As stated already my first choice is always to do a fresh install, but just as a note I have done a few in place upgrades with no problems.
I had one Windows NT server that had an old accounting app on it that was still required. Installed before I got here, no installation disks and the company is out of business. I P2Vd that machine as a VMware VM, then did an in-place upgrade to Win 2003, then converted it to a Hyper-V VM and it is still running great. I also did a couple of in place upgrades of domain controllers when I had zero budget for new hardware, going from Win 2003 to Win 2008 32 bit and both in- place upgrades went smoothly. So while not my preferred choice, it can be done. Just make sure you have a backup of the machine before the upgrade just in case. From: Paul Hutchings [mailto:paul.hutchi...@mira.co.uk] Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 3:01 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Upgrading Windows in-place - your experiences? I haven't upgraded a Windows Server install for years now as typically with physical boxes the box gets replaced after a three year period so the OS is rebuilt/refreshed. Virtualisation has changed that somewhat as we now have VM's with a potentially infinite "physical" life, and as a result I have quite a few that are still running Windows 2003. I may rebuild them all with 2008 R2 which also solves the fact that right now they're 32bit, but what are peoples experiences of upgrading Windows in-place? As I said I've not had to do so for years now so I'm out of touch with how good/bad of an experience it is these days? The one potentially nice thing is that other than any third-party apps, the VM's are about as clean as you can get, no HP PSP or suchlike to have to deal with. I should add we're talking small role-specific VM's here, nothing crazy like Exchange. Thanks, Paul ________________________________ MIRA Ltd Watling Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 0TU, England Registered in England and Wales No. 402570 VAT Registration GB 100 1464 84 The contents of this e-mail are confidential and are solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you receive this e-mail in error, please delete it and notify us either by e-mail, telephone or fax. You should not copy, forward or otherwise disclose the content of the e-mail as this is prohibited. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
