SAMAR NATIONAL SCHOOL

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Computer System Servicing (CSS NC II)

Grade 12

How to Install Windows Server 2008 Step by Step

Installing Windows Server 2008 is pretty straightforward and is very much like installing
Windows Vista, but I thought I’d list the necessary steps here for additional information.
For those of you who have never installed Vista before, the entire installation process is
different than it used to be in previous Microsoft operating systems, and notably much
easier to perform.

Using Vista’s installation routine is a major benefit, especially for a server OS.
Administrators can partition the system’s hard drives during setup. More importantly,
they can install the necessary AHCI or RAID storage drivers from a CD/DVD or even a
USB thumb drive. Thus, error-prone floppies can finally be sent to the garbage bin.

Note: Windows Server 2008 can also be installed as a Server Core installation, which is
a cut-down version of Windows without the Windows Explorer GUI. Because you don’t
have the Windows Explorer to provide the GUI interface that you are used to, you
configure everything through the command line interface or remotely using a Microsoft
Management Console (MMC). The Server Core can be used for dedicated machines
with basic roles such as Domain controller/Active Directory Domain Services, DNS
Server, DHCP Server, file server, print server, Windows Media Server, IIS 7 web server
and Windows Server Virtualization virtual server. For Server Core installations please
see my “Installing Windows Server 2008 Core” article.

To use Windows Server 2008 you need to meet the following hardware requirements:

Component Requirement

Processor • Minimum: 1GHz (x86 processor) or 1.4GHz (x64 processor) •

Recommended: 2GHz or faster Note: An Intel Itanium 2 processor is
required for Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems

Memory • Minimum: 512MB RAM • Recommended: 2GB RAM or greater •

Maximum (32-bit systems): 4GB (Standard) or 64GB (Enterprise and
Datacenter) • Maximum (64-bit systems): 32GB (Standard) or 2TB
(Enterprise, Datacenter and Itanium-based Systems)
Available Disk • Minimum: 10GB • Recommended: 40GB or greater Note: Computers
Space with more than 16GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging,
hibernation, and dump files

Drive DVD-ROM drive

Display and • Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor • Keyboard •

Peripherals Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

Upgrade notes:

I will not discuss the upgrade process in this article, but for your general knowledge, the
upgrade paths available for Windows Server 2008 shown in the table below:

If you are currently running: You can upgrade to:

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition Full Installation of Windows Server

(R2, Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2) 2008 Standard Edition

Full Installation of Windows Server

2008 Enterprise Edition

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Full Installation of Windows Server

Edition (R2, Service Pack 1 or Service 2008 Enterprise Edition
Pack 2)

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Full Installation of Windows Server

Edition (R2, Service Pack 1 or Service 2008 Datacenter Edition
Pack 2)

Follow this procedure to install Windows Server 2008:

1. Insert the appropriate Windows Server 2008 installation media into your DVD
drive. If you don’t have an installation DVD for Windows Server 2008, you can download
one for free from Microsoft’s Windows 2008 Server Trial website.

2. Reboot the computer.

3. When prompted for an installation language and other regional options, make your
selection and press Next.
4. Next, press Install Now to begin the installation process.
5. Product activation is now also identical with that found in Windows Vista. Enter
your Product ID in the next window, and if you want to automatically activate Windows
the moment the installation finishes, click Next.

If you do not have the Product ID available right now, you can leave the box empty, and
click Next. You will need to provide the Product ID later, after the server installation is
over. Press No.
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6. Because you did not provide the correct ID, the installation process cannot determine
what kind of Windows Server 2008 license you own, and therefore you will be prompted
to select your correct version in the next screen, assuming you are telling the truth
and will provide the correct ID to prove your selection later on.
7. If you did provide the right Product ID, select the Full version of the right Windows
version you’re prompted, and click Next.
8. Read and accept the license terms by clicking to select the checkbox and
pressing Next.

9. In the “Which type of installation do you want?” window, click the only available
option – Custom (Advanced).
10. In the “Where do you want to install Windows?”, if you’re installing the server on
a regular IDE hard disk, click to select the first disk, usually Disk 0, and click Next.
If you’re installing on a hard disk that’s connected to a SCSI controller, click Load Driver
and insert the media provided by the controller’s manufacturer.

If you’re installing in a Virtual Machine environment, make sure you read the “Installing
the Virtual SCSI Controller Driver for Virtual Server 2005 on Windows Server
2008”

If you must, you can also click Drive Options and manually create a partition on the
destination hard disk.

11. The installation now begins, and you can go and have lunch. Copying the setup files
from the DVD to the hard drive only takes about one minute. However, extracting and
uncompressing the files takes a good deal longer. After 20 minutes, the operating
system is installed. The exact time it takes to install server core depends upon your
hardware specifications. Faster disks will perform much faster installs… Windows
Server 2008 takes up approximately 10 GB of hard drive space.

The installation process will reboot your computer, so, if in step #10 you inserted a
floppy disk (either real or virtual), make sure you remove it before going to lunch, as
you’ll find the server hanged without the ability to boot (you can bypass this by
configuring the server to boot from a CD/DVD and then from the hard disk in the booting
order on the server’s BIOS)

12. Then the server reboots you’ll be prompted with the new Windows Server 2008 type
of login screen. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to log in.

13. Click on Other User.

14. The default Administrator is blank, so just type Administrator and press Enter.
15. You will be prompted to change the user’s password. You have no choice but to
press Ok.

16. In the password changing dialog box, leave the default password blank (duh, read
step #15…), and enter a new, complex, at-least-7-characters-long new password twice.
A password like “topsecret” is not valid (it’s not complex), but one like “T0pSecreT!” sure
is. Make sure you remember it.
17. Someone thought it would be cool to nag you once more, so now you’ll be prompted
to accept the fact that the password had been changed. Press Ok.
 18. Finally, the desktop appears and that’s it, you’re logged on and can begin working.
You will be greeted by an assistant for the initial server configuration, and after
performing some initial configuration tasks, you will be able to start working.

Next, for the initial configuration tasks please follow my other Windows Server 2008
articles found on the Related Windows Server 2008 Articles section below.

Install Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-bit

 Last updated on: 2016-09-20

 Authored by: Rackspace Support

This article provides prerequisites and steps for installing Active Directory Domain
Services (AD DS) on Rackspace cloud servers running Microsoft Windows Server 2008
R2 Enterprise 64-bit.
This article does not provide instructions for adding a Domain Controller (DC) to an
already existing Active Directory Forest infrastructure.

Note: For information about setting up the Active Directory Role on a cloud server
running Windows Server 2012, see Install Active Directory on Windows Server
2012.
Prepare for AD DS

Before you install AD DS on a Rackspace cloud server running Windows Server 2008
R2 Enterprise 64-bit, you must perform the following prerequisite tasks.

Select domain name and password

Select your domain name and know the domain administrator password that you want
to use.

Note: Your domain name should be reliably unique. Do not use the same domain as
your website, for example, and avoid extensions like .local unless you have registered
that domain name in DNS. We suggest a domain name that is not used for anything
else, like internal.example.com.
Specify the preferred DNS server

Windows Server 2008 can properly install and configure DNS during the AD DS
installation if it knows that the DNS is local. To accomplish this, assign the private
network adapter to the preferred DNS server address of the same private network
adapter, as follows:

1. From the Windows Start menu, open Administrative Tools > Server Manager.
2. In the Server Summary section of the Server Manager window, click View Network
Connections.
3. In the Network Connections window, right-click the private adapter and
select Properties.
4. From the list of conected items, select Internet Protocol Version 4, and then
click Properties.
5. Copy the IP address that is displayed in the IP address box and paste it in
the Preferred DNS serverbox. Then, click OK.

6. Click OK in the Properties dialog box, and close the Network Connections window.
Add the Active Directory Domain Services role

Adding the Active Directory Domain Services role installs the framework for Windows
Server 2008 to become a DC and run AD DS. It does not promote the server to a DC or
install AD DS.
1. In the Server Manager window, select the Roles directory.
2. In the Roles Summary section, click Add Roles.
3. On the Before You Begin page of the Add Roles Wizard, click Next.
4. On the Select Server Roles page, select the Active Directory Domain
Services check box, and then click Next.
5. On the Confirmation page, click Next.
6. On the Installation Progress page, click Install.
7. On the Results page, after the role is successfully added, click Close.
Enable remote management

1. Open the Server Manager window if it is not already open.

2. In the Properties area of the Local Servers page, click Remote Management.
3. Select the Enable remote management of this server from other
computers check box.
Install AD DS

Now that you have prepared the server, you can install AD DS (DCPROMO).

Note: As an alternative to performing steps 1 through 3, you can type dcpromo.exe at

the command prompt. Then, skip to step 4.
1. If it is not already open, open the Server Manager window.

2. Select Roles > Active Directory Domain Services.

3. In the Summary section,click Run the Active Directory Domain Services
Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe).
4. On the Welcome page of the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard,
ensure that the Use advanced mode installation check box is cleared, and then
click Next.
5. On the Operating System Compatibility page, click Next.
6. On the Choose a Deployment Configuration page, select Create a new domain in a
new forest and then click Next.
7. On the Name the Forest Root Domain page, enter the domain name that you choose
during preparation steps. Then, click Next.
The installation program verifies the NetBIOS name.

8. On the Set Forest Functional Level page, select Windows Server 2008 R2 in
the Forest function levellist. Then, click Next.
The installation program examines and verifies your DNS setting.

9. On the Additional Domain Controller Options page, ensure that the DNS
server check box is selected, and then click Next.
10. In the message dialog box that appears, click Yes.
11. On the Location for Database, Log Files, and SYSVOL page, accept the default
values and then click Next.
12. On the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password page, enter the
domain administrator password that you chose during the preparation steps. This is
not your admin password that was emailed to you during the creation of your server,
although you can use that password if you want to. Then, click Next.
13. On the Summary page, review your selections and then click Next.
The installation begins.

Note: If you want the server to restart automatically after the installation is
completed, select the Reboot on completion check box.
14. If you did not select the Reboot on completion check box, click Finish in the
wizard. Then, restart the server.
15. After a few minutes, reconnect to your server in the Console in the Cloud Control
Panel or RDP.

16. To log in, perform the following steps:

17. a. Click **Switch User**, and then click **Other User.**

18.

19. b. For the user, enter the full domain name that you chose, followed by a back slash
and **Administrator** (for example, **internal.example.com\\Administrator**).

20.

21. c. Enter the password that was emailed to you when you first built the server. If you
changed your password for the local admin account on this server before you began
the installation of AD DS, use that password.
22.

23. d. Click the log in button.

The installation of Active Directory Domain Services on your server is complete.