How to Install Windows 2000 on VMware Workstation 17

In today’s technological environment, running legacy operating systems on modern hardware is challenging. However, it can be a rewarding experience. Additionally, virtualization software such as VMware Workstation 17 Pro offers solutions. This software helps those who want to rediscover Windows 2000.

In this article, I will explain how to install Windows 2000 Professional SP4 using VMware Workstation 17 Pro. Also, I will show you how to run it on Windows 10 & 11 64-bit. Whether you want to delve into computer history or want to use legacy applications, this VM guide will help you.

How to Set Up Windows 2000 Professional SP4 on Windows 10 using VMware Workstation 17

Microsoft released the Windows 2000 operating system on February 17, 2020, for personal, laptop, and server computers.

Originally, Windows 2000 was called NT 5.0, but this name was changed to 2000 on October 27, 1998. Another common name is Windows 2K. The Windows 2000 system, which was the predecessor of NT 4.0, was fundamentally reliable but received a lot of criticism for having more than 63,000 flaws in this system.

The development of Windows 2000 was more geared towards corporate business computers and offered a more secure Internet connection compared to Windows 95 and 98.

Key features of the Windows 2000 operating system include FAT16, FAT32, NTFS file system, EFS, directory service, DFS, ASR, and RAID. In addition, services such as RAS, VPN, RADIUS, IIS, Active Directory, and RIS have been developed for data communication.

Additionally, Windows 2000 is the first Microsoft system to include the Guest account, which provides for user accounts and restrictions on accessing the system for other users.

Users who want to use the Win200 system, whose support was terminated on July 13, 2010, can now install it on a computer with old hardware. If this is not possible, they can run this old operating system on their physical computers using virtualization software such as VMware Workstation.

How to Create a New Virtual Machine for Windows 2000

If you want to experience using the Windows 2000 system, you don’t need an old PC. After installing the VMware program on your computer with the virtualization feature, you can create a new virtual machine and use this operating system on your host virtually.

In order to install Windows 2000 with VMware, you must have the system’s ISO image file. Or, if you have a physical CD/DVD installation media, you can also install it. However, download the image file from your computer, as installing the ISO file on the virtual computer will provide more performance.

Step 1

After installing the VMware 17 Pro software on your computer, run it and click Create a New Virtual Machine from the options on the program’s homepage.

Then, when the VM wizard opens, as in the image below, select the Custom (Advanced) option and click the Next button.

Step 2

By default, Workstation 17.x is selected in the VMware hardware compatibility window because the latest version of the virtualization program is installed on your system. If you are using an old VMware version, you will see the hardware version of that version here.

Change the hardware version to Workstation 10.x so that you can run the Windows 200 system entirely correctly, and then click Next.

Step 3

If you have a CD/DVD installation media, as we mentioned above, you should continue with the Installer Disc option in this window. However, since you downloaded the ISO file to your computer, please select I will install the operating system later in this step and click Next.

Step 4

In the Guest operating system selection window, you must first select the manufacturer and then the version of the system you will install. Therefore, tick Microsoft in Guest Operating System and select Windows 2000 Professional version in Version.

Step 5

In this window, you can change the name of the virtual machine you will install, and you can also select the location to install it via the Browse button. If you have an old computer, since installing the VM on an external SSD disk will be convenient for both performance and data security, change the location and click Next to continue.

Or, if you have a more recent computer and your disk is SSD or NVMe, you can choose to install your virtual system on the host disk.

Step 6

In the processor configuration window, configure 1 processor and 1 core number for the Windows 2000 system. If you configure more CPU/Core values, the VM may not run properly.

Step 7

Configure 1 GB RAM size in the memory setting window for the virtual machine and click Next.

Step 8

Select NAT for the network adapter of the virtual PC on Workstation Pro and click Next.

Step 9

In the I/O Controller types window, select BusLogic to operate the virtual disk more efficiently and click Next.

Step 10

Select the type of virtual disk as SCSI and continue with Next.

Step 11

Since you will be installing a clean Windows 2000 system, select the Create a New Virtual Disk option in the Select a Disk window. If you have a disk backup that you have installed before, you can add an existing disk in this window.

Step 12

Adjust the capacity of the virtual disk according to the operations you will perform on the system and the applications you will use. Here, you can choose the recommended disk size for Windows 2000, 8GB, or specify a higher size. Also, store the virtual disk as a single file on your host or external HDD.

Step 13

In the “specify disk file” window, you can change the name and location of your virtual disk but continue with the default configuration.

Step 14

Click the Customize Hardware button in the window containing the summary information of the settings you have configured for the virtual machine.

Step 15

After clicking on the Processor device, enable the virtualization feature by ticking all the options in the Virtualization Engine section.

• Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI
• Virtualize CPU Performance Counters

Step 16

To add the Windows 2000 ISO file to the CD/DVD device, click the Browse button after enabling the Use ISO Image File option. Select the ISO image file you downloaded to your computer and click the Open button.

Step 17

In order to use your USB devices in your virtual system, select the 2.0 compatibility type from the USB Controller device settings.

Step 18

For the Display setting, enable the 3D Graphics feature and do not change the display scaling setting.

Step 19

After preparing the virtual machine, close the summary window and proceed to the installation steps.

Step 20

Click Power on this virtual machine to run the Windows 2000 Professional virtual machine.

How to Install Windows 2000

After you prepare the Windows 2000 virtual machine, when you run it, the system will boot from the ISO image file you added to the VM. When you see the installation wizard, you can now start the installation without any problems.

Step 1

Wait for a while when the Windows 2000 Setup screen opens, as in the image below.

Step 2

On the Welcome screen, you can switch to the relevant screen by pressing the R key to repair your system. In this article, press the Enter key as we will install the Win2000 system from scratch.

Step 3

Accept the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional license agreement on your virtual computer.

Step 4

Here, you can see the size you assigned to the virtual disk in the steps to prepare the virtual PC. Press C to create a new Partition on the disk.

Step 5

Press Enter to accept the automatically set value for the virtual disk.

Step 6

After creating the C partition on the disk, press Enter to start the installation.

Step 7

Press Enter on the “Format the partition using NTFS file system” option to configure and format the disk file format as NTFS.

Step 8

Wait while the setup wizard formats the disk. This will take very little time on the VM, but on a physical computer, it may take some time.

Step 9

Wait while the setup wizard copies the Windows 2K system files to disk.

Step 10

Your virtual computer will restart after the time specified by the timer has elapsed, but press Enter to reboot your system manually.

Step 11

Wait while your Windows 2K virtual system boots up.

Step 12

Wait while Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional (Built on NT Technology) starts up.

Step 13

It is reported that some information about your virtual computer will be collected for installation when the Win2K setup wizard opens, so click Next to continue.

Step 14

Wait while the setup wizard installs the drivers for your virtual PC devices, such as the keyboard and mouse. At this step, the screen of your virtual PC may flicker, so do not turn off your system.

Step 15

Configure the region and location of your system according to where you live and click Next.

Step 16

Type a user account name for your virtual system and continue.

Step 17

Enter the product key of the Windows 2000 Professional operating system correctly and click Next.

Step 18

In this window, type a computer name and also set an administrator password for your system.

Step 19

Configure the date and time settings of your virtual system according to the country and location you live in.

Step 20

Wait while Windows installs the system and network components.

Step 21

Configure the network settings to Typical for Windows 2000 and continue.

Step 22

If you are using the Active Directory service on a server in your network structure, you can add your virtual system to the domain environment. Otherwise, configure WORKGROUP for default local network settings.

Step 23

Wait while the setup wizard configures your system’s start menu items, registry components, and other settings.

Step 24

After successfully installing the Windows system, click Finish to close the window. In this step, your virtual PC will restart.

Step 25

Wait while Win2000 Pro starts up.

Step 26

Click Next when the Network Identification wizard opens.

Step 27

If you are going to use only one user account on your system by default, you can assign a password to your user account in this window. You can also set password enforcement at user login to restrict use by unauthorized persons.

Step 28

After configuring the network and login settings, click Finish.

Step 29

When your Windows 2K operating system starts, you will see the first desktop screen, as in the image below.

Step 30

After right-clicking on My Computer, click Properties from the listed options and check the system information.

How to Install VMware Tools

After successfully installing the Windows 2K system on a new virtual machine until this step, you need to install VMware Tools to fix problems such as screen resolution.

Thanks to VMware Tools, you can use your virtual system running in your VM more efficiently and efficiently.

Step 1

First, right-click on My Computer, then open Properties / Hardware / Device Manager and check for drivers not installed on your VM.

Step 2

Click VM / Install VMware Tools in Workstation Pro’s menu.

Step 3

If you get the following error while trying to open the VMware Tools wizard, you need to install the KB835732 update on your system. You can find the KB835732 update in the Win2K ISO file you downloaded to your computer.

Microsoft Runtime DLLs cannot be installed on this operating system. 
Please see Microsoft KB835732 for details.Copy

Step 4

Add the KB835732 ISO file to the virtual machine’s CD/DVD device.

Step 5

Open My Computer and copy the EXE file in the image file to the desktop location.

Step 6

To install the Win2000 KB835732 update, open the setup file and click Next in the setup wizard.

Step 7

Accept the license agreement of the Windows KB835732 update and click Next.

Step 8

Wait while the setup wizard is updating your system, and do not turn off your system.

Step 9

After completing the installation, click Finish and restart your system.

Step 10

When you start the VMware Tools installation again, continue with Next when the installation wizard opens.

Step 11

Select Complete as the installation type and continue.

Step 12

Finally, click the Install button to start the installation of the virtual machine tools.

Step 13

Finally, click the Install button to start the installation of the virtual machine tools.

Step 14

After completing the VM Tools installation, click Finish, and after closing the window, restart your virtual system and ensure the settings are active.

Step 15

When you view Device Manager again after your system boots up, you can see that all drivers are installed.

Step 16

When you want to use your Windows guest machine in full-screen mode, click View / Full Screen from the tool menu and check that the resolution of the VM is adapted to the screen of your host PC.

Step 17

At the same time, drag and drop any of your files to quickly transfer files from your host system to your guest’s virtual system.

How to Configure the Internet Connection

Another thing you will do on your virtual computer is to check the network and Internet connection. After you set the internet connection settings, you can easily access services such as Google.

Step 1

First, open the Run agent from the Start Menu, type CMD in the text box, and press Enter. After opening the CMD command prompt, check that you can access Google servers with the ping 8.8.8.8 command.

Step 2

If your internet connection is working, when you click on the Internet Explorer browser, the Internet Connection Wizard will open. In this window, select I connect to the Internet via LAN option and click Next.

Step 3

Select the LAN connection setting again and click Next.

Step 4

Enable automatic discovery of proxy servers and continue.

Step 5

If you want to set up an Internet Mail account, you can select Yes and make the necessary settings. Here, select No to configure the mail account later and click Next.

Step 6

After configuring the Internet connection settings, click Finish to close the window.

Step 7

When the Internet Explorer browser automatically opens, visit the Google website and check your connection.

How to Configure Shared Folder

By activating the Shared Folder feature on your virtual computer, you can transfer files between the host and the VM more easily.

Step 1

Click VM / Settings to enable Shared Folder on Win2000 VM.

Step 2

In the Virtual Machine Settings window, click Options and then select the Shared Folders feature.

Enable the Folder Sharing setting on the right, check the relevant option to use the shared folder as a network drive, and click the Add button to select a shared folder on the host.

When the Shared Folder wizard opens, click Next to continue.

Step 3

Select a folder on your host via the Browse button.

Step 4

Enable public folder sharing in this window and click Finish.

Step 5

Click My Network Places, and you can see that the operation is successful when you try to access the shared folder on the host, as in the image below.

Step 6

Also, to use the public folder as a network drive, click Map Network Drive on My Computer, and then add the Shared Folder location via Browse to the Folder section.

How to Use USB Flash Memory

Using a Flash Memory or Portable Hard Disk using the USB connection port on Windows 2000 is possible without driver installation.

Step 1

After plugging your USB flash drive into the host’s USB port, the New USB Device Detected window will open on VMware. In this window, first, enable the Connect to the Host option and click OK.

Create a folder called Backup in your USB memory on your host system.

Step 2

To connect your USB disk to the VM, click VM / Removable Devices / Name of your USB / Connect from the Workstation tool menu.

Step 3

The system will automatically install the drivers for your USB flash memory. When you check Device Manager, you can see that KINGSTON DataTraveler 3.0 USB Device is active.

How to Check Direct3D

After installing your Win2K system on the virtual PC, you should be able to play games outside of your work or use applications that require 3D acceleration.

If you had selected a higher virtual hardware compatibility value instead of 10.x when creating the VM, Direct3D Acceleration would not be enabled on your virtual system and would appear Disabled.

To check if the Direct3D feature is enabled on your system, press the Windows + R keys together, and then type and run the “dxdiag” command in the window that opens.

To check if the Direct3D feature is enabled on your system, press the Windows + R keys together, and then type and run the “dxdiag” command in the window that opens.

How to Delete the VM

If you no longer want to run your Win2K guest machine on your host PC, we recommend deleting all VM files completely to save disk space.

Right-click on your guest machine from the left panel of Workstation Pro and click Manage / Delete From Disk. In the warning window that opens, click Yes to confirm the deletion of all your virtual system files.

Video

Installing Old Versions

Conclusion

As a result, it is possible to run Windows 2000 on a virtual machine with VMware Workstation 17 Pro. This gives you the way to experience the classic operating system on modern hardware.

With the steps I outline in this article, you can create a new virtual machine. Additionally, you can easily install Windows 2000. Whether for nostalgic purposes or custom software compatibility, this method is functional.

Virtualization of Windows 2000 opens up new possibilities. In today’s computing environment, it is effective for interacting with the legacy system. This helps users interact with the legacy system.