In this post I will show you how to install Windows Server 2008 as a workstation operating system on a Dell XPS M1330. It makes a great workstation OS for power users, server software developers and SharePoint experts alike.

Table Of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Installing Windows Server 2008
• Installing SQL Server 2005
• Installing and Setting Up MOSS 2007
• Tuning Windows Server 2008 for Better Desktop Experience
• Summary

Before going into details let me tell you what we will have when finished:

• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (x64 Edition)
• Fully functional installation of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Wireless Networking using Intel’s latest driver for the 4965AGN adapter
• Full video support for nVidia GeForce 8400M GS
• Working audio thanks to Vista’s x64 Sigmatel drivers
• Have fun with your integrated webcam
• Update: got Bluetooth working now (read here)
• Ricoh SD card slot works as well

As you can see wireless networking, full video and audio support have been my primary concerns when I decided to undertake this endavour because laptop chipsets have always been hard to get running in “foreign environment” but let me assure you that it is easier to get things running as I initially thought, mainly because Windows Vista’s x64 drivers seem to work quite well on Windows Server 2008.

Be aware: no Cisco VPN Client support with this x64 installation

A major drawback with x64 systems is Cisco ignorance of the existance of 64-bit operating systems alltogether. Cisco’s latest VPN Client does work neither on Windows Vista x64 nor on Windows Server 2008 x64. Instead it is suggested to use Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client instead which currently only supports SSL and might require some companies to upgrade their equipment. Very disappointing.

Prerequisites

You will have to download some files before we can start. Here is a quick list of the essentials:

• Latest driver for nVidia’s series of 8400 video controllers. (Vista x64 version)
• SQL Server 2005 SP2 x64
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 x64 with SP1 included
• Vista x64 drivers for XPS M1330
  You will need: Bluetooth drivers (filed under Communication), Sigmatel Audio, Intel Mobile Chipset, Creative Labs Laptop Integrated Webcam (filed under Peripherals), Ricoh Card Slot)
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN for Windows Vista x64

You may also want to download Dell’s driver for the Intel GM965 Express Chipset Family if you have not chosen to purchase the M1330 with a standalone video controller. However, I cannot make any statements about the usability of this driver with Windows Server 2008. Feel free to let me know if you got it working in case you tried to do so.

Please note that all steps outlined below have been carried out on Windows Server 2006 x64. If you have plans to apply this guide to a x86 version please make sure you get the right files for your hardware.

BTW: keep a LAN cable or USB stick around. You’ll need one or the other after the operating system’s setup procedure.

Installing Windows Server 2008

There is not much to say about the installation procedure which is quite straight forward. However, there is one thing to remember: if you ever plan to use WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007 on this server make sure you do not select the “Core Installation” during setup since it will support neither WSS 3.0 nor MOSS 2007.

When finished installing Windows Server 2008 the only working networking option is Ethernet. You may either want to plug in a network cable or use an USB stick to transfer the drivers you downloaded previously.

Configure Server Roles and Features

To install additional Windows components we use the Server Manager. The “Turn Windows features on or off” / “Add remove windows components” has all been integrated into the Server Manager now.

Before doing anything else we want to configure Server Roles:

1. Open the Server Manager (Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager)
2. In the Roles Summary panel click Add Roles
3. Select the two Roles Application Server and Web Server (IIS)
   Windows will add additional required features automatically.
   • If you plan to use SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on the same machine you will have to add the IIS 6 Management Compatibility option and all suboptions as well.
4. Click Next and follow the instructions.

For smooth operation of wireless networking we will activate the Wireless LAN Service feature:

1. Open the Server Manager (Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager)
2. Click Features on the left and select Add Features in the Features Summary panel.
3. Select the Wireless LAN Service feature.
4. Click Next and follow the instructions.

That’s all we need to setup on the Windows side for now. Let’s move on and get some hardware up and running.

Setup Wireless Networking

Once you’ve transferred the the driver extract it and run iSetup.exe from the Disk\Vista\Drivers directory. It will just finish without any problems.

Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Manage Network Connections and you’ll see your WLAN adapter operational. Right click on the icon to connect to a wireless network.

If your network adapter does not show up you may want to try updating the driver in the Hardware Manager manually pointing to the driver’s files.

nVidia Video Controller Setup

OK, this one is a bit tricky. Due to the fact that nVidia releases drivers for a wide range of chipsets which are all based on a unified architecture it is most likely that the driver for the 8400 family of video controllers you’ve downloaded previously will work for Dell’s XPS M1330 as well. Unfortunately, the list of supported controllers lists the 8400 GS but not its mobile sibling the 8400M GS. Thus, all attempts to install this set of drivers will fail although both chipsets use the same driver after all.

The reason for this issue is simple. nVidias .INF file contained in the driver archive tells the operating system that the installed adapter is incompatible with the binary which essentially means that all we have to do is patch the the .INF file.

Follow these simple steps to replace the .INF file with a working one:

1. Copy the driver archive (SomeName.exe) to a temporary directory (i.e. C:\Temp)
2. Open the command prompt (Start > Run > Enter: cmd)
3. Change to the temporary directory (i.e. cd \Temp)
4. Execute the following command:
   SomeName.exe /extract
   This will bring up a dialig asking where to extract the files to.
5. Navigate to the directory containing the files and replace the file nv_disp.inf with this one
   Needless to say: make a copy of the original file before replacing it.
6. Start setup.exe to perform the actual setup and follow the instructions.
7. Reboot your system look for advanced options in the Display Settings dialog.

Installing Bluetooth (added 2008-07-20 18:28)

Trying to install Dell’s Bluetooth drivers using the installer will fail. You’re forced to update the driver manually via the Device Manager. While that will enable the built-in Bluetooth adapter you cannot connect any devices since auxilliary device drivers like HID Control are still missing. I additionally tried updating them manually which failed.

As Gil Kirkpatrick illustrated in his post the problem lies in the .INF files which are by default configured to ignore server operating systems. Changing a single value in each of the .INF files will allow to use Bluetooth on a server operating system. Download this archive which contains all necessary and pre-patched files and follow the instructions below.

1. Install Dell’s Bluetooth driver (or whatever you have at hand if you’re not installing on a XPS M1330 laptop):
   1. Extract the driver archive to a temporary directory
   2. Open the Device Manager (Start > Control Panel > System > Device Manager) and locate the BTxxx device node
   3. Right-click the node an select Update Driver Software and instruct the installer to Brows my computer for driver software pointing it to the temporary directory.

   You now have a working Bluetooth adapter but no working interface devices like a Bluetooth HID Device, at least not yet.

2. Apply the patched .INF files:
   1. Download this this archive and extract it to a temporary directory.
   2. In the Device Manager locate the Unknown devices nodes and update their drivers manually by right-clicking them and selecting Update Driver Software. Point the installer to the directory containing the extracted files.
   3. Repeat this process for all Unknown devices.

Now you should have a fully functional Bluetooth stack on you Windows Server 2008 installation. If you have problems doing the same just let me know.

Installing Additional Drivers

Now let’s install the Sigmatel Audio Driver, Intel Mobility Chipset, SD Card Slot and Creative Labs Laptop Integrated Webcam driver.

I quickly go over it: simply install one driver after the other. No special treatment for any of the drivers necessary, except for the sound: you’ll have to start the Windows Audio service in order to make use of the capabilities of the newly installed Sigmatel audio driver.

While it is easy to get the Upek Biometric Coprocessor driver installed it won’t do anything until the UPEK Protector Suite QL has been installed which is available for x64 systems but cannot be downloaded from Dell’s website. For $15 USD it is yours: get it from here. Owners of Intel and Compaq laptops are lucky and can upgrade for free.

Installing SQL Server 2005

For detailed instructions on how to install SQL Server 2005 see this TechNet article.

If you plan to install SQL Server 2005 on this system you must apply Service Pack 2 right after installation (requirement for Windows Server 2008). I am a great fan of the Reporting Services which depend on IIS 6 functionality. A fact that is reflected by SQL Server 2005 Setup complaining about missing IIS features when trying an install on a system with IIS 7. In case you haven’t already done so, please add the IIS 6 Management Compatibility options to IIS 7 using the Server Manager as described above.

Installing and Setting Up MOSS 2007

Now comes the interesting part. Let’s setup MOSS 2007 on Windows Server 2008 running an instance of SQL Server 2005.

Preliminary Information

WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 can only be installed with Service Pack 1. That’s why you’ve not downloaded WSS 3.0 SP1 but WSS 3.0 including SP1. For obvious reasons you cannot download MOSS 2007 with SP1 included so we will have to slipstream installation by ourselves.

MOSS 2007 Installation

In order to allow MOSS 2007 to be installed on Windows Server 2008 we have to provide the necessary updates prior to installation. Here is how it can be done:

1. Copy all installation files from you MOSS 2007 CD/DVD to a temporary directory (i.e. C:\Temp\moss).
2. Copy both the WSS 3.0 SP1 and MOSS 2007 SP1 to another temporary directory (C:\Temp\sp1)
3. Next, we need to copy all files inside the SP1 archives into the MOSS 2007 Updates directory usually located at \x64\Updates depending on your platform:
   1. Open a console (Start > Run > Enter: cmd) and navigate to the SP1′s temporary directory
      cd C:\Temp\sp1
   2. Extract both archives to the Updates directory using the following commands:
      officeserver2007sp1-kb936984-x64-fullfile-en-us.exe /extract:C:\Temp\moss\x64\Updates
      wssv3sp1-kb936988-x64-fullfile-en-us.exe /extract:C:\Temp\moss\x64\Updates

      You will find all extracted files in the Updates directory.

4. Start the MOSS 2007 installation and follow the instructions.

Note: All attempts to install Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 without slipstream installation will fail. Fortunately, the procedure described above will work perfectly for MOPS 2007 as well.

Tuning Windows Server 2008 for Improved Desktop Experience

Since we are working on a workstation we have to make some minor adjustments to this Windows Server 2008 installation. We will turn off some features being useful in server environemnts but increasingly annoying on a workstation, we will improve responsiveness and make its appearence more sexy.

Adding The Desktop Experience Feature

The Desktop Experience Feature enables a couple of components that are present by default on a desktop OS like Windows Vista. Most importantly it activates Themes, adsd the Windows Media player and the Aero related features to your configuration. You will have to enable it form the Server Manager:

1. Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager > Features and select Desktop Experience
   Installing the Desktop Experience feature does not enable them. You have to manually set them up.
2. See next step to enable theming.

Enabling Themes

You may remember from Windows Server 2003 enabling the Themes service allowed users to experience the Windows XP look on the server side. The same is true for Windows Server 2008.

1. Open the Services management console: Start > Administrative Tools > Services
2. Locate the Themes service, double-click it, select Start Type Automatic and start it right away.
3. Go to Start > Control Panel > Personalization > Theme to enable Aero, Themes and other cool stuff to make Windows Server a bit more sexy.

Windows Search

On Windows Server 2008 search is disabled by default. If you need searching for emails in Outlook 2007 or other applications that rely on Windows Search you may want to activate it. To enable search you will have to add the File Services Role via Server Manager:

• Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager > Roles and select File Services > Windows Search.

Enable Windows Audio Service

If you haven’t already done so while configuring the Sigmatel Audio chipset you will have to enable Windows Audio to hear anything.

1. Open the Services management console: Start > Administrative Tools > Services
2. Locate the Windows Audio service, double-click it, select Start Type Automatic and start it right away.

Disabling The Shutdown Event Tracker

Evertime you shutdown a Windows Server a pop up appears which is used to keep track of all shutdowns and restarts. On a workstation this is just annoying so we want to turn it off:

1. Open a blank MMC: Start > Run > Enter: mmc
2. Select File > Add/Remove Snap-in… and choose Group Policy Objects from the list of available snap-ins
3. Navigate to node: Local Computer Security > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System
4. Find in the list of Settings Display Shutdown Event Tracker, double-click it and set it to Disabled.
5. Close the console.

Better Responsiveness with Superfetch

SuperFetch is an enhancement of the Prefetcher that you have probably seen mentioned in previous versions of Windows. The Prefetcher is in charge of storing program information so that often-used programs and processes can run faster. In Vista, the Prefetcher has been tweaked and changed to be much more aggressive and intelligent in its caching to give even greater performance. This new functionality is called SuperFetch.

On Windows Server 2008 Superfetch is disabled by default. To enable it we have to hack the registry which we have to do before starting the Superfetch service which would result in an error:

1. Open the registry editor: Start > Run > Enter: regedit
2. Navigate to the following node:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
3. Create the following two values:
   1. Name: EnablePrefetcher, type: DWORD, value: 3
   2. Name: EnableSuperfetch, type: DWORD, value: 3

Finally, we have to enable the Superfetch service:

1. Open the Services management console: Start > Administrative Tools > Services
2. Locate the Superfetch service, double-click it, select Start Type Automatic and start it right away.

Adjust Scheduling Of Processes Depending On Your Preferences

You may want to dedicate more processor time to interactive programs or background processes according to your usage patterns. I dedicate more CPU time to background processes for MOSS 2007 and SQL Server 2005 development.

Adjust the settings by navigating deep into system settings:

1. Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Advanced Tab > Settings (Performance) > Advanced
2. Choose either from Programs or Background services

While we are at it: adjust the visual effects setting in the Visual Effects tab.

Turning Off IE 7 Enhanced Security

To prevent Internet Explorer 7 from barking all the time we want to deactivate IE7 Enhanced Security:

1. Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager > Security Information > Configure IE ESC
2. Depending on you usage patterns you can disable it for administrators only or for other users as well.

Summary

As we can see, the whole procedure to get MOSS 2007 running on a Dell XPS M1330 with a 64-bit server operating system is rather painless. I wrote up this article to show that all rumors about Windows Server 2008 being hard to handle, being unable to be installed on laptops and about getting MOSS 2007 to run on is extremely difficult are all exaggerated. Many things have changed since early Windows Server 2008 CTPs and RCs which indeed needed some hacking to set it up properly.

Except for Bluetooth, we turned Windows Server 2008 into a fully operational workstation OS with complete 3D video support, a working webcam and audio support.

As stated at the beginning Bluetooth has yet to be configured properly. Dell’s Vista drivers can be installed but my mouse refuses to move although the devices can been found and bound to the system. Again, any information on that issue is highly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.