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Encyclopedia > Windows 2000

Updated 63 days 22 hours 28 minutes ago.
Windows 2000
(Part of the Microsoft Windows family)
Screenshot

Screenshot of Windows 2000 Professional
Developer
Microsoft
Web site: www.microsoft.com/windows2000
Release information
Release date: February 17, 2000 info
Current version:  5.0 SP4 Rollup 1 v2 (5.0.3700.6690), September 13, 2005 info
Source model: Shared source[1]
License: Microsoft EULA
Kernel type: Hybrid kernel
Support status
Extended Support Period until June/July 2010,[2][3] security updates will be provided free of cost and paid support is still available.

Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptive, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It is part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems and was released on February 17, 2000. It was succeeded by Windows XP in October 2001 and Windows Server 2003 in April 2003. Windows 2000 is classified as a hybrid kernel operating system. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Windows redirects here. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixels, file size: 64 KB, MIME type: image/png) I have created this for the Windows 2000 article and all related articles. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shared source is Microsoft’s framework for sharing computer program source code with individuals and organizations. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... A software license is a type of proprietary or gratiuitious license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user. ... A kernel connects the application software to the hardware of a computer. ... Graphical overview of a hybrid kernel Hybrid kernel is a kernel architecture based on combining aspects of microkernel and monolithic kernel architectures used in computer operating systems. ... Pre-emption as used with respect to operating systems means the ability of the operating system to preempt or stop a currently scheduled task in favour of a higher priority task. ... GUI redirects here. ... An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... A uniprocessor system refers to a system with a single processor. ... Symmetric multiprocessing, or SMP, is a multiprocessor computer architecture where two or more identical processors are connected to a single shared main memory. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... Windows NT (New Technology) is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft. ... Graphical overview of a hybrid kernel Hybrid kernel is a kernel architecture based on combining aspects of microkernel and monolithic kernel architectures used in computer operating systems. ... An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ...


Four editions of Windows 2000 have been released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. Additionally, Microsoft offered Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Limited Edition, which were released in 2001 and run on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors.[4] While all editions of Windows 2000 are targeted to different markets, they each share a core set of common functionality, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications. Support for people with disabilities was improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies, and Microsoft included increased support for different languages and locale information. All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT filesystem, NTFS 3.0,[5] the Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. The Windows 2000 Server family has additional functionality, including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources) , Distributed File System (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes. Windows 2000 can be installed and deployed to corporate desktops through either an attended or unattended installation. Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server, by the System Preparation Tool. Windows 2000 is the last NT-kernel based version of Microsoft Windows that does not include Windows Product Activation, although Microsoft later introduced Windows Genuine Advantage for certain downloads and non-critical updates from the Download Center for Windows 2000. At the time of its release, Microsoft marketed Windows 2000 as the most secure Windows version they had ever shipped,[6] but it became the target of a number of high-profile virus attacks such as Code Red and Nimda. More than eight years after its release, it continues to receive patches for security vulnerabilities on a near-monthly basis. In computing, a 64-bit component is one in which data are processed or stored in 64-bit units (words). ... 2007 Itanium logo Itanium is the brand name for 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture (formerly called IA-64). ... A microprocessor is a programmable digital electronic component that incorporates the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single semiconducting integrated circuit (IC). ... MMC on Windows Server 2003, running Computer Management snap-in The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor the system. ... A system administrator is a person responsible for running, or running some aspect of, a computer system. ... Windows NT 4. ... Assistive Technology (AT) is a generic term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices and the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. ... NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista. ... The Encrypting File System (EFS) is a file system with filesystem-level encryption available in Microsofts Windows 2000 and later operating systems. ... The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ... Typically Active Directory is managed using the graphical Microsoft Management Console. ... The Microsoft Distributed File System, or DFS, is a set of client and server services that allow a large enterprise to organize many distributed SMB file shares into a distributed file system. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) [1] is a product for managing large groups of Microsoft-based computer systems. ... Sysprep is Microsofts System Preparation Utility for Windows deployment and is used to prepare the operating system for disk cloning. ...     Windows XP is a major revision of the Microsoft Windows operating system created for use on desktop and business computer systems. ... Windows Genuine Advantage Notification in Windows XP Windows Genuine Advantage Notification in Windows Vista Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is an anti-piracy system enacted by Microsoft that enforces Microsoft Windows online validation of the authenticity of several recent Microsoft operating systems when accessing several Microsoft Windows services, such as Windows... The Code Red worm was a computer worm released on the Internet on July 13, 2001. ... Nimda is a computer worm, isolated in September 2001. ...

[edit] History

See also: History of Microsoft Windows

Windows 2000 is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating systems, replacing its predecessor, Windows NT 4.0. Originally called Windows NT 5.0, then Windows NT 2000, Microsoft changed the name to Windows 2000 on October 27, 1998.[7] It was also the first Windows version that was released without a code name, though Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 was codenamed "Asteroid" and Windows 2000 64-bit was codenamed "Janus" (not to be confused with Windows 3.1, which had the same codename). The first beta for Windows 2000 was released on September 27, 1997 and several further betas were released until Beta 3 which was released on April 29, 1999. During the development timeline, there was a DEC Alpha build of Windows 2000 but it was abandoned with the second beta. (Windows NT 4.0 was the last version that support multiple architectures). From here, Microsoft issued three release candidates between July and November 1999, and finally released the operating system to partners on December 12, 1999.[8] The public received the full version of Windows 2000 on February 17, 2000. Three days before the launch of Windows 2000, which Microsoft advertised as "a standard in reliability", a leaked memo from Microsoft reported on by Mary Jo Foley revealed that Windows 2000 had "over 63,000 potential known defects".[9] After Foley's article was published, Microsoft blacklisted her for a considerable time:[10] InformationWeek summarized the release "our tests show the successor to NT 4.0 is everything we hoped it would be. Of course, it isn't perfect either."[11] Wired News later described the results of the February launch as "lackluster".[12] Novell criticized Microsoft's Active Directory, the new directory service architecture to be less scalable or reliable than their own Novell Directory Services (NDS) technology.[13] The Windows logo used since November 2006. ... Windows NT (New Technology) is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... Windows NT 4. ... is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Microsoft codenames are the codenames given by Microsoft to products it has in development, before these products are given the names by which they appear on store shelves. ... A Service Pack (more commonly, SP) is a software program that corrects known bugs, problems, or adds new features. ... A typical Windows 3. ... is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... DEC Alpha AXP 21064 Microprocessor die photo Package for DEC Alpha AXP 21064 Microprocessor Alpha AXP 21064 bare die mounted on a business card with some statistics The DEC Alpha, also known as the Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit RISC microprocessor originally developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corp... Windows NT 4. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Blacklisted redirects here. ... InformationWeek is a weekly technology magazine published by CMP Media. ... Wired News, online at Wired. ... For the road bicycle racing team previously known as Novell, see Rabobank (cycling). ... Typically Active Directory is managed using the graphical Microsoft Management Console. ... Novell eDirectory (formerly called Novell Directory Services) is an X.500 compatible directory service software product released in 1993 by Novell, Inc. ...


Originally, Windows 2000 was planned to replace both Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. However, that was later changed. Instead, an updated version of Windows 98 called Windows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999 as a successor to Windows 98. Microsoft released Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, targeted at large-scale computing systems with support for 32 processors, on September 29, 2000. Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...


On or shortly before February 12, 2004, "portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the Internet".[14] The source of the leak remains unannounced. Microsoft issued the following statement: is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ...

Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it.

Despite the warnings, the archive containing the leaked code spread widely on the file-sharing networks. On February 16, 2004, an exploit "allegedly discovered by an individual studying the leaked source code"[14] for certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer was reported. File sharing is the activity of making files available to other users for download over the Internet, but also over smaller networks. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that take advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur on computer software, hardware, or something electronic (usually computerized). ...


[edit] Architecture

The Windows 2000 operating system architecture consists of two layers (user mode and kernel mode) , with many different modules within both of these layers.
The Windows 2000 operating system architecture consists of two layers (user mode and kernel mode) , with many different modules within both of these layers.
See also: Architecture of Windows NT

Windows 2000 is a highly modular system that consists of two main layers: a user mode and a kernel mode. The user mode refers to the mode in which user programs are run. Such programs are limited in terms of what system resources they have access to, while the kernel mode has unrestricted access to the system memory and external devices. All user mode applications access system resources through the executive which runs in kernel mode. Image File history File links Windows_2000_architecture. ... Image File history File links Windows_2000_architecture. ... The Windows NT operating system familys architecture consists of two layers (user mode and kernel mode), with many different modules within both of these layers. ... User mode refers to two similar concepts in computer architecture. ... In processors with memory protection, kernel mode (as opposed to user mode) is the mode in which the operating system kernel runs. ...


[edit] User mode

User mode in Windows 2000 is made of subsystems capable of passing I/O requests to the appropriate kernel mode drivers by using the I/O manager. Two subsystems make up the user mode layer of Windows 2000: the environment subsystem and the integral subsystem. Energy Input: The energy placed into a reaction. ...


The environment subsystem was designed to run applications written for many different types of operating systems. These applications, however, run at a lower priority than kernel mode processes. There are three main environment subsystems:[15]

  1. Win32 subsystem runs 32-bit Windows applications and also supports Virtual DOS Machines (VDMs) , which allows MS-DOS and 16-bit Windows 3.1x (Win16) applications to run on Windows.
  2. OS/2 environment subsystem supports 16-bit character-based OS/2 applications and emulates OS/2 1.3 and 1.x, but not 32-bit or graphical OS/2 applications as used on OS/2 2.x or later.
  3. POSIX environment subsystem supports applications that are strictly written to either the POSIX.1 standard or the related ISO/IEC standards.

The integral subsystem looks after operating system specific functions on behalf of the environment subsystem. It consists of a security subsystem (grants/denies access and handles logons) , workstation service (helps the computer gain network access) and a server service (lets the computer provide network services). Windows API is a set of APIs, (application programming interfaces) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. ... Windows redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... In computer science, 16-bit is an adjective used to describe integers that are at most two bytes wide, or to describe CPU architectures based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Windows API is a set of APIs, (application programming interfaces) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... POSIX or Portable Operating System Interface[1] is the collective name of a family of related standards specified by the IEEE to define the application programming interface (API) for software compatible with variants of the Unix operating system. ... “ISO” redirects here. ... The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is an international standards organization dealing with electrical, electronic and related technologies. ...


[edit] Kernel mode

Kernel mode in Windows 2000 has full access to the hardware and system resources of the computer. The kernel mode stops user mode services and applications from accessing critical areas of the operating system that they should not have access to. In processors with memory protection, kernel mode (as opposed to user mode) is the mode in which the operating system kernel runs. ...

Each object in Windows 2000 exists in its own namespace, as illustrated by this screenshot from SysInternal's WinObj
Each object in Windows 2000 exists in its own namespace, as illustrated by this screenshot from SysInternal's WinObj

The executive interfaces with all the user mode subsystems. It deals with I/O, object management, security and process management. It contains various components, including: Screenshot of WinObject from SysInternals. ... Screenshot of WinObject from SysInternals. ... A namespace is a context in which a group of one or more identifiers might exist. ...

  • Object manager: a special executive subsystem that all other executive subsystems must pass through to gain access to Windows 2000 resources. This is essentially a resource management infrastructure service that allows Windows 2000 to be an object oriented operating system.
  • I/O Manager: allows devices to communicate with user-mode subsystems by translating user-mode read and write commands and passing them to device drivers.
  • Security Reference Monitor (SRM) : the primary authority for enforcing the security rules of the security integral subsystem.[16]
  • IPC Manager: short for Inter-Process Communication Manager, manages the communication between clients (the environment subsystem) and servers (components of the executive).
  • Virtual Memory Manager: manages virtual memory, allowing Windows 2000 to use the hard disk as a primary storage device (although strictly speaking it is secondary storage).
  • Process Manager: handles process and thread creation and termination
  • PnP Manager: handles Plug and Play and supports device detection and installation at boot time.
  • Power Manager: the power manager coordinates power events and generates power IRPs.
  • The display system is handled by a device driver contained in Win32k.sys. The Window Manager component of this driver is responsible for drawing windows and menus while the GDI (Graphics Device Interface) component is responsible for tasks such as drawing lines and curves, rendering fonts and handling palettes. Windows 2000 also introduced alpha blending into the Graphics Device Interface which reflects in the fade effect in menus.

The Windows 2000 Hardware Abstraction Layer, or HAL, is a layer between the physical hardware of the computer and the rest of the operating system. It was designed to hide differences in hardware and therefore provide a consistent platform to run applications on. The HAL includes hardware specific code that controls I/O interfaces, interrupt controllers and multiple processors. Object Manager in Windows, categorized hierarchically using namespaces Object Manager (internally called Ob) is a special subsystem implemented as part of Windows Executive which manages Windows resources. ... In computer science, object-oriented programming, OOP for short, is a computer programming paradigm. ... A device driver, or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a computer hardware device. ... Inter-Process Communication (IPC) is a set of techniques for the exchange of data between two or more threads in one or more processes. ... The program thinks it has a large range of contiguous addresses; but in reality the parts it is currently using are scattered around RAM, and the inactive parts are saved in a disk file. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... Primary storage, or internal memory, is computer memory that is accessible to the central processing unit of a computer without the use of computers input/output channels. ... In computer storage, secondary storage, or external memory, is computer memory that is not directly accessible to the central processing unit of a computer, requiring the use of computers input/output channels. ... In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. ... For the form of code consisting entirely of subroutine calls, see Threaded code. ... For the specific branded ISA add-on technology marketed by Intel and Microsoft, see Plug-And-Play. ... In computing, booting (booting up) is a bootstrapping process that starts operating systems when the user turns on a computer system. ... I/O request packets (IRPs) are structures that are used by Windows Driver Model (WDM) and Windows NT device drivers to communicate with each other and the operating system. ... The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or subsystems, together with the kernel and the Windows API for the user interface (GDI window manager) of Microsoft Windows. ... The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or subsystems, together with the kernel and the Windows API for the user interface (GDI window manager) of Microsoft Windows. ... Line redirects here. ... In mathematics, the concept of a curve tries to capture the intuitive idea of a geometrical one-dimensional and continuous object. ... A font can mean: A member of a typeface family; or digital font - file format that encapsulates a typeface family in a database. ... A palette, in computer graphics, is a designated subset of the total range of colors supported by a computer graphics system. ... Alpha blending is a convex combination of two colors allowing for transparency effects in computer graphics. ... The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or subsystems, together with the kernel and the Windows API for the user interface (GDI window manager) of Microsoft Windows. ... A hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is an abstraction layer, implemented in software, between the physical hardware of a computer and the software that runs on that computer. ... A Programmable Interrupt Controller (or PIC) is an Intel 8259A chip that controls interrupts. ...


The hybrid kernel sits between the HAL and the executive and provides multiprocessor synchronization, thread and interrupt scheduling and dispatching, trap handling and exception dispatching. The hybrid kernel often interfaces with the process manager[17] and is responsible for initializing device drivers at bootup that are necessary to get the operating system up and running. Graphical overview of a hybrid kernel Hybrid kernel is a kernel architecture based on combining aspects of microkernel and monolithic kernel architectures used in computer operating systems. ...


A stripped down variant of the Windows 2000 kernel was used on the Xbox. The Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. ...


[edit] Common functionality

Windows 2000 introduced many of the Windows 98 new features into the NT line, such as, the Windows Desktop Update, Windows Driver Model, Internet Connection Sharing, Windows Media Player, WebDAV support etc. Certain features are common across all editions of Windows 2000, among them being NTFS 3.0,[5] the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) , the Encrypting File System (EFS) , Logical Disk Manager, usability enhancements and multi-language and locale support. Windows 2000 also has several system utilities included as standard. As well as these features, Microsoft introduced a new feature to protect critical system files, called Windows File Protection. This prevents programs (with the exception of Microsoft's update programs) from replacing critical Windows system files and thus making the system inoperable.[18] Image File history File links Summary The Official Windows 2000 logo Taken from http://www. ... Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ... Microsofts Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4, which provided several updated shell features introduced with the Windows 98 operating system for older versions of Microsoft Windows. ... In computing, the Windows Driver Model (WDM) — also known (somewhat misleadingly) at one point as the Win32 Driver Model — is a framework for device drivers that was introduced with Windows 98 and Windows 2000 to replace VxD, which was used on older versions of Windows such as Windows 95 and... Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is the name given by Microsoft to a feature in newer versions of its Windows operating system (as of Windows 98 Second Edition) for sharing a single Internet connection on one computer between other computers on the same local area network. ... Windows Media Player (WMP) is a digital media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices. ... WebDAV, an abbreviation that stands for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, refers to the set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote World Wide Web servers. ... MMC on Windows Server 2003, running Computer Management snap-in The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor the system. ... The Encrypting File System (EFS) is a file system with filesystem-level encryption available in Microsofts Windows 2000 and later operating systems. ... The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ... Windows File Protection (WFP) is a technology included in all Microsoft Windows operating systems beginning with Windows 2000 to prevent programs from replacing critical Windows system files. ...


Microsoft recognized that the infamous Blue Screen of Death (or stop error) could cause serious problems for servers that needed to be constantly running and so provided a system setting that would allow the server to automatically reboot when a stop error occurred. Also included is an option to dump any of the first 64 KB of memory to disk (the smallest amount of memory that is useful for debugging purposes, also known as a minidump) , a dump of only the kernel's memory, or a dump of the entire contents of memory to disk, as well as write that this event happened to the Windows 2000 event log. In order to improve performance on computers running Windows 2000 as a server operating system, Microsoft gave administrators the choice of optimizing the operating system's memory and processor usage patterns for background services or for applications. Windows 2000 also introduced such technologies as the Windows Installer, Windows Management Instrumentation, OpenType PostScript fonts (.OTF) , Data protection API (DPAPI) and the Indexing Service into the operating system. A blue screen of death as seen in Windows XP and Vista. ... A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-, meaning 1,000) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1,000 bytes or 1,024 bytes (210), depending on context. ... Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected. ... Nero software setup is using Windows Installer program The Windows Installer (previously known as Microsoft Installer, codename Darwin) is an engine for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software on modern Microsoft Windows systems. ... Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification. ... OpenType is a scalable format for computer fonts (also sometimes known interchangeably as typefaces), initially developed by Microsoft, later joined by Adobe Systems. ... DPAPI (Data Protection Application Programming Interface) is a relatively easy-to-use cryptography API available as a standard component in Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows operating systems. ... Windows indexing service allows instant searching of PCs and corporate networks. ...


[edit] Improvements to Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer had a built-in media player in Windows 2000
Windows Explorer had a built-in media player in Windows 2000

The Windows Explorer received a number of enhancements in Windows 2000. It was the first Windows NT release to include Active Desktop, a component first introduced as a part of Internet Explorer 4.0, and only pre-installed in Windows 98 by that time. Renamed in Windows 2000 as "Windows Desktop Update" [19], it allowed the users to customize the way folders look and behave by using HTML templates, having the file extension HTT. This feature had been abused by computer viruses that employed malicious scripts, Java applets, or ActiveX controls in folder template files as their infection vector. Two such viruses are VBS/Roor-C[20] and VBS.Redlof.a.[21] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Windows Explorer running on Windows Vista Windows Explorer running on Windows XP Windows Explorer is an application that is part of modern versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. ... Windows Explorer running on Windows Vista Windows Explorer running on Windows XP Windows Explorer is an application that is part of modern versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system that provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. ... Windows NT (New Technology) is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... Active Desktop is a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4. ... Windows Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer abbreviated MSIE), commonly abbreviated to IE, is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems starting in 1995. ... Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ... Microsofts Windows Desktop Update was an optional feature included with Internet Explorer 4, which provided several updated shell features introduced with the Windows 98 operating system for older versions of Microsoft Windows. ... HTML, an initialism of Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ... A filename extension or filename suffix is an extra set of (usually) alphanumeric characters that is appended to the end of a filename to allow computer users (as well as various pieces of software on the computer system) to quickly determine the type of data stored in the file. ... A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. ... Java language redirects here. ... ActiveX is Microsoft technology used for developing reusable object oriented software components. ...


The "Web-style" folders view, with the left Explorer pane displaying details for the object currently selected, is turned on by default in Windows 2000. For certain file types, such as pictures and media files, the preview is also displayed in the left pane. Until the dedicated interactive preview pane appeared in Windows Vista, Windows 2000 had been the only Windows release to feature an interactive media player as the previewer for sound and video files. However, such a previewer can be enabled in Windows Me and Windows XP through the use of third-party shell extensions, as the extensibility of the updated Windows Explorer allows for custom thumbnail previewers and tooltip handlers. The default file tooltip displays file title, author, subject and comments;[22] these metadata may be read from a special NTFS stream, in case the file is located on an NTFS volume, or from an OLE structured storage stream, in case the file is a structured storage document. All Microsoft Office documents since Office 95 [23] are stored in structured storages, so that their metadata are displayable in Windows 2000 Explorer default tooltip. Windows Vista is a line of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ... Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me (IPA pronunciation: [miː], [ɛm iː]), is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft. ... Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... The tooltip is a common graphical user interface element. ... NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista. ... Structured storage (variously also known as COM structured storage or OLE structured storage) is a technology developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows operating system for storing hierarchical data within a single file. ... Microsoft Office is an office suite from Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems. ...


The right pane of Windows 2000 Explorer, which usually just lists files and folders, can also be customized. For example, the contents of the system folders aren't displayed by default, instead showing in the right pane a cautionary message telling the user that modifying the contents of the system folders could harm their computer. It's possible to define additional Explorer panes by using DIV elements in folder template files [19] Other Explorer UI elements that can be customized include columns in "Details" view, icon overlays, and search providers: the new DHTML-based search pane is integrated into Windows 2000 Explorer, unlike the separate search dialog found in all previous Explorer versions. This degree of customizability is new to Windows 2000; neither Windows 98 nor the Desktop Update could provide it.[24] The <div> (division) tag divides a document into sections such as chapters and appendices. ...


[edit] NTFS 3.0

Windows 2000 supports disk quotas, which can be set via the "Quota" tab found in the hard disk properties dialog box.
Windows 2000 supports disk quotas, which can be set via the "Quota" tab found in the hard disk properties dialog box.
Main article: NTFS

Microsoft released the version 3.0 of NTFS [5] (sometimes incorrectly referred to as NTFS 5 in relation to the kernel version number) as part of Windows 2000; this introduced disk quotas, file-system-level encryption, sparse files and reparse points. Sparse files allow for the efficient storage of data sets that are very large yet contain many areas that only have zeros. Reparse points allow the object manager to reset a file namespace lookup and let file system drivers implement changed functionality in a transparent manner. Reparse points are used to implement volume mount points, junctions, Hierarchical Storage Management, Native Structured Storage and Single Instance Storage. Volume mount points and directory junctions allow for a file to be transparently referred from one file or directory location to another. A screenshot of the Windows NT Quota Management properties page. ... A screenshot of the Windows NT Quota Management properties page. ... A disk quota is a limit set by a system administrator that restricts certain aspects of file system usage on modern operating systems. ... Example of dialog box from Microsoft Windows Dialog boxes are special windows which are used by computer programs or by the operating system to display information to the user, or to get a response if needed. ... NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista. ... A disk quota is a limit set by a system administrator that restricts certain aspects of file system usage on modern operating systems. ... The Encrypting File System (EFS) is a file system with filesystem-level encryption available in Microsofts Windows 2000 and later operating systems. ... In computer science, a sparse file is a type of computer file that attempts to use file system space more efficiently. ... An NTFS reparse point (JP) is a type of NTFS file system object. ... An NTFS reparse point (JP) is a type of NTFS file system object. ... Object Manager in Windows, categorized hierarchically using namespaces Object Manager (internally called Ob) is a special subsystem implemented as part of Windows Executive which manages Windows resources. ... An NTFS junction point (JP) is a feature of the NTFS file system version 3. ... Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) is a data storage technique that automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. ... Structured storage (variously also known as COM structured storage or OLE structured storage) is a technology developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows operating system for storing hierarchical data within a single file. ... When several files in a computer filesystem contain exactly the same data, single instance storage can replace the references to these identical files by references to a single stored copy of the file. ...


[edit] Encrypting File System

The Encrypting File System (EFS) introduced strong file system-level encryption to Windows. It allows any folder or drive on an NTFS volume to be encrypted transparently by the end user. EFS works in conjunction with the EFS service, Microsoft's CryptoAPI and the EFS File System Runtime Library (FSRTL). As of May 2007, its encryption has not been compromised. The Encrypting File System (EFS) is a file system with filesystem-level encryption available in Microsofts Windows 2000 and later operating systems. ... For library and office filing systems, see Library classification. ... Encrypt redirects here. ... The Cryptographic Application Programming Interface (also known variously as CryptoAPI, Microsoft Cryptography API, or simply CAPI) is an application programming interface included with Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides services to enable developers to secure Windows-based applications using cryptography. ... In computer science, runtime or run time describes the operation of a computer program, the duration of its execution, from beginning to termination (compare compile time). ...


EFS works by encrypting a file with a bulk symmetric key (also known as the File Encryption Key, or FEK) , which is used because it takes a relatively smaller amount of time to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than if an asymmetric key cipher is used. The symmetric key that is used to encrypt the file is then encrypted with a public key that is associated with the user who encrypted the file, and this encrypted data is stored in the header of the encrypted file. To decrypt the file, the file system uses the private key of the user to decrypt the symmetric key that is stored in the file header. It then uses the symmetric key to decrypt the file. Because this is done at the file system level, it is transparent to the user.[25] A symmetric-key algorithm is an algorithm for cryptography that uses the same cryptographic key to encrypt and decrypt the message. ... In cryptography, an asymmetric key algorithm uses a pair of different, though related, cryptographic keys to encrypt and decrypt. ... PKC, see PKC (disambiguation) Public-key cryptography is a form of modern cryptography which allows users to communicate securely without previously agreeing on a shared secret key. ...


In case of a user losing access to their key, support for recovery agents that can decrypt files is built in to EFS.


[edit] Basic and dynamic disk storage

Main article: Logical Disk Manager

Windows 2000 introduced the Logical Disk Manager for dynamic storage. All versions of Windows 2000 support three types of dynamic disk volumes (along with basic disks) : simple volumes, spanned volumes and striped volumes: The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ... The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ... The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ... The Logical Disk Manager (LDM) is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Windows, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. ...

  • Simple volume, a volume with disk space from one disk.
  • Spanned volumes, where multiple disks (up to 32) show up as one, increasing it in size but not enhancing performance. When one disk fails, the array is destroyed. Some data may be recoverable. This corresponds to JBOD and not to RAID-1.
  • Striped volumes, also known as RAID-0, store all their data across several disks in stripes. This allows better performance because disk read and writes are balanced across multiple disks.

Windows 2000 also added support for the iSCSI protocol. In computing, a redundant array of independent disks (more commonly known as a RAID) is a system of using multiple hard drives for sharing or replicating data among the drives. ... In computing, a redundant array of inexpensive disks, also later known as redundant array of independent disks (commonly abbreviated RAID) is a system which uses multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among the drives. ... In computing, a redundant array of inexpensive disks, also later known as redundant array of independent disks (commonly abbreviated RAID) is a system which uses multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among the drives. ... iSCSI is a protocol that allows clients (called initiators) to send SCSI commands (CDBs) to SCSI storage devices (targets) on remote servers. ...


[edit] Accessibility support

Windows 2000 onscreen keyboard map allows users who have problems with using the keyboard to use a mouse to input text.
Windows 2000 onscreen keyboard map allows users who have problems with using the keyboard to use a mouse to input text.

Microsoft made an effort to increase the usability of Windows 2000 over Windows NT 4.0 for people with visual and auditory impairments and other disabilities. They included several utilities designed to make the system more accessible, although many of these accessibility features were already available with previous versions of Windows: The Windows 2000 onscreen keyboard map. ... The Windows 2000 onscreen keyboard map. ... Windows NT 4. ... Look up disability in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In human-computer interaction, computer accessibility refers to the usability of a computer system by people with disabilities or age-related limitations. ...

  • FilterKeys: These are a group of keyboard related features for people with typing issues, and include:
    • SlowKeys: Ignore keystrokes that are not held down for a certain time period.
    • BounceKeys: Multiple keystrokes to one key to be ignored within a certain timeframe.
    • RepeatKeys: allows users to slow down the rate at which keys are repeated via the keyboard's keyrepeat feature.
  • ToggleKeys: when turned on, Windows will play a sound when either the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK or SCROLL LOCK keys are pressed.
  • MouseKeys: allows the cursor to be moved around the screen via the numeric keypad instead of the mouse.
  • On-screen keyboard: allows users to use a mouse to use the keyboard and enter on-screen keyboard characters.
  • SerialKeys: gives Windows 2000 the ability to support speech augmentation devices.
  • StickyKeys: makes modifier keys (ALT, CTRL and SHIFT) become "sticky" — in other words a user can press the modifier key, release that key and then press the combination key. Normally the modifier key must remain pressed down to activate the sequence (Activated by pressing Shift 5 times quickly).
  • Microsoft Magnifier: A screen magnifier that assists users with visual impairments by magnifying the part of the screen they place their mouse over.
  • Narrator: Microsoft Narrator, introduced in Windows 2000, assists users with visual impairments with system messages, as when these appear the narrator will read this out via the sound system.
  • High contrast theme: to assist users with visual impairments.
  • SoundSentry: designed to help users with auditory impairments, Windows 2000 will show a visual effect when a sound is played through the sound system.

A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Mouse keys is a feature of some operating systems used to improve accessibility to disabled users. ... Look up Keyboard in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A keyboard can refer to a: Alphanumeric keyboard, any keyboard that has both letter and numbers on it Typewriter keyboard Computer keyboard IBM PC keyboard Musical keyboard, a keyboard on a musical instrument Keyboard instrument, such as the piano Keyboard synthesizer, a... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with virtual keyboard. ... Sticky keys is a feature of computer Desktop Environments. ... In computing, a modifier key is a special key on a computer keyboard that modifies the normal action of another key when the two are pressed in combination. ... Microsoft Magnifier is a magnification tool for the visually impaired to use Microsoft Windows. ... A screen magnifier is software that interfaces with a computers graphical output to present enlarged screen content. ... Visual impairment is the functional loss of vision. ... Narrator in Windows XP Narrator is a light-duty screen reader utility packaged with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. ...

[edit] Language and locale support

Windows 2000 has support for many languages other than English. It supports Arabic, Armenian, Baltic, Central European, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Indic, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkic, Vietnamese and Western European languages.[26] It also has support for many different locales, a list of which can be found on Microsoft's website. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Arabic redirects here. ... The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. ... Central Europe The Alpine Countries and the Visegrád Group (Political map, 2004) Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Traditional Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 正體字/繁體字, Simplified Chinese: 正体字/繁体字) refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are traditionally considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ... In computing, locale is a set of parameters that defines the users language, country and any special variant preferences that the user wants to see in their user interface. ...


[edit] Games support

Windows 2000 included version 7.0 of the DirectX API, commonly used by game developers on Windows 98.[27] The last supported version of DirectX that Windows 2000 supports is DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0) , the same version as the one shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2.[28] The majority of games written for recent versions of DirectX could therefore run on Windows 2000, in contrast to Windows NT 4.0, which only provided support for DirectX 3.0. Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. ... An application programming interface (API) is a source code interface that a computer system or program library provides in order to support requests for services to be made of it by a computer program. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... Windows 98 (codenamed Memphis) is a graphical operating system released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft and the successor to Windows 95. ...


[edit] System utilities

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is used for administering Windows 2000 computers.
The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is used for administering Windows 2000 computers.

Windows 2000 introduced the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) , which is used to create, save, and open administrative tools. Each of the tools is called a console, and most consoles allow an administrator to administer other Windows 2000 computers from one centralised computer. Each console can contain one or many specific administrative tools, called snap-ins. Snap-ins can be either standalone (performs one function) , or extensions (adds functionality to an existing snap-in). In order to provide the ability to control what snap-ins can be seen in a console, the MMC allows consoles to be created in author mode or created in user mode. Author mode allows snap-ins to be added, new windows to be created, all portions of the console tree can be displayed and for consoles to be saved. User mode allows consoles to be distributed with restrictions applied. User mode consoles can grant full access to the user so they can make whatever changes they desire, or they can grant limited access to users which prevents users adding snapins to the console, though they can view multiple windows in a console. Alternatively users can be granted limited access, preventing them from adding to the console and stopping them viewing multiple windows in a single console.[29] Download high resolution version (1024x768, 32 KB)Screenshot of the Microsoft Management Console in Windows 2000. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 32 KB)Screenshot of the Microsoft Management Console in Windows 2000. ... MMC on Windows Server 2003, running Computer Management snap-in The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor the system. ...

The Windows 2000 Computer Management console is capable of performing many system tasks. It is pictured here starting a disk defragmentation.
The Windows 2000 Computer Management console is capable of performing many system tasks. It is pictured here starting a disk defragmentation.

The main tools that come with Windows 2000 can be found in the Computer Management console (found in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel). This contains the Event Viewer — a means of seeing events and the Windows equivalent of a log file, a system information utility, a backup utility, Task Scheduler and management consoles to view open shared folders and shared folder sessions, configure and manage COM+ applications, configure Group Policy, manage all the local users and user groups, and a device manager. It also contains