Sunday, June 1, 2008 5:53 AM
So yesterday was the day before leaving for Tech Ed, and so I decided that it would be the *perfect* time to finally upgrade my travel laptop to Windows Server 2008. I mean seriously, how hard could it be?!
Well...for the most part it wasn't. I actually really like having Server 2008 on my machine, except for one small issue that has become the dealbreaker...but let me just gloss over some things quickly for those thinking of doing the same thing:
- When you install Server 2008, just do Standard instead of Enterprise. Enterprise has features specific to optimizing a server. For a workstation implementation, its not needed.
- Live Messenger 8.1 is the version you want to install...no other version will work.
- Make sure to download all laptop specific drivers before you install server 2008, or have another computer at the ready. This is important because...
- I ran into a huge roadblock in that after installing Server 2008 I had no working ethernet or wireless...and the actual networking device wasn't installed either. I had an AirCard with a local provider which did work, so I was able to get internet. Unfortunately, I never did find the ethernet adaptor. Because of this, the installation has been a failure and I'll have to revert. A buddy of mine had the same issue finding drivers for his wireless/ethernet on his laptop...another buddy had no issue, so it seems to be manufacturer specific (read: whether they provide good drivers or not).
- IE runs like IE on a server...which SUCKS. You'll need to spend some time unlocking the security lockdown (I know, I know...its better for us to be safer in the long run...)
K, that's a brief overview of how it went down...I need to jet as my flight to Tech Ed leaves in just over 1.5 hours. More later...as in much later...after I put Vista back on my laptop (Vista Home Premium that it shipped with...luckily Virtual PC will actually run on Vista-HP, so I can still get Server running...sorta).
D