Install Windows Server 2019 and Review the Archived Driver Setup

This archived OEM walkthrough covers a new Windows Server 2019 installation and separate chipset/network-device setup examples. Four equivalent English setup figures are reused from Dell’s official Windows Server 2019 guide; the remaining Chinese screens are translated illustrations, except the original English Loading files screen. Official replacements are identified in their captions and are not presented as captures from the OEM’s original session.

Protect all needed data before partitioning or installing. Verify the actual server, storage controller, RAID logical drive, firmware boot mode, OS media and supported driver packages. Identify the intended installation target before any write. No OS installation, activation, driver update, disk change or reboot was performed while preparing this article.

1. Boot installation media and choose regional settings

Boot the intended USB, optical or supported virtual installation media using the server’s supported boot menu. Respond to the initial Press any key to boot/continue prompt if shown. Wait for the loading/startup stages:

Choose the appropriate installation language, time/currency format and keyboard/input method, then Next. The official English example below uses English (United States) and US; the OEM’s original selected Chinese (Simplified, China) and Microsoft Pinyin. Use the choices supported by your actual media and needs:

Official Dell Windows Server 2019 language-selection example — Official English equivalent, not a translation of the original selections: the pictured language and keyboard differ from the Chinese OEM example.

Choose Install now to begin installation:

Official Dell Windows Server 2019 Install now screen — Equivalent official English screen; the source’s red annotation is not part of this official image.

2. Product-key prompt and edition choice

If Setup requests a product key, use the appropriate valid key and activation process for the licensed media. The source shows an empty field; it then highlights I don’t have a product key as an available alternative in that installer:

English illustration of the empty product-key field and disabled Next

English illustration of the source I do not have a product key option

Choosing that option, where the media permits it, does not grant a license or prove that activation will later succeed. The source screen’s reinstall/automatic-activation statement is retained as archived UI text; actual activation depends on entitlement, edition, media and activation method. No usable key is included in these figures.

Select the required licensed edition and Desktop Experience if a full local desktop is intended. The OEM source selected Datacenter (Desktop Experience) from Standard and Datacenter choices, dated 2018/10/29. The equivalent official English figure below also highlights Datacenter (Desktop Experience), but its media lists only the two Datacenter options and shows 10/9/2018:

Official Dell Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, Desktop Experience selection — Equivalent official media example. Its edition list/date differ from the original four-row OEM screen; it does not establish the edition or entitlement of your media.

Entries without Desktop Experience are the Server Core alternatives. Windows Server 2019 does not support switching an installed Core system to Desktop Experience or vice versa; choose the required installation option up front.

The source’s statement that Standard/Datacenter licensing is limited to two physical processors is inaccurate for the stated Windows Server 2019 core-based model. Microsoft’s 2019 licensing datasheet says to license all physical cores, subject to its per-processor and per-server minimums. Under that model, Standard provides two operating-system environments per complete applicable licensing allocation, with additional allocations needed for additional environments; Datacenter provides unlimited OSE rights on the appropriately licensed server. These are licensing conditions, not a hardware maximum or a substitute for your actual agreement and required access licenses. Consult the linked Microsoft material for the applicable terms.

3. Accept the actual terms and choose a new installation

Read the actual applicable notices and license terms. If you accept them, select I accept the license terms and Next. The source’s diagnostic-data notice describes historical levels Security, Basic, Enhanced and Full and an Enhanced default; the illustration records that archived notice rather than asserting the current configuration of every server:

English illustration of the archived notices and checked license-terms box

For this new-install workflow, choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced), marked by the source rectangle. It does not perform the supported in-place Upgrade workflow or preserve applications/settings as that workflow would. Confirm the backup before any target-partition changes:

English illustration of the source Custom installation option

4. Load a matching storage driver if the target is absent

If the expected disk or logical drive is missing, choose Load driver. Installation media do not include every controller driver. An empty list alone does not diagnose the cause or authorize creating a new array on disks with needed data:

English illustration of the empty target list and disabled Next

Provide the correct extracted driver package through supported media, then Browse in the Load driver prompt:

English illustration of the storage-driver media prompt

Select the actual driver folder and OK. The original uses USB Drive (C:) and win10_winser2016_winser2019_x64. That is an example folder name, not evidence of support for every OS/controller named in it:

English illustration of the source storage-driver folder

The next source screen lists Avago MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i from MegaSAS2.inf and a separate LSI MegaRAID Virtual Device from nodev.inf in that C: folder. Select the package matching the actual controller, OS and architecture, then Next. Do not choose any package merely because its display name includes RAID:

English illustration selecting the Avago MegaRAID SAS 9361-8i driver — The source controller, C: path and checked compatibility filter are preserved. The virtual-device row is a distinct entry.

If a supported, correctly matched driver still does not expose the expected target, inspect the actual existing controller/array state, cabling and hardware support before changing configuration. Do not re-create or clear an existing array as a generic missing-disk fix.

5. Select and partition the intended target

After the expected target appears, confirm its actual identity and capacity. For automatic layout, select the appropriate intended unallocated target and continue. For an intentional manual layout, use Drive options (advanced) where applicable, New, the desired size and Apply. The source shows Drive 0 Unallocated Space, 1117.3 GB, and enters 100000 MB:

English illustration of the source 100000 MB new-partition request

Review the warning that Setup may create additional partitions for system files, then confirm only for the intended target:

English illustration of the additional-system-partitions confirmation

The source’s resulting example layout is:

Source entry	Total	Free	Type
Drive 0 Partition 1: System Reserved	549.0 MB	532.0 MB	System
Drive 0 Partition 2, selected	97.1 GB	97.1 GB	Primary
Drive 0 Unallocated Space	1019.7 GB	1019.7 GB

English illustration of the source partition layout and Next

These are source values, not recommended minimum sizes or a universal partition recipe. The original says UEFI may add two or three partitions, but this particular figure shows System Reserved and a Primary partition without an EFI/MSR pair. It does not establish a UEFI layout or firmware mode. Preserve the partitions required by the actual boot mode and Windows media; do not delete or format system partitions or other disks merely to match this screenshot. The OS partition may be smaller than the requested allocation because system partitions consume space.

If the installation disc/media was removed or unmounted while loading a driver, restore it before proceeding. With the intended OS partition verified, choose Next. Wait for file copying, setup and the necessary restarts:

English illustration of Windows file preparation at zero percent — Only Copying Windows files is checked complete; this is not a finished installation.

The source describes restarts during installation and completion. Follow the actual Setup status rather than assuming an exact restart count; on subsequent boots, allow the installed system to continue rather than starting another new install from the media.

6. Set the administrator password and sign in

Set and confirm the built-in Administrator password according to the actual policy, retain it securely and choose Finish on the actual screen. The source fields are empty; the official equivalent below illustrates masked password entry and contains no disclosed password:

Official Dell administrator-password entry example — Official equivalent showing masked entries; the OEM’s original had empty fields and a highlighted Finish button. This crop does not depict a new password change.

After setup, use Ctrl+Alt+Delete to unlock and sign in with the credentials created for the installation:

English illustration of the source unlock screen — The original time/date are preserved as 11:55 and Sunday, June 14; they are not installation timing requirements.

7. Inspect devices and install the appropriate chipset package

After signing in, right-click Start and choose Device Manager. Inspect devices with warning icons and their status or hardware IDs before choosing packages. A yellow exclamation mark indicates a device/driver issue to investigate; it does not prove that every such device needs the same chipset package:

English illustration of opening Device Manager

English illustration of the source devices with warning icons

The source runs SetupChipset from a folder named intel_chipset_win_10.1.18015.8142_PV. Obtain the appropriate package from the system vendor and verify that it supports the actual platform/OS; a folder name or successful launch does not establish that. Intel explains that its Chipset Device Software supplies INF information for hardware identification, rather than installing every device’s functional driver:

English illustration of the source SetupChipset executable

Allow the intended installer to finish and inspect its actual result. The source first shows an in-progress bar and then a completion screen requiring restart:

English illustration of chipset software installation in progress — The source’s outer package name includes NF8480M5 and win2012R2_win2016_64bit. This naming is preserved as a separate source compatibility concern, not proof of Windows Server 2019 support.

English illustration of chipset software completion requiring restart — Restart now is highlighted in the source. The figure does not show that a restart actually occurred.

Restart as required by the verified package and actual result, after arranging the appropriate interruption. Recheck the remaining device status afterward; the source does not supply a complete before/after inventory proving that all warning entries were resolved.

8. Update the matching network-adapter driver

For the intended adapter, open its Device Manager context menu and choose Update driver. The source uses Intel(R) I350 Gigabit Network Connection and displays four adapter entries:

English illustration of the I350 Update driver context menu — The host identifier is omitted in this illustration; all four adapter rows and the selected first entry are retained.

Choose Browse my computer for driver software:

English illustration of the manual network-driver search option

The source’s next image highlights Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer. Its upper search box still shows C:\Users\Administrator\Documents with Include subfolders checked; that is not a displayed NIC-driver folder:

English illustration of Let me pick from a list of available drivers — The host identifier is omitted. The source Documents path is preserved rather than replaced with an invented driver path.

The intervening compatible-driver selection or Have Disk dialog is not pictured. Use the verified, extracted driver package matching the actual adapter and OS. Intel’s manual-install guide describes browsing to the extracted driver folder with Include subfolders enabled. That is a folder-based alternative to the source’s Let me pick branch, not evidence of the missing dialogs in this capture sequence. Follow the actual package guidance and do not force an incompatible INF just to follow the shortened example.

The source then shows Windows has successfully updated your drivers for Intel(R) I350 Gigabit Network Connection. Close that result, inspect the actual adapter/driver status, and perform any required restart and network checks:

English illustration of the source I350 driver-update result

The source ends by requiring a restart for its driver changes. Follow the actual installer/vendor requirements and verify connectivity afterward. This one adapter-update message does not establish link connectivity, throughput, all devices’ health, activation, role configuration or application readiness. No update or reboot was performed here.

References

The official equivalent figures are reused for common Windows Setup tasks. Dell-specific F2/boot-order, controller or edition recommendations are not made requirements for the OEM server. The remaining original Chinese figures were edited individually, preserving the source’s intermediate states and explicitly noted gaps.