  2. When prompted, I press any key to boot from the CD. The Windows Server 2003 installation begins.
  3. On the Welcome to Setup screen I press Enter
  4. On the license agreement screen I press F8. As I did have a previous version of Windows Server 2003 installed I was asked if I wanted to repair this installation. I wanted a new installation to overwrite the previous one, so I pressed Esc to continue and not repair the drive.
  5. I delete all disk partitions created for earlier installations by selecting each partition and pressing D.
  6. I now only have a disk space labeled as Unpartitioned space (I only have one physical disk installed). I then press C to create a partition in the unpartitioned space.
  7. Following the recommendations from Microsoft I delete the total space default value and type the value of half my total disk space at the Create partition of size (in MB) prompt. I then press Enter.
  8. I see that my New (Raw) partition has been created and I press Enter.
  9. I select Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick), and press Enter.
  10. I leave the computer to format, copy relevant files and restart before the installation continues (now with the nicer graphics and marketing slogans about Windows Server 2003 ;) )

In the next post I will describe the install as it should be continued in GUI-mode after the reboot.

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This entry was posted on August 24, 2008 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Prerequisites, Windows Server 2003. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 1 – booting from CD)”

  1. Configuring your Windows Server 2003 as a DHCP server and a Domain Controller (DC) Says:
    September 14, 2008 at 11:29 pm

    [...] you have a clean Windows 2003 Server or have followed the installation guides Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 1 – booting from CD) and Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 2 – GUI install and initial settings) you are now at a [...]

  2. Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 2 - GUI install and initial settings) Says:
    September 14, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    [...] has now been booted from a Windows Server 2003 CD and you have gone through the steps descriped in Installing Windows Server 2003 (Part 1 – booting from CD). After rebooting automatically, the computer has continued installing and the first dialog box has [...]

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