Disk Space Requirements
For Win2K Professional, you need a minimum of 340MB of free hard disk space to install SP2 from a network distribution share and 710MB of free space when you perform either an Express installation from the SP2 Web site or a local installation from the download file or an SP2 CD-ROM. The \uninstall directory requires a minimum of 250MB of free space for a new installation and 380MB when you upgrade from SP1. (Note that all the free space must be on the system partition.)
For Win2K Server and Win2K Advanced Server, you need a minimum of 415MB of free space to install SP2 from a network distribution share and 830MB to perform a Web-based Express installation or a local installation from the download file or the SP2 CD-ROM. The \uninstall directory requires a minimum of 315MB of free space and 460MB on a system that you upgrade from SP1.
The Update utility command-line option —n disables creation of the \uninstall directory. If your testing reveals that SP2 is a stable platform and you don't anticipate reverting back to SP1, you can save 250MB to 460MB of disk space on each system by disabling creation of the \uninstall directory. You might also want to disable creation of the \uninstall directory if you have limited space on the system boot partition.
Using the Windows Installer Service to Deploy SP2
The Windows Installer method for updating software on remote systems is easy to set up and activate. This method uses a computer-based policy to deploy software on computers within an AD container, which can be a site, a domain, or an organizational unit (OU). Follow these steps to set up the Windows Installer installation method:
- Open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
- Create a new OU and name it SP2Upgrade, then move the computers you want to upgrade (e.g., Work1, Work2) into the SP2Upgrade OU.
- Assign the Windows Installer package update.msi, which contains all the information the Windows Installer service needs to install SP2 without user intervention, to the SP2Upgrade container.
The next time someone reboots Work1 or Work2 (or any other computer in the SP2Upgrade OU), the Windows Installer service automatically starts the SP2 upgrade. If you opt for this technique and you change your mind about upgrading a specific computer, move the computer out of the SP2Upgrade OU before you restart the computer.
The upgrade takes 10 to 20 minutes depending on the speed of the CPU, the amount of memory, and the amount of free disk space. You might want to inform your users before you implement the remote update so that they understand the reason for the long delay. After Windows Installer finishes the SP2 upgrade, users can log on as usual.
To verify that the SP2 upgrade was successful, right-click My Computer, select Properties, and look at the OS version on the General tab. Alternatively, you can run the Winver utility from a command prompt. The SP2 upgrade might fail if the machine has inadequate free disk space or a user powers off the machine after the upgrade starts. If SP2 fails, you can reschedule the upgrade by moving the computer out of the SP2Upgrade OU, then restarting the computer. Then, move the computer back into the SP2Upgrade OU and start the system a second time to begin the SP2 upgrade.
When to Reinstall SP2
In most cases, the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature in Win2K eliminates the need to reapply a service pack. You usually don't have to reinstall a Win2K service pack after you add or remove OS components or services. SP2 adds a second driver .cab file that contains all the drivers that Microsoft has modified since SP1. When you upgrade to SP2, the upgrade automatically updates all the loaded drivers. If you subsequently add a new hardware device, Win2K searches for the device driver in the updated driver catalog sp2.cab and installs the current version if one is available. If sp2.cab doesn't contain the correct driver, Win2K installs the driver from the original driver .cab file.
The main exception to this rule is when you repair a system with the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) utility. If you repair files in the system root and you haven't updated the repair directory, the repair operation can overwrite SP2 files with files from an earlier version. To ensure that all OS components are the most current version, you might need to reinstall SP2 after you run the ERD.
Moving Forward
SP2 is a comprehensive update, but be aware that already more than 200 documented post-SP2 bugs exist. You can scan the current list of post-SP2 fixes at http://support.microsoft.com/support/servicepacks/windows/2000/win2000_post-sp2_hotfixes.asp. If you're planning a large-scale SP2 deployment, you might want to hold off until you identify post-SP2 problems, bugs, and security vulnerabilities that you need to include in a combination installation.
This furious pace of code fixes makes building and having confidence in a known baseline for workstation, server, and DC images extremely difficult. At least you have slipstream and combination installation techniques to help you manage the nonstop flow of updates to your production systems.