Windows 2000 Drivers anywhere?

[miga]

Hi, is there anywhere on earth where I can get hold of Driver CDs for Windows 2000?

I just acquired Win2000 with OEM & COA & SP4.

I had absentmindedly assumed that since the Win2K came with COA/OEM, it would also come with drivers.

I assumed wrong, and now paying the penalty. I don't want to take a chance on installing Win2000, only to find out that I can't connect to Internet.

Because sometime down the road, I may get an older laptop (not sure which), so I want to be covered for any potential system I may get, which is why I'd like to get hold of the same drivers that come with the original Win2000 box, since those probably cover alot of the more common systems.

 

[cprince]

I don't know, but most drivers for XP should also work for 2000.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: miga
Hi, is there anywhere on earth where I can get hold of Driver CDs for Windows 2000?

I just acquired Win2000 with OEM & COA & SP4.

I had absentmindedly assumed that since the Win2K came with COA/OEM, it would also come with drivers.

I assumed wrong, and now paying the penalty. I don't want to take a chance on installing Win2000, only to find out that I can't connect to Internet.

Because sometime down the road, I may get an older laptop (not sure which), so I want to be covered for any potential system I may get, which is why I'd like to get hold of the same drivers that come with the original Win2000 box, since those probably cover alot of the more common systems.

there is no "driver disk" for windows 2000...driver disks are for your HARDWARE. An OS does not need drivers, hardware needs drivers.

 

[Robor]

Download the drivers for your system in advance and put them on a USB drive, CD, etc.

 

[Arkaign]

To put it more simply, you need to determine the drivers that you need for your various hardware, and search for them. Best source is the mfg. themselves, but you may be forced to look into 3rd-party sites as well. Good news is that you should be able to download all of the drivers you need without a major problem, just takes patience sometimes.

Is your PC a branded system, or a 'white-box' custom unit? If it's custom, can you determine the model and mfg of system board?

You will probably want to load, in this order :

(1)- Chipset drivers (Via/Intel/SiS/Nvidia/ATi/etc)
(2)- LAN drivers
(3)- Video drivers
(4)- Sound/Modem/accessory/printer/etc

 

[miga]

Thanks nweaver, arkaign and everyone!

Yeah, that was stupid of me to say "drivers for Win2000"

Is your PC a branded system, or a 'white-box' custom unit? If it's custom, can you determine the model and mfg of system board?

You will probably want to load, in this order :

(1)- Chipset drivers (Via/Intel/SiS/Nvidia/ATi/etc)
(2)- LAN drivers
(3)- Video drivers
(4)- Sound/Modem/accessory/printer/etc

My current PC is Dell Dimension 4600 which came with XP & Driver CDs.

Belarc Advisor readout:
Main Circuit Board: Board: Dell Computer Corp. [6-digit ID #]
Serial Number: [14-digit ID
Bus Clock: 533 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corp. ### 07/21/2003

Does this mean that if I decide to install Win2000 on my current PC (which already has XP installed) I would still be able to use the Dell Drivers & Utilities CDs to complete the installation?

The Dell CDs are as follows:

(1) The first Driver/Utilities CD Contents:
Device drivers
Diagnostics & utilities
Computer documentation

(2) The 2nd Driver/Utilities CD Contents:
Diagnostics & utilities
Online documentation
Phone Tools fax software
Modem on Hold

Except I suspect that alot of the above is alot of extraneous stuff I don't need anyway.

ANOTHER QUESTION:

Assume in future I'm seeking a laptop, I guess I should make absolutely sure to ask the seller if it comes with all the drivers that are connected with the laptop compoents? Or should I be even more specific, and ask the seller if it comes with "chipset, LAN, etc. etc.?"

 

[Arkaign]

Go to http://support.dell.com and you can locate your drivers

When buying new/used PCs, it has become somewhat rare to receive driver cds. Do not worry, it is usually trivial to download the current drivers from the mfg or chipset maker's web sites.

 

[miga]

I had already went to the Dell site, but couldn't figure out what to do.

If I decide to install Win2000 on my current XP-system, can I just use the drivers which came along with the Dell XP CDs?

But as for knowing what to do with a potential future system, I may be in trouble, unless I have another working computer online nearby.

Now I see that unless people have 2 working systems always on hand, they're in big trouble.