How to Install Windows 2000 on VMware Fusion in macOS & Mac

Are you interested in running Windows 2000 on your Mac using VMware Fusion 12 Pro? In this article, I will first show you how to set up a new virtual machine for Win2K on macOS with Fusion Pro. Later, I will explain in detail how to install the operating system with the ISO file in this virtual PC.

First of all, Microsoft Windows 2000 is one of the ancient Windows systems. As you can see from its version, it dates back to 2000. However, even though it is an old version, you can run this system on your modern Mac computer without any problems. So, let’s dive into using the nostalgic charm of this classic operating system in our macOS environment!

How to Set Up Windows 2000 on macOS / Mac using VMware Fusion 12

Microsoft ended the primary support of the Windows 2000 operating system, which was released for home and business users on February 17, 2000, on June 30, 2005, and extended support on July 13, 2010.

Windows 2000 has a total of four versions: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server.

When you want to run Win2K, one of the old versions of Windows, on an up-to-date Apple Mac computer, you can use the Fusion virtual machine program developed by VMware for macOS systems.

With the Fusion software, which allows you to use old Windows systems on the most up-to-date macOS systems, you can also experience other old systems by installing them.

How to Create and Build a New Virtual Machine for Windows 2000

After installing the Fusion software on your Mac, you can create a new guest machine and install either old or new versions of Windows.

When installing an old Windows operating system with Fusion, you need to downgrade the hardware version of the guest machine. When you install it with the latest hardware version, some devices’ hardware drivers will not be installed, and your system will not work correctly.

Step 1

After opening your Fusion Pro software, select Create a custom virtual machine from the installation options methods, and then click Continue.

Step 2

Since you will install a Microsoft operating system in the Guest OS selection window, select Microsoft Windows from the left panel and then choose Windows 2000 Professional from the system versions listed.

Step 3

In the virtual disk selection window, you need to select Create a new virtual disk because you will be installing Windows from scratch. Suppose you want to add a Win2K system that you have installed before to your virtualization program again. In that case, you need to continue using the existing virtual disk option.

Step 4

In the summary window showing the settings of the Win2K guest machine, click Customize Settings to better configure the hardware settings and click Save to confirm the default location in the installation location window that opens.

Step 5

After opening the settings of the Win2K virtual machine, click Processors & Memory and select the virtual memory size according to the RAM size of your host computer.

Step 6

If you want to add your guest machine to the local network your Mac is connected to, select the Ethernet network port in the settings of the Network Adapter device.

Step 7

To add a Windows 2000 ISO file to the virtual machine, click Choose a disc or disc image from the pop-up window in the CD/DVD device settings.

Step 8

Select the Windows 2000 Pro SP4 ISO file you downloaded to your Mac from and click Open.

Step 9

If you are not going to use a printer in your Win2K guest operating system, delete the printer port.

Step 10

As we mentioned, when installing older Windows systems with Fusion, you need to set the hardware version to an older version. Set the Hardware Version value from 18 to 6 in the Compatibility settings of your virtual computer and click the Apply button.

Step 11

Change the Troubleshooting setting to None in the Advanced settings and turn off the Side Channel Mitigations feature to make your virtual PC work more efficiently and effectively.

Step 12

After running the Windows virtual computer you prepared, click Don’t Upgrade in the Upgrade virtual machine warning window to enable using the latest features. This warning window appears because you have configured the hardware version for an older Fusion program.

How to Install Windows 2000 in macOS

After preparing a new virtual PC for Win2K Pro, you can set up the system as if you were installing it on a physical computer in the real world.

Step 1

At the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen, you can press Enter to continue the installation, R to choose to repair your system, or F3 to exit the setup wizard.

Step 2

You can press Page Down to read the full Win2K license terms. After reading the license agreement, press F8 to accept.

Step 3

Since you have created a new virtual disk, you will see the unallocated disk in the disk configuration window. In this step, you can press Enter to start the Windows installation directly by enabling automatic disk configuration.

If you have created a larger virtual disk and are going to partition the virtual disk, you can create a new partition on the disk by pressing the C key.

Step 4

Press Enter to confirm the virtual disk size automatically determined by the installation wizard and create a new partition.

Step 5

After creating the C drive on the disk of your guest machine, press Enter to start installing Windows on the relevant drive.

Step 6

Since the partition you selected to install Windows is not formatted, you can choose the NTFS or FAT file system by pressing the up or down arrow keys. Press Enter to format the virtual disk using the NTFS file system.

Step 7

Wait while the setup wizard formats your virtual disk using the NTFS file system.

Step 8

Wait while the setup wizard copies the Win2K system files to disk.

Step 9

After the system files are copied, press Enter to restart your virtual system directly.

Step 10

Wait while Microsoft Win2K Professional starts up.

Step 11

Press Next for the setup wizard to collect some information about you and your computer to set up your system accordingly.

Step 12

Wait while Setup determines and installs devices, such as the mouse and keyboard of your virtual computer.

Step 13

The system location determines how numbers and dates appear on your system. Since the system location is set to English (United States) by default, you can click Customize to change this value according to where you live.

Likewise, every user will have the US keyboard layout. You can change this to match your host computer’s keyboard layout.

Step 14

If your Win2K software belongs to a company or organization, fill in the relevant fields in this window and continue.

Step 15

Enter your 25-character Windows 2000 Pro product key and hit Next.

Step 16

The setup wizard generates an estimated computer name. If you want to have a more organized structure, type a computer name that will be different from your other computers on the network and hit Next.

Step 17

Check the system date and time, and after configuring the time zone according to the region you live in, press Next.

Step 18

At this stage, wait while Windows loads the network components.

Step 19

If you want to assign an IP address from a DHCP server to your virtual computer, select Typical Settings and press Next.

Step 20

If you are not going to add your virtual computer to a domain environment, continue with the No selected by default.

Step 21

Wait while the setup wizard installs the Win2K components.

Step 22

Wait while the setup wizard configures the start menu items, registry items, and system settings.

Step 23

After installing Windows 2000, you can remove the installation media from your optical drive and restart your system.

Step 24

After restarting your virtual system, hit Next when the Network Identification Wizard opens.

Step 25

Always check the username you will log in to your virtual computer and continue.

Step 26

Wait while Windows configures Internet tools and services, as well as system services.

Step 27

After configuring the system settings, the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional desktop environment will be as follows.

How to Install VMware Tools on macOS Windows 2000 VM

After installing Win2K with VMware Fusion on macOS, you need to install VMware Tools to use the virtual computer more efficiently and to enable full-screen resolution.

Step 1

When you attempt to install VMware Tools on Windows 2000, as in the image below, you will get the error “Microsoft Runtime DLLs cannot be installed on this operating system. Please see Microsoft KB835732 for details.”

In order to install VMware Tools, you must first install the KB835732 update on your guest system.

Step 2

After downloading the KB835732 update to your host computer, click Virtual Machine / CD/DVD / Choose a Disc or Disc Image in the Fusion tool menu to add the ISO file to the virtual machine.

Step 3

Select the Windows2000-KB835732-x86-ENU.iso file and click Open.

Step 4

You cannot copy any files or programs from your Mac to the virtual machine without VMware Tools installed in the virtual machine. Therefore, you need to add the KB835732 update to the system as an ISO file.

After mounting the ISO image to the system, view the CD contents and start the KB835732 installation.

Step 5

The KB835732 setup wizard informs you that you must first back up your system. After performing the necessary precautions, continue by clicking Next in the setup wizard.

Step 6

Accept the Windows 2000 KB835732 license agreement and hit Next again.

Step 7

Wait while your Win2K system is updated.

Step 8

After installing the KB835732 update, close the wizard and restart your system.

Step 9

After restarting your system, this time, click Virtual Machine / Install VMware Tools from the tool menu to install VMware Tools, and then click the Install button in the window that opens.

Step 10

Press Next directly in the VMware Tools setup wizard.

Step 11

If you plan to use your Windows 2000 VM with other VMware products, select Complete in the installation options and hit Next.

Step 12

If you want to make changes to the installation, you can click Back or click Install to start the installation.

Step 13

Wait while the hardware drivers for Windows 2000 are installed.

Step 14

After installing the virtual computer drivers, restart your system.

Step 15

Drag and drop a folder from your Mac to your Windows 2000 virtual system to verify that VMware Tools is working correctly.

Step 16

If the file copy operation is successful, check that the virtual machine is adapted to full-screen resolution.

How to Check Internet Connection in Win2K

If you have Windows 2000 on your macOS computer, make sure your Internet connection works right.

Step 1

To open the Run window, press the WinKey + R on your physical keyboard. Then, type “cmd” in the Run section and hit Enter. This will open the Command Prompt. Next, test your Internet connection by pinging Google servers. To do this, type “ping 8.8.8.8” in the Command Prompt and press Enter. This will show you the status of your connection to Google’s servers.

Step 2

You should also check if you can access Google or any website using Internet Explorer.

After double-clicking the Internet Explorer shortcut on the desktop, select the “I want to set the Internet connection manually” option in the Internet Connection Wizard.

Step 3

Select I connect to the Internet via LAN option and click Next again.

Step 4

Check the Automatic discovery of the proxy server in the LAN configuration and continue.

Step 5

If you want to add a mail account, you can click Yes to perform the relevant steps. If you do not want to configure a mail account, tick No and click Next.

Step 6

Click Finish after completing the Internet connection wizard.

Step 7

After Internet Explorer opens automatically, visit the Google homepage and test your connection.

How to Configure Shared Folder

The Shared Folder feature makes it easy to move files between your Mac and virtual machines.

Step 1

While your virtual computer is running, open Settings from the Fusion tool menu and click Sharing.

Step 2

Activate the Shared Folder feature and click the + button.

Step 3

To make a new folder on your Mac, go where you want it, click with the right mouse button on an empty area, pick “New Folder” from the menu that appears, and give the folder a name.

Step 4

To access Shared Folder in Windows 2000, after clicking My Network Places, you can access the public folder you created on your Mac at Entire Network / VMware Shared Folders / vmware-host / Shared Folders.

Step 5

You can now quickly transfer files between the host and your VM via Shared Folder.

How to Use USB Flash Memory

Another way to transfer files between your Mac and the virtual machine is to use a USB flash drive.

Step 1

After you plug your USB stick into your Mac PC, when Fusion asks where to connect the device, choose to connect it to your Mac first.

Step 2

To use your USB disk on both your Mac and virtual machine, you need to format it using the standard file format. After opening Disk Utility, click the Erase option on your USB disk from the External section.

In the disk formatting window that opens, select MS-DOS (FAT) from the Format section and click Erase again.

Step 3

Create a new folder called Backup on your Mac computer’s USB disk.

Step 4

Click Virtual Machine / USB & Bluetooth / Connect (Name of Your USB) in the tool menu to reconnect your USB stick to the virtual machine.

Step 5

After viewing My Computer on your Windows 2000 guest system, when you view the contents of the Removable Disk, you can see the folder named Backup that you created on your host.

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Conclusion

As a result, it is possible to run Windows 2000 using VMware Fusion 12 Pro on your macOS PC. This classic operating system can be a nostalgic and fascinating experience for you. However, with careful installation and configuration steps, you can run this old Windows system without any problems, as in our article.

In short, by following the steps I have explained in detail, you can install it on a virtual machine for Windows 2000 without any problems. As a result, you can enjoy the unique experience of operating a classic system in a contemporary environment!