Why not use a Windows 2003 Server as a Desktop/Gaming OS?

There are even rumors that Xbox uses Server 2003 Code in its OS. And many people have found out that Windows 2003 is pretty good in gaming.

However if you are using Windows 2003 Server (any Windows 2003 Server) as a Desktop/Client/Gaming OS, you will need to enable/change certain services and features.

In Server - Sound, themes etc are disabled and Hardware Acceleration is also not enabled.

To enable themes, go to Start - Programs - Administrative Tools - Services - Themes
Right Click Themes - Properties
In Startup Type - select Automatic - Click Apply



Then click - Start - this will start the theme service.




Now you can see that you can get Windows XP Themes in Windows 2003.



If you want I have another theme for you here - download it and extract the contents to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes (%systemroot%\Resources\Themes)



Now to enable sound, go to Start - Programs - Administrative Tools - Services - Windows Audio



Right Click Themes - Properties
In Startup Type - select Automatic - Click Apply



Then click - Start - this will start the Windows Audio service.



For enabling graphics acceleration,

Right Click Desktop - properties - Settings - Advanced - Troubleshoot - Here Set Hardware Acceleration to Full..

or go to Control Panel - Display - Settings - Advanced - Troubleshoot - Here Set Hardware Acceleration to Full..



For enabling Sound acceleration,

Go to Control Panel - Sounds and Audio Devices - Audio - Sound Playback - Advanced - Performance - Here Set Hardware Acceleration to Full..



Note that Windows 2003 Server by default provides more preference to background services rather than the foreground programs. So you need to change this.

Right Click - My Computer - Properties



Click Advanced Tab - in Performance - Click Settings



Click Advanced Tab - Select Programs (in Processor Scheduling and Memory Usage) - Click OK

Posted in: 2003, desktop, windows