Legacy-Free Computers Take Longer to Install Windows 2000 (278011)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q278011

SYMPTOMS

When you use Remote Installation Service (RIS) to install an operating system on a legacy-free computer, RIS takes much longer to install the operating system than it takes to install the operating system on a computer that is not legacy free.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because after RIS transfers the first file, Startrom.com, by using Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), the inter-packet gap between subsequent TFTP packets increases until there is a delay of several hundred milliseconds between frames. The accumulation of these slow response times creates the difference in the total installation time.

After the Startrom.com file runs, it stops responding (hangs) when it tries to gain access to port 64. Every time that the file tries to gain access to the port, the code begins a time-out loop which causes the overall delay.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: 
   Date        Time     Version     Size     Platform  File name
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   11/21/2000  06:47pm  1.10.101.0  321,208            Q278011_W2K_SP2_x86_en.exe 
   11/06/2000  08:08pm              213,920  Intel     Ntldr
   11/06/2000  08:08pm              229,792  Intel     Setupldr.bin
   11/06/2000  08:08pm               20,614  Intel     Startrom.com
   11/06/2000  08:08pm               20,614  Intel     Startrom.n12

The hotfix installation package does not install the file directly in the RIS folder tree. This package prompts the installer for an extraction folder to place the updated files. You must manually copy the files to the specified folders before they work.

Place the files in the following table in the RIS folder tree on a RIS server, where computer_name is the name of the computer.

File nameFile location
Startrom.com\\computer_name\Reminst\Oschooser\I386
Startrom.n12\\computer_name\Reminst\Oschooser\I386
Startrom.com\\computer_name\Reminst\Setup\Language\Images\Imagename\I386\Templates
Ntldr\\computer_name\Reminst\Setup\Language\Images\Imagename\I386
Setupldr.binThis file is not required by RIS

The path section (image name and language) are variable. There can be any number of languages and image name's on any RIS server that require the update. The files must be placed in all images that are on the RIS server to work on all installations.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to install Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 hotfixes at the same time, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

249149 Installing Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Hotfixes

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/26/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbenv kbfix kbRemoteProg kbWin2000PreSP2Fix w2000ris KB278011
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