[RESOLVED] Install problem

i'm having a problem installing software on a win2k server. i've installed the same software on an identical machine without a problem. however, when i attempt to install on this particular machine, i get a warning window that reads "Warning: Requires Windows NT Server" and the installation aborts. as i said, i have installed this same software on a similar machine without issue. i've compared the registry entries and services running on both machines to try to pinpoint the difference that the software is noticing, but cannot locate any. any suggestions as to where to look next to see what parameters are tripping this installation??

What software are you trying to install? And what other devices do you have attached to these machines?

the software is produced by xerox. it's called digipath web viewing & submission. it's for managing and converting documents. it uses an oracle db for cataloging and indexing and adobe pdf drivers for file conversion, then presents the info through iis. as far as the servers go, there's not a whole bunch of extras attached. both machines are very similar, both win2k. i've had success on one, not the other. here are the differences: the successful one is running exchange 5.5 and is not running active directory services (although the site is an active directory domain), the unsuccessful one is running directory services (as a master, used to be the nt pdc). both run iis 5.o. as far as hardware, the successfull one implements a win2k software raid5 (through disk admin), while the other uses a compaq smart array 221 raid controller for it's raid, these are used for storage only on both. system and os files are all on identical, mirrored drives. otherwise, there's no other peripheral hardware differences involved.

It may be due to Active Directory. For all intents and purposes, Windows2000 is compatible with all NT software. As you know, WinNT, however, did not have Active Directory. It is possible, because of the amount of modifications done to the registry when installing Active Directory, that this particular program does not believe that this computer is a WinNT computer while on the non-AD computer, it is fine.

If there is another domain controller you have access to, I would try to install this program on it (of course, as usual, backup everything first) and see if it will install there. If so, we know AD is not the problem.

If it doesn't install there, then you'll need to contact the vendor of this software and see if they have a patch for Windows2000 compatibility. You can also search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, putting in the name of your program as the keywords, and see if that produces any leads.

ron-

i tried to get the install running on the other controller i've got. same thing...

it looks to me like active directory is what's preventing this thing from running.

i'll look into the options you mentioned and try to go from there. the big problem here is that xerox has no idea how to support anything like this. i've been trying to address this problem with them for almost 9 months. they don't have (at least no one i've been able to deal with) a clue about their own software, so getting any opatches form them is going to interesting...

thanks for your help!

hummm, are you a administrator when you install software?

Just woundering.

If it is absolutely necessary to have this machine running this software, there is a way to do it, if no other option is available. I would only do this as a last resort, because it could end very badly.

Windows 2000, unlike NT, allows you to change from DC to member server on the fly. With NT, you had to reinstall to do this, but Windows 2000 includes a command called "dcpromo.exe" that you can use to upgrade a member server to DC, and demote a DC to member server. If you have other DC's running in this domain, Windows2000 *should* reassign whatever role this DC is performing (i.e. PDC emulator, domain naming master, Ifrastructure master, etc.) to another DC.

Notice the emphasis on "should". I have never done this in a production environment. I have only done this in a lab situation, and it works fine. But again, there is usually not a whole lot of extra software installed on these computers when I have switched the DC's, so that is something to think about.

If you do decide that you want to take the risk, then what I was going to suggest is that you demote this DC to a member server, install your software, then promote back to DC. All of this is done with the command "dcpromo" at the command prompt. (You can use dcpromo to promote and demote.)

You could then do this to each domain controller in turn. It might not work however. The xerox software might prevent the computer from becoming a domain controller again. Then again, it might work beautifully. In theory, this is supposed to work.

I would heavily advise doing a full offline backup (putting the harddrive into another computer as a secondary hard drive and backing it up.) Unless you have a backup program that boots itself and can support NTFS 5.0. Again, last resort, but I'm pretty sure it would work. I would call a good MCSE with certification in 2000 to advise you during this.

ron -

i might give that a try in a lab environment when i get some free time. (...???) i could easily duplicate that machine for testing purposes.

i'm also needing to explore more options with xerox to see what kind of answers/hope they can give me on 2k compatability.

i'll post back with any success. thanks for the useful "guidance". if there's a way to force it, that sounds like it. just hoping i don't have to try that... thx again!

Why not try Apcompat? The application compatibility tool comes with the Win2k Resource kit. I think MS has it available for download also...

search for apcompat.exe or see this: http://support.microsoft.com/support.../Q251/0/62.ASP

Hey all.
I just want to run the obvious one by you incase it hasn't been considered. Go into services and check that all the sevices are running as expected.
We've had a PDC start acting as a workstation before. Admittedly we're talking NT 4.0 but still it's an easy thing to check.