If you have the Win95 computers logging into the Domain Controller and using (I don't
remember the exact term) the domain sharing instead of the workgroup sharing, everything
should go fairly smoothly. The upgrade may revert some of your patches, such as the Jet
service packs, to a lower patch level; so you'll have to bring those back up to date.
Also, Win2k needs more RAM than Win95, but the network performance should actually
increase a little. So, if you have enough RAM (probably 192 MB or more, I'd personally
recommend 256 MB or more on each Win2k workstation) then you may actually see a little
performance increase.
Another thing to be careful of is that your hardware is fully ACPI compliant. Win2k will
work if it's not, but some of the power management, such as powering off at shut down, may
not work. Also, make sure that you have Win2k drivers for all other hardware (modems,
printers, video cards, sound cards, NICs, etc). In addition to RAM, a basic Win2k install
will use a lot more hard drive space than a Win95 install.
On the networking side, if your shares are currently set up as mentioned above, there is
still a difference with the Win2k workstations. The computers themselves will need to
become domain members. This is easily accomplished, but still another step that needs to
be done. I'd upgrade the Server first so that Active Directory is in place, then do the
workstations. The Windows 2000 newsgroups should be able to help you more with this if you
need it.
--
Wayne Morgan
Microsoft Access MVP
msmith said:
We have several custom applications running in Access 2000. Apps are installed on
individual desktops, linked to .mdb on the server. Desktops run Windows'95, server
Windows NT with latest service pack. Will be upgrading all of the desktops to Windows
2000 and the server to equivalent. What are potential pitfalls in running the apps? What
should we be cognizant of when we install the new operating sytem(s)? What kinds of
conflicts could we expect, if any?
