Windows 2003 Server

/begin rant

dude.. that's a server... what wrong with people thinking of using a server as a main OS.... Dell wont cuz it's laptops aren't designed to be a server... I know people think it's more stable and all or just cuz it's a "newer" OS.  it just makes me wonder what people think sometimes...

/end rant

I'm guessing the XP/2k drivers don't work for the server OS right? And i don't think it's just drivers... since the server isn't designed for that sorta usage i'd think MS stripped support for those (and most devices) out ....To make the OS a bit cleaner (and which would make it faster in your thinking i guess)

there aren't even sound drivers in W2k3, let alone mobile hardware drivers! why would you run a server OS on a laptop? The I/O system is not designed for that at all.


I'm curious why you'd want w2k3 on the laptop? Do you need a mobile server?

There are many reasons to run Server on your laptop.  I test server based software for a living and guess what, I need to run server on my laptop.  I know a lot of people who multi-boot their laptops so that they can learn Server OSs.  If you're running it to be more "stable", your absolutely right, that's just plain stupid.

Anyway, Win2k Pro and Server use the same drivers so if you can run Pro on your computer, with a little more memory, you can run server.  As far as Dell's Truemobile driver, I'm not sure, but try loading the Lucent/Orinoco driver instead

Win2k3 has full support for audio and wireless network cards.  Audio is disabled by default, but just start the audio service and make sure the right drivers are loaded and life is good. 

I don't feel that I need to defend my decision to you guys, but to respond to your questions, I am a software developer who writes code for a particular application that requires the use of multiple websites in IIS, meaning I have to have Windows 2000 Server installed on my laptop.  (Windows Pro only allows one website within IIS.) I am not using the laptop as a server for other computers, but I need the Server OS in order to develop locally.  I bought the laptop because I do not want to be confined to a desktop at work in order to code.

I have spent hours on the phone with Dell and it's not a matter of Microsoft not providing support, it's a matter of Dell not providing support.  (It's Dell's responsibility to provide drivers for their custom display which I got with my laptop, as well as the Dell TrueMobile Mini-PC card I purchased.)  I can understand that Dell does not want to support an operating system it did not ship with its laptop, but when I spoke with them on the phone, they said they thought they would most likely provide new drivers for wind2k3.  That is why I have been waiting on pins and needles for this OS... I would really like to be able to use the wireless card which I puchased with my computer 5 months ago, and I would really like to have a display driver which is not a hacked version recommended by Dell.

Message Edited by bvanbrugg on 04-17-2003 09:30 AM

i'm surprised that dell is going to provide you with any support at all, since they are tradionally poor at supporting anything but the factory installed OS at all.

No, you don't have to defend your decision. You are the exception to the sort of posters that usually appear here. I bet 9/10 people who install Win2K3 on thier laptops will do so because it's newer than XP, not understanding the fundamental differences. Seeing as how that is the great majority, we usually assume the poster is of that sort.

Might it be easier to set up a win2k3 terminal server running IIS and login to that from the XP laptop? It might be a headache, but perhaps less so than getting the wireless setup to work in the server OS directly.

Also, the wireless cards are merely rebrands of other cards. The 1150 is an ornico gold card I believe. The 1180 is an actiontec part if I remember correctly. Have you tried the reference driver?

I too am in the same situation with an Inspiron 4150 and a TrueMobile 1180.  Any update from Dell about this?

FYI, my machine also runs much faster with 2k3 than it ever did with xp pro.

Thanks

I'm in exactly the same situation as bvanbrugg. Software developer. Need to have more than one website on my laptop. Don't want to run W2K.

Any news on full driver support for Windows Server 2003? In my case, for an Inspiron 8600?

Drivers for the GeForce 5650?

Bluetooth?

TrueMobile 1400?

I've got the system working pretty well with XP Pro, which I setup when I got it just to test everything out. Now I'm ready to put 2003 on, but I don't want to blow away my whole current setup and spend a couple of days installing and configuring 2003, just to find out that something (like the TM1400 or Bluetooth or video) simply is not supported, and have to redo everything to go back to XP Pro or, more likely return the 8600 and buy a Sager or something else.

Somebody posted that the drivers for XP Pro and 2003 are the same. Is that true? Will XP drivers for video, bluetooth, TM1400, etc. work on Windows 2003?

Thanks for any help!

- Stu

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@StuartV wrote:

Somebody posted that the drivers for XP Pro and 2003 are the same. Is that true? Will XP drivers for video, bluetooth, TM1400, etc. work on Windows 2003?

Thanks for any help!

- Stu

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That is correct.  Any XP driver will function correctly under Win2003 including the sound drivers.

BTW:  Server 2003 runs alot faster on my notebook than XP ever did.

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@somms wrote:

That is correct.  Any XP driver will function correctly under Win2003 including the sound drivers.

BTW:  Server 2003 runs alot faster on my notebook than XP ever did.

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Excellent! Thank you. Just for curiosity's sake, what model IS your notebook?

- Stu

Bluetooth is something I haven't tried yet.  So far I haven't had any driver that worked on XP refuse to work in Win2003.  It could be that the software is incompatible and you may have to look for a Win2003 specific driver.

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@somms wrote:
I8100 running Win2003 SP1, Build1069.

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What is Win2003 SP1? I'm running Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, Build 3790. I can't find any reference anywhere to a service pack available for W2K3.

My TrueMobile 1400 seems to be working just fine with W2K3, as do the GeForce 5650 drivers. But I can't get the Bluetooth drivers to install. The setup displays a message that the Bluetooth drivers aren't licensed for this OS and then exits.

Help??

- Stu