hp desktop pcs, Windows NT workstation 4.0 - the easiest upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional (Microsoft document)

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Creating the Test Environment
Regardless of which desktop operating system(s) are currently deployed in
a business, it is strongly recommended that a test lab is set up in order to
verify the upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional for all possible scenarios.
This is a key exercise to ensure a high degree of success with actual
deployments.
In many cases, it may also be necessary to build multi-disciplined project
teams that can take responsibility for specific technical and operational
aspects of the planned upgrade.
The project team should also be responsible for delivering a “Testing Plan”
against which the success of the upgrade can be assessed together with
clear ownership for the resolution of any exceptions that may occur during
the upgrade testing process.
Trial Runs
The setup procedure for Windows 2000 Professional includes an “Upgrade
Check-Only Mode” which can be used to ‘trial run’ the upgrade ahead of
the real exercise. This mode produces a report that flags potential issues
that are likely to be encountered during the upgrade including hardware
that is not yet supported by Windows 2000 Professional and any software
requiring changes to ensure compatibility. This allows for a structured
problem resolution plan to be implemented before these issues have a
chance to surface on production systems.
The “Upgrade Check-Only Mode” also supports scripting that allows
compatibility data to be stored by each user on a centralized network
location for IT analysis.
Pilot Upgrades
The advance work conducted in the lab will allow for the identification and
elimination of many issues prior actual deployments. However, it is
important to also test the full upgrade process on a representative sample
of typical corporate desktops.
As with the “Upgrade Check-only Mode” option discussed above, the actual
setup process includes functionality that will examine a systems hardware
and software for potential incompatibilities by comparing the findings with a
database of compatible hardware and rules. Note that in certain
circumstances, such as when critical hardware device drivers (i.e. hard disk
controllers) are not available for Windows 2000 Professional, the Setup
process will abort until such drivers are installed.
THE BEST UPGRADE IS A
WELL PLANNED UPGRADE