System requirements for Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems

This article lists the system requirements for Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating systems. For more information about system requirements, refer to the Microsoft Web sites and the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles that are included in this article.

Before you install the Windows 2000 Professional desktop operating system, make sure that your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

• 133 MHz or more Pentium microprocessor (or equivalent). Windows 2000 Professional supports up to two processors on a single computer.
• 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum. 32 MB of RAM is the minimum supported. 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM is the maximum.
• A 2 GB hard disk that has 650 MB of free space. If you are installing over a network, more free hard disk space is required.
• VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
• Keyboard.
• Mouse or compatible pointing device (optional).

For CD-ROM installation:

• CD drive or DVD drive
• High-density 3.5-inch disk drive, unless your CD drive supports starting the Setup program from a CD

For network installation:

• Windows 2000-compatible network adapter and related cable (See the Hardware Compatibility List (Hcl.txt) in the Support folder on the Windows 2000 Professional CD)
• Access to the network share that contains the Setup files

Before you install the Windows 2000 Server server operating system, make sure that your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

• 133-MHz or more Pentium CPU. A maximum of four CPUs per computer are supported.
• 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM is the recommended minimum. 128 MB is the minimum that is supported. 4 gigabytes (GB) is the maximum that is supported.
• A hard disk partition that has sufficient free space to accommodate the Setup process. The minimum amount of space that is required will be approximately 1 GB. More space might be needed, depending on the following factors:
  • The more components you want to install, the more space that you must have.
  • The file system that is used: FAT requires 100-200 MB more free disk space than other file systems.
  • The method that is used for installation: if installing from over a network, allow for 100-200 MB more space than if installing from the CD-ROM. (More driver files have to be available during installation over a network.)
  • The size of the paging file.
  • An upgrade could require much more space than a new installation. As Active Directory functionality is added, the existing user accounts database can expand by as much as a factor of ten during the upgrade.
  Note The Setup process requires the free disk space that is described. After the Setup is complete, actual hard disk space that is used for the operating system (This hard disk space excludes user accounts) is usually less than the free space that is required for Setup, depending on system components that are installed.
• VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
• Keyboard.
• Mouse or other pointing device (optional).

For CD-ROM installation:

• A CD drive or DVD drive.
• High-density 3.5-inch disk drive, if you plan to start the computer from the Setup media and the system does not support starting the computer from the CD-ROM. If your computer does not have a working operating system and does not support startup from the CD-ROM, you must have a high-density 3.5-inch disk drive.

For network installation:

• One or more Windows 2000-compatible network adapters and related cables. See the HCL (Hcl.txt) that is located on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM in the Support folder.
• A server from which to offer network access for the Setup files.

Before you install the Windows 2000 Advanced Server server operating system, make sure that your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

• 133-MHz or more Pentium CPU. A maximum of eight CPUs per computer are supported.
• 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM is the recommended minimum. 128 MB is the minimum that is supported. 8 gigabytes (GB) is the maximum that is supported.
• A hard disk partition that has sufficient free space to accommodate the Setup process. The minimum amount of space that is required will be approximately 1 GB. More space might be needed, depending on the following factors:
  • The more components you want to install, the more space that you must have.
  • The file system that is used: FAT requires 100-200 MB more free disk space than other file systems.
  • The method that is used for installation: if installing over a network, allow for 100-200 MB more space than if installing from the CD-ROM. (More driver files have to be available during installation over a network.)
  • The size of the paging file.
  • An upgrade could require much more space than a new installation. As Active Directory functionality is added, the existing user accounts database can expand by as much as a factor of ten during the upgrade.
  Note The Setup process requires the free disk space that is described. After the Setup is complete, actual hard disk space that is used for the operating system (This hard disk space excludes user accounts) is usually less than the free space that is required for Setup, depending on system components installed.
• VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
• Keyboard.
• Mouse or other pointing device (optional).

For CD-ROM installation:

• A CD drive or DVD drive.
• High-density 3.5-inch disk drive, if you plan to start the computer from the Setup media and the system does not support starting the computer from the CD-ROM. If your computer does not have a working operating system and does not support startup from the CD-ROM, you must have a high-density 3.5-inch disk drive.

For network installation:

• One or more Windows 2000-compatible network adapters and related cables. See the HCL (Hcl.txt) that is located on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM in the Support folder.
• A server from which to offer network access for the Setup files.

For more information about Windows 2000 Professional, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about Windows 2000 Server, visit the following Microsoft Web site: