Reinstall Windows 2000 Pro

I would like to reinstall Win2K Pro but my original disc has SP3 whereas my current installed copy had been updated to SP4. At start of the re-install I receive a notice that an older version cannot be installed over a newer one.

I was advised to uninstall SP4 to avoid this roadblock. However the same notice appears after having uninstalled SP4 using Control Panel's Add/Remove function. The SP4 entry does indeed disappear from the listing, but my "About Windows / Properties" window says I still have SP4 installed.

What do I have to do to fully uninstall SP4, or more generally, to simply reinstall Win2K SP3 and then upgrade it back to SP4? The last thing I want to do is reformat and do a new clean install.

Edeng

 

Reinstalling over the top of an existing install rarely fixes anything. Bite the bullet. Backup your data, format and reinstall. Otherwise you will waste a lot of time chasing problems that don't go away. If a problem needs a reinstall to fix, then it needs doing properly - that's format and reinstall.

 

ReggieB: Thanks for your advice. Sounds like a stern warning to not try to reinstall, so I may well follow it, someday. I dread the thought, though.

My best alternative may be to install Win XP as a dual operating system which will also require that I reinstall all my applications - as bad as reformating and reinstalling 2000.
Edeng

 

A nice app for slipstreaming SP4 on to a win2k is Nlite. Makes life a breeze. Oh if you are going to install XP make sure it's pro. I have run into issues with WinXP home trying to get data from Win2K data locations.