Unlike other automated installation methods, such as image-based and RIS installations, an unattended installation can be configured to perform a clean installation or an upgrade of an existing operating system. To determine which installation method is more appropriate, you need to evaluate possible upgrade paths, and then evaluate the advantages and 17417y2413r disadvantages of upgrades and clean installations. If you determine that upgrading is appropriate, you then identify upgrade issues that you need to address during the planning and design phase of an unattended installation. Figure 2. shows the steps you need to follow to determine whether to perform an upgrade or a clean installation.

Figure 2.3   Determining Whether to Perform an Upgrade or a Clean Installation

Evaluating Possible Upgrade Paths

If the computer on which you want to install Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional is running Windows 95, Windows 3.1, or Microsoft Windows NT  Server version 3.51, you need to perform a clean installation. In addition, you need to choose clean installation if you are using Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows NT  Workstation version 4.0, Microsoft Windows  2000 Professional, or Windows XP Professional operating systems and you want to install Windows Server 2003. In most other cases, you can choose to upgrade. Table 2.1 shows the possible upgrade paths for Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003.

Table 2.    Upgrade Paths for Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003

(continued)

Table 2.1   Upgrade Paths for Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 (continued)

There are three exceptions to the options listed in Table 2.1:

You cannot upgrade from one localized version of a Windows operating system to another localized version of a Windows operating system. For example, you cannot upgrade from the Japanese version of Windows 2000 Server to the English version of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition.

You can upgrade a computer that has the Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack) only to the English version of the operating system.

You can upgrade from Windows NT 4.0 only if you have Service Pack 5 or later installed.
It is not possible to upgrade a computer that has Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4
or earlier.