Installing Windows 2000

System Requirements & Setup

Written in January 17, 2026

Released in February 2000, Windows 2000 was the successor to Windows NT 4.0 and was designed primarily for business and professional use. It was the first "NT-based" operating system to include a wide range of consumer-friendly features, such as improved Plug and Play support, the Windows Desktop Update, and support for the FAT32 file system.

You can watch my YouTube video about a Windows 2000 installation using VirtualBox.

Source: YouTube - Windows 2000 installation in VirtualBox (lab demo)

Instructions

To get Windows 2000 running well in VirtualBox, you should select the "Windows 2000" version template. Allocate 256 MB to 512 MB of RAM and 1 CPU core. While Windows 2000 supports larger disks, a virtual hard drive of 4 GB to 10 GB is perfect for a standard installation.

  1. Open VirtualBox and click "New" to create a new virtual machine.
  2. Name the VM (for example "Windows 2000 Pro"), set Type to "Microsoft Windows", and select the "Windows 2000" version template.
  3. Assign between 256 MB and 512 MB of RAM and leave at least 1 CPU core enabled.
  4. Create a new VDI virtual hard disk, dynamically allocated, with a size between 4 GB and 10 GB as recommended.
  5. Open the VM's Settings → Storage and attach your Windows 2000 ISO file to the virtual optical drive.
  6. In Settings → System, make sure the optical drive is first in the boot order so setup can start from the CD.
  7. Start the VM and press any key when prompted to boot from the CD.
  8. When the text-mode setup appears, create a new partition on the virtual disk and choose NTFS as the file system.
  9. Let the installer format the partition, copy files, and reboot into the graphical phase of setup.
  10. Follow the prompts to set your product key, regional options, computer name, and administrator password.
  11. After installation finishes, eject the ISO from the virtual drive and install VirtualBox Guest Additions (if available) to improve integration.