Server 2003 Upgrade to Server 2008?

I have a server with Server 2003 that's running a database package (as
well as a whole bunch of other software) and the clients attached to it
are running very slow. The software vendor says the problem is Server
2003 and that we need to upgrade to Server 2008.

We did purchase Server 2008 but I'm trying to figure out the best way to
go about this. Normally I would just backup, wipe the hard drive and
install from scratch and then reinstall. However in this case the server
has a ton of software and related stuff that makes this very difficult.
I've been under the impression that there is no way to upgrade Windows
server from one version to another. Is this the actual case, or is it
possible to do an "upgrade install" to retain all existing software and
settings?

Thanks,

- Chris

Hello Chris,

You can upgrade from Windows server 2003 to Windows server 2008:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=951041

But keep inmind that all the software MUST support Windows server 2008 and
also the drivers must be available for Windows server 2008.

So at least make a backup of all important data.

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm


> I have a server with Server 2003 that's running a database package (as
> well as a whole bunch of other software) and the clients attached to
> it are running very slow. The software vendor says the problem is
> Server 2003 and that we need to upgrade to Server 2008.
>
> We did purchase Server 2008 but I'm trying to figure out the best way
> to go about this. Normally I would just backup, wipe the hard drive
> and install from scratch and then reinstall. However in this case the
> server has a ton of software and related stuff that makes this very
> difficult. I've been under the impression that there is no way to
> upgrade Windows server from one version to another. Is this the actual
> case, or is it possible to do an "upgrade install" to retain all
> existing software and settings?
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Chris
>

Hi Meinolf,

I did as you had suggested and the upgrade seemed to go smoothly but it
was close to being done when there apparently was a problem. The upgrade
process rolled back to Server 2003 and everything is working normally
but still the upgrade failed with no explanation. I looked to see if I
could find a log file with details about what the problem was but
couldn't find anything.

Do you have any idea where the upgrade log file would be located?

Thanks,

- Chris


Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] wrote:
> Hello Chris,
>
> You can upgrade from Windows server 2003 to Windows server 2008:
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=951041
>
> But keep inmind that all the software MUST support Windows server 2008
> and also the drivers must be available for Windows server 2008.
>
> So at least make a backup of all important data.
>
> Best regards
>
> Meinolf Weber
> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
> confers no rights.
> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
> ** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>

Hello Chris,

Check if the following files exist:
setupact.log and setuperr.log

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm


> Hi Meinolf,
>
> I did as you had suggested and the upgrade seemed to go smoothly but
> it was close to being done when there apparently was a problem. The
> upgrade process rolled back to Server 2003 and everything is working
> normally but still the upgrade failed with no explanation. I looked to
> see if I could find a log file with details about what the problem was
> but couldn't find anything.
>
> Do you have any idea where the upgrade log file would be located?
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Chris
>
> Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] wrote:
>
>> Hello Chris,
>>
>> You can upgrade from Windows server 2003 to Windows server 2008:
>> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=951041
>>
>> But keep inmind that all the software MUST support Windows server
>> 2008 and also the drivers must be available for Windows server 2008.
>>
>> So at least make a backup of all important data.
>>
>> Best regards
>>
>> Meinolf Weber
>> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
>> confers no rights.
>> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>> ** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.ht