Inherited an orphan 2000 OS

A friend , nicest guy in the world, but makes Joe Brfstlk of Al Capp fame look like the luckiest guy living. Gave me a pretty good, brand new computer. Why he gave it to me is a long story but it`s the second one he owned, assembled by a local guru, and they had a rather nasty parting of the ways. My good luck, maybe.
My questions are as follows.

It has MS 2000 Professional installed as an OS. I don`t know whether the computer has been registered or whatever has to be done to legitimize it , or not.
I don`t know how I can find out and if it isn`t registered can I put it in my name. Or should I just run it `til it quits and get a new OS. Is it neccesary to have the original disk for adding programs etc or not. I know nothing about MS 2000, I went from `98 to XP all in one jump.

The Mo Bo is a ECS M925, and so far I haven`t got a manual chased down, close, but no cigar.

Chipset is VIA VT8751 Pro Savage DDR
BIOS AMI 07.00T
CPU Intell Pentium 4A 1800 MHZ.
40 gig hard drive

Any advice or sympathy?

Moore

 

2K isn't as sticky about registration as XP.

2K is very similar to XP-pro. Just missing a few bells and whistles. Not quite so similar to XP-home but nothing you can't adapt to.

I'd say just fire the beastie up and see how it goes. It will need Service Pack 4 and the hot fixes / security patches that came after SP4 but they should install fine from the M$ update site if they aren't already all installed.

 

Thanks, Newt
I believe I`ll do just that. I`ve already been playing with it, and it doesn`t look to tough. I`ll get it so I can get on line and find an antivirus program first thing. then download the service packs. I`m using AVG Free ( If I`m not anything else I`m cheap) on my computers I`m running now. I don`t want to run a good horse to death so I may go in search of some other AV. I `ve used AVG forever and it works great, but I like to see what`s out there.
I`ll probably see you later.
Dick

 

I got the orphan 2000 operating. If it doesn`t stop acting like a brat it`s not going to have a home very long!
I downloaded Avast free AV and It seems to be OK.I don`t believe it`s as smooth a Grisoft`s AVG. That`s the first thing I did after getting on line. Darned if The Sasser worm didn`t sneak in there while I was searching for the Avast address and setting my home page. I downlaoded the Avast cleaner and it took it out. I then Downloade the AV to a CD on my #1 computer but there must have been a glitch somewhere because it didn`t install properly. I`ve got several things I`m searching out to change. One that I haven`t been able to figure out yet is how to get the previous owner removed as administrator.

Thanks
Dick

 

After reading on the results of a search" remove administrator "
I have decided I don`t care about removing anything until I find I have to have a password or something that I haven`t needed yet, and I`ve been pretty busy on that machine.
Moore

 

If you do a search on that guys name in regedit...it's bound to pop-up.

 

I may try that , thanks. I`ve been a Registry expert ever since Newt sent me in there . Now If I can remember how to make a backup.
Moore

 

windows has a native backup program under accessoories\system tools, which you can create a backup of the registry...or anything else.

you can also export the registry (or part of it) to disk from within regedit.

here's a link from ms kb
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322755

 

Thanks, Got it printed and an ERD made. I appreciate it
Moore

 

Do those ERD's often. I used to make one if I was going to change anything. You can use the same floppy formatted each time. Do you not have a OS disk? They are kind of important.
I enjoyed 2000, but when XP came out I had to try it and it is better for me, especially it has a larger driver base.

 

No , Maggie
I don`t have a disk for 2000. Nor do I have a manual for the MOBO. That`s part of what I mean by orphan. It`s got Roxio`s go bak installed. I think I`m going to part it out. I`ve done a considerable amount of searching for a MOBO manual . It`s a ECS M925 1.0. They keep pretty well hid which also rings a warning bell.Some manufacturers are proud of what they sell.
Thanks for the good advice.
Moore

 

you could always turn it into a linux or bsd box

 

That`s not a bad Idea. I`ve always wanted to play with Linux.The machine is like being a little bit pregnant, I can`t hurt it.
Moore

 

I have been messing around with FreeBSD 4.10 / 5.30. If you have a broadband connection, you can download a 600+ meg ISO image, burn it to disk, and use it as an install cd. http://freebsd.org

You will need a cd burning software capable of creating an ISO image cd.

Likewise, I am also looking at Debian. Same download procedure. If you go the route of Debian, there is a really good forum http://www.linuxquestions.org/

To install Debian for the new person, look at The Very Verbose Debian 3.0 Installation. This is for noobs (me included).
http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=2016

I have messed around with RH Linux, but don't really care for it.