Skip to main content

Unsolved

This post is more than 5 years old

Peter Kelly

1 Message

32805

August 26th, 2011 03:00

Windows 7 and XP compatible on Windows Server 2003 R2 Domain

Hi,

We currently have around 20 XP machines connected to a Windows Server 2003 R2 domain, we are currently looking at getting new machines but are unable to get XP. Are there any problems with getting a Windows 7 machine and connecting it to a Windows Server 2003 R2 domain. Would there be any extra strain on the server? or any problems that may occur?

Thanks

muto

2 Intern

 • 

872 Posts

August 26th, 2011 06:00

.

muto

2 Intern

 • 

872 Posts

August 26th, 2011 08:00

.

speedstep

11 Legend

 • 

47K Posts

August 26th, 2011 08:00

Windows 7 pro and Windows 7 Ultimate have XP mode.

You can Setup a Mixed mode domain with 2003 and 2008 domain controllers.

You cannot however use all of the features of a 2008 domain with 2003 domain controllers in the forest.

You can use Windows server 2003 and 2008 together. However, there are some known issues about Windows server 2008 AD setup. For more information, you can refer to:

 

Known Issues for Installing and Removing AD DS

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754463.aspx

 

However, to utilize some advanced features introduced by Windows server 2008, I’d suggest upgrading to Windows server 2008 native mode.

 

For example, in Windows Server 2008, it introduces a new password feature called Fine-grained password policy, which allows us to specify multiple password policies and apply different password restrictions and account lockout policies to different sets of users within a single domain. For example, to increase the security of the privileged accounts, you can apply stricter settings to them and less strict settings to the accounts of other users. Or in some cases, you might want to apply a special password policy for accounts whose passwords are synchronized with other data sources.

To use Fine-Grained Password policy, we should ensure our domain function level must be Windows server 2008.

muto

2 Intern

 • 

872 Posts

August 26th, 2011 09:00

.

speedstep

11 Legend

 • 

47K Posts

August 26th, 2011 09:00

Windows 2003 server is essentially XP and Windows 2008 Server is essentially windows 7.

There are issues with the Active directory when you try to use Windows 7 Domain Admin tools on a 2003 server.

Thats why you do Mixed mode until you transition over to all WIN7 Clients on 2008 server.

The Active Directory RSAT tools will work with Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 domain controllers, although some features, such as the Active Directory Recycle Bin, require Windows Server 2008 R2 functionality level.

Managing Exchange 2003 from a Windows 7 workstation isn't quite so straightforward: The Exchange System Manager (ESM) console that comes with the Exchange 2003 installation CD doesn't run on Windows 7.

The version of ESM designed for Vista  installer makes a specific check for Vista (Windows version 6.0.0) that fails on Windows 7

You can use a free Microsoft tool called Orca to modify the MSI file to remove or modify the version check. Orca comes as part of the Windows Installer SDK. However, I think you'll find it much simpler to load ESM in XP Mode.

It's safe to say that the single most important skill a Windows administrator will need in the coming years is proficiency with Windows PowerShell. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 both have Windows PowerShell version 2 baked into the operating system and it's enabled by default. You should plan on installing Windows PowerShell v2 on your remaining servers and desktops so that you can use one script technology to manage your entire fleet. (Note that you won't be able to install PowerShell v2 on Exchange 2007 servers or workstations. These machines require PowerShell v1.1.
Even if you're a die-hard GUI administrator who hasn't opened a command prompt since Y2K, you'll find that most new GUI tools from Microsoft are now taking the form of graphical front ends on top of Windows PowerShell cmdlets. Many of these tools will tell you the underlying command string if you know where to look for it. That's an easy way to see how the cmdlets work.
If your organization didn't deploy Vista, you may not be familiar with the latest volume-activation requirements in Windows. If you're an admin in an enterprise with more than 25 desktops and/or five servers, if your organization takes advantage of a volume-license program such as an Enterprise Agreement or Select Agreement, and if you purchase Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate (or you upgrade to those versions as part of Software Assurance).
In brief, to deploy Windows 7 desktops using volume licenses, you'll probably need to install a Key Management Server (KMS). I say "probably" because you may not have enough machines in your organization to support KMS activation. A KMS won't begin doling out activation approvals until it receives requests from at least 25 desktops and/or five servers. That's to prevent unscrupulous vendors from using the same volume-license key for multiple small clients. Once activated, a client must reactivate every six months. Despite what you may have read elsewhere, there's no reduced functionality mode in Windows 7. If the activation key expires, the desktop background simply goes black and a notification balloon states that the operating system isn't genuine.
A change introduced with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 now allows virtual machines to count against the KMS minimum for activation. This helps to boost your device count if you're a small shop that uses lots of virtual desktops and servers.
If you already have a KMS for Vista and Windows Server 2008, you'll be able to download an update for activating Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 machines.
If you decide to roll out 64-bit desktops, test thoroughly for issues with device drivers, anti-virus suites, management agents and so forth. If you currently have 32-bit print servers, you'll need to populate the print queues with 64-bit drivers. As an alternative, you could deploy new x64 Windows Server 2008 or R2 print servers and populate both sets of drivers as you build the queues. The printer-migration wizard in Windows Server 2008 R2 will help with this task. It's worth the effort to deploy new R2 print servers because the print model has been improved to keep drivers in their own memory space so that a bad driver won't take down the spooler.
The most significant potential show-stopper is the need to run legacy 16-bit applications, which won't run at all on a 64-bit host. Your best option in this case is to use a trick that hothouse farmers in Minnesota have employed for generations to raise tomatoes: Build an environment that fools the plants into thinking they're in Dallas instead of Duluth. That is: Use XP Mode to put an instance of x86 XP SP3 on your x64 Windows 7 desktop.
Applications installed in the XP Mode virtual machine can be launched from the Windows 7 Start menu (Figure 7) just as if they were natively installed so that your users won't get confused by living in two universes. (This trick actually comes from a special RAIL hotfix, not directly from XP Mode, so you can do the same Start Menu trick by installing the RAIL hotfix, then running Virtual PC with 32-bit Vista or Windows 7, if you like.)

muto

2 Intern

 • 

872 Posts

August 26th, 2011 10:00

.

Was this post helpful?

View All

No Events found!

Top