I’m getting myself back into the MCP exams again, this time a little different with an exam on the MCDBA track, the last I need, which is a windows server exam.

I got a cheap study guide off ebay for the Windows 2000 Server exam, and with virtual PC and an msdn copy of Windows 2000 Server Standard edition have been starting the build of the domain controller.

First problem! As the MSDN version on DVD includes several versions of Windows 2000, apparently with that version you can’t build a server by constructing boot floppies. You have to boot from another OS with CD support, then run the install from there. The actual error kicks in during the install of Windows 2000 Server, when it stops after an attempt to display the EULA.

I thought I was doing well creating an image file from a directory structure and mounting that into Virtual PC, but I’m now in the throes of trying to construct a boot floppy that has just enough for me to go to the next stage. More rusty skills working with a dos prompt – all those nice editors in windows have spoiled me. Even notepad is quite funky compared to the dos editor.