Upgrade from Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller to Windows Server 2008

Introduction

I have been using Windows Server 2003 for years and I believe its time to shift and try using Windows Server 2008, I have downloaded RC0 and decided to Upgrade my Domain Controller, which is also a DNS & DHCP Server to Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition RC0. In this article, I will show you step by step how to perform an in-place upgrade for a Domain Controller from Windows Server 2003 To Windows Server 2008 RC0

Note: This article was written when Windows Server 2008 was still RC0. Changes might occur later once the product is RTM'd Upgrade Steps

1. On you Windows Server 2003 DC, insert the Windows Server 2008 DVD, and then open command prompt and run the following commands, make sure first to browse to the adprep directory inside the Windows 008 DVD , in my case case, the F drive is the DVD Drive letter, so to browse to the adprep directory I would write the following inside cmd:cd f:\sources\adprerp
   
   
   adprep/ forestprep

• 
  

Microsoft latest Download release links (win2008,Hyper-V,Service Pack,SQL,Win7,Office,AD,System center and many more)

Windows Server 2008 Service Packs

Windows Server 2008 x86	SP1 Built-in	SP2 Download
Windows Server 2008 x64	SP1 Built-in	SP2 Download
Windows Server 2008 ia64	SP1 Built-in	SP2 Download

   Some Latest Updated Microsoft Downloads   

Installing Hyper-V and Deploying Windows Server 2008 as Your First Virtual Machine - Part II

Introduction
In part I of this article, I pointed to you the prerequisites to install Hyper-V, the differences between Hyper-V and Virtual Server 2005 R2, and then installed Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008. In this part of the article, I will use Hyper-V Manager to create my first Virtual machine and then install on it Windows Server 2008 as a guest operating system.

Once you install the Hyper-V role on Windows Server 2008, a new console will be installed on your machine, and it is called the Hyper-V Manager. Everything related to Hyper-V is done using this MMC console.

1. To open Hyper-V, click on Start > Administrative Tools > Hyper-V Manager

Installing Hyper-V and Deploying Windows Server 2008 as Your First Virtual Machine - Part I

Introduction

Hyper-V is the next level of virtualization, with Windows Server 2008 you no longer need to deploy an application such as Virtual Server 2005 or Virtual PC or other virtualization technology in order to build your virtual machines. 
Hyper-V is one of the new roles available with Windows Server 2008 where you can install it and then start creating your virtual machines, take different snapshots for every virtual machine and much more. You can use a virtualized computing environment to improve the efficiency of your computing resources by utilizing more of your hardware resources.

In this two parts article, I will show you how to install the Hyper-V role and then in part two I will install Windows Server 2008 as a virtual machine with Hyper-V.

Hyper-V requires specific hardware. You will need the following:

• An x64-based processor. Hyper-V will be available only in the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008, the x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter.

Identifying Hyper-V Version

Introduction: You installed Windows Server 2008, and you intend to Install Hyper-V role, but you are wondering which version of Hyper-V is included with your Windows Server 2008 DVD ? is it the Beta version that is included with the RTM version of Windows Server 2008 ? Or is it the RTM version of Hyper-V?

You might be in a situation also, where you have already installed Hyper-V role, but does not know which version you are running. In this article, I'm going to show you two methods to identify which hyper-V version your Windows Server has .

When Windows Server 2008 was RTM back in February 2008, Hyper-V was included in Beta version.

And then we had two release candidates, RC0 and RC1, till Hyper-V was RTM on June 26- 2008.

If you already had Hyper-V role installed , then you can identify the version you are running by :

• Using the Command line
• Using the Hyper-V Manager Console

Introducing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 - Part 2 : Configuration

Introduction
In part 1 of this article, I installed Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008. Today I'm going to configure Hyper-V Server 2008 by using the Hyper-V ConfigurationWindow.


As shown in part 1 of this article, the desktop of the Hyper-V server contains only two windows; the Command Line window and the Hyper-V Configuration window. If by mistake you closed any of these windows, you can easily re-open anyone of these windows by following the below steps:

Opening the Command Line window

1. Click CTRL+ALT+DEL > click on Start Task Manager
2. Click on New Task...
3. Type cmd > click Enter or OK

Introducing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 - Part 1 : Installation

Introduction

The stand-alone version of Hyper-V is now available and is called Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008. So now if you want to work with Hyper-V and does not have a copy of Windows Server 2008, then download Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, which is absolutely free, easy to install and easy to configure.

Since day one of introducing Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008, people on the TechNet forums were wondering if a stand alone Hyper-V server would ever be released and how much would it cost. People were very excited for Hyper-V, but not all of them had a hand on experience on Windows Server 2008 With Hyper-V ! For those people who have been waiting, the day had came and Microsoft released Hyper-V Server 2008, which in absolutely free !

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 requires specific hardware ( they are the same as Hyper-V that is available with Windows Server 2008). 
You will need the following:

• An x64-based processor
• Hardware-assisted virtualization. This is available in processors that include a virtualization option; specifically, Intel VT or AMD Virtualization
• Hardware Data Execution Protection (DEP) must be available and be enabled. Specifically, you must enable Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit).