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* EDITED *
Greetings.
It is clear that there are some people (and their number is not small at all) that are running Windows Server 2003 at work, and even at home, for some reasons that don't need to be explained.
But what happens when those people want to play? They don't need a reason, it's in our nature to want something like this at some point. Well, most of them get stuck, but I'll show here tutorial that can help your Win2k3 operating system to work with games and other multimedia programs as well. (I guess I have to point that it won't reach Windows XP's performance, but is better than having nothing)
Of course, maybe in some applications will run faster, but no tests and benchmarks were done, so I guess this will remain unanswered for a while. (I had a score of 6891 in 3DMark 2003, with a Leadtek 6600GT under Win2k3)
And besides, at some point, it sure is fun to do such a thing, isn't it?
Here >> http://www.msfn.org/win2k3/index.htm << you can also find some usefull tips, but most of them are just a matter of taste. I mean, maybe not all want to disable some things etc.
Though, it's a site that has to be visited.
If a moderator will agree, this can be made sticky. Anyway, let's begin ...
First of all, I use the Enterprise Edition of Windows Server 2003, but the others only differs with a few services. Of course, it's more than recommanded to format your partition where you want to install it (in NTFS), this for not having any further problems.
After the instalation, which can be done by anyone (nothing hard in it), the first step is to move the hardware acceleration slider to maximum. I guess everyone knows where that can be found (if you don't >> right click on the desktop >> Properties >> Settings >> Advanced >> Troubleshoot. And here you select full hardware acceleration). After, go to "Sounds and Audio Devices" from Control Panel, and again, turn on sound acceleration.
All good and nice, now start installing the necessary drivers, like the lastest DirectX version and the MB drivers (the xp version of the drivers should work without a problem). As for the video card's drivers, here's a little more complicated.
ATI - Viva for ATI, who made drivers specially for Windows 2003. The latest ATI Catalyst will automatically detect your os and install the drivers for Win2k3. I can guarantee you that you won't have any problems with it. I had an ATI Radeon 9000 PRO for more than a year, running Windows 2003 on it, and I've encountered no problems.
nVidia - I more than recommand to have the latest drivers from nvidia.com for the 64 bits operating systems. Install them normally and then restart your computer. It's more than likely that after this your card won't be recognized, so you'll have to install it manually after. Simply go to "System Properties" >> Hardware >> Device Manager. And there select the properties of what display adapter is shown there. Select update driver, and select to update it "manually", after select "have disk" and go to the folder where the kit for the drivers is located. You'll find the proper needed files in there. If not, it will 100% work installing manually the drivers from the driver's cd of your video card (It will work with the xp ones). But, remember, before doing this make sure you have installed the latest drivers from nvidia.com for 64 bits operating systems.
As for the OMEGA drivers, let's say I don't recommand them ... (though, on ATI they work perfectly, the only problem is with newer video cards from nVidia, that are not recognized. An update will be out soon for them.)
After this, you can easily install the remaining drivers for what components you may have, like sound cards. Again, the xp drivers works perfectly.
One of the major problem of the Win2k3 os, is that old dos applications, or old 16 bits ones simply don't work under it. This can easily be solved replacing the AUTOEXEC.NT file from \Windows\System32.
* I will update tomorrow this thread with a link from where to download it, I have to upload it somewhere first *
The 2nd main problem of Windows 2003, is that there are games/programs that cannot be installed under it, because they show a nice "Operating System Not Supported" error at the beginning, and then the installer closes.
Nothing more simple to remove this ...
What you need to do, is to modify the .msi files from the cd where the installer is located (mainly CD1 for most games/programs).
I'll give you an example for a specific game, this would be Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines.
Here it is:
1 - Copy over the contents of CD1 to a folder on your HDD, on a folder let's say Vampire Bloodlines.
2 - You have to create a .vbs file with a specific code in it. I'll upload it tomorrow and give you a direct download link for such a file (it works with every game/program).
Anyway, simply create a .txt file, insert the code I'll paste in here, and then save it to a .vbs ... let's say Win2k3.vbs
Option Explicit
Const msiOpenDatabaseModeReadOnly = 0
Const msiOpenDatabaseModeTransact = 1
' Scan arguments for valid SQL keyword and to determine if any update operations
Dim openMode : openMode = msiOpenDatabaseModeReadOnly
openMode = msiOpenDatabaseModeTransact
' Connect to Windows installer object
Dim installer : Set installer = Nothing
Set installer = Wscript.CreateObject("WindowsInstaller.Installer") : CheckError
' Open database
Dim databasePath:databasePath = Wscript.Arguments(0)
Dim database : Set database = installer.OpenDatabase(databasePath, openMode) : CheckError
' Process SQL statements and delete the crap out of this installer!
Dim query, view, record, message, rowData, columnCount, delim, column
Set view = database.OpenView("Delete from LaunchCondition") : CheckError
view.Execute
wscript.echo "Launch Conditions Removed"
Set view = database.OpenView("Delete from InstallExecuteSequence where Action='OnCheckSilentInstall'")
view.Execute
wscript.echo "OnCheckSilentInstall step removed"
Set view = database.OpenView("Delete from Property where Property = 'ISSETUPDRIVEN'")
view.Execute
wscript.echo "Property ISSETUPDRIVEN removed"
Set view = database.OpenView("INSERT INTO Property (Property,Value) VALUES ('ISSETUPDRIVEN',1)")
view.Execute
wscript.echo "Property ISSETUPDRIVEN added"
database.Commit
Wscript.Quit 0
Sub CheckError
Dim message, errRec
If Err = 0 Then Exit Sub
message = Err.Source & " " & Hex(Err) & ": " & Err.Description
If Not installer Is Nothing Then
Set errRec = installer.LastErrorRecord
If Not errRec Is Nothing Then message = message & vbLf & errRec.FormatText
End If
Fail message
End Sub
3 - Drag the "Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines.msi" to "Win2k3.vbs"
... and voila
It may give an error during the installation, and you have to copy CD2 and CD3 to that folder as well, and just click retry.
I'll update this thread tomorrow with further information. Also, if you have something to tell, just post in here.
Thanks,
Antonio Stefan.