# Default Windows Installation of Admin Mod

First of all, if you have not yet read the Introductory Information page in the "Before you start" section of this document, you should do that now. In that section we discuss some key concepts as well as the differences between Admin Mod version 2.50e and prior versions. There are some key differences, so whether you are new to this or if you have been working with Admin Mod since it was first born, that section is important to become familiar with.

Admin Mod can be installed on any Windows platform that supports the HLDS server application, meaning any of the following (yes, it can also be installed on Linux, a little of which is covered later in this documentation):

- Windows 95 **

- Windows 98 **

- Windows NT4

- Windows ME **

- Windows 2000

- Windows XP

- etc.

** Note: The consumer versions of Windows (95/98/ME) are not recommended for running HLDS under any circumstances. It will work, but server performance and reliability will not be acceptable in many cases. Recommended versions of Windows as of the time of this publication are Windows NT4 and Windows 2000.

So, if you have a server running on a 32-bit Windows-based machine, you can successfully use the Admin Mod. We can’t guarantee the HLDS server will run well in all setups, but from extensive experience we can tell you that Admin Mod will work in these configurations.

For those of you performing Windows installations, a Visual Basic script is supplied that automates and simplifies installation of the mod, as long as you have a fairly typical installation of Half Life and any game mods. If you have specified any ultra-custom paths for your mods or half-life, the installation script may get confused, and you will need to do a manual installation which is covered later in this documentation.

There are a few important things to consider from the onset – if you are skimming this file, stop and read this next part carefully:

THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS BACK UP YOUR CONFIGURATION AND OTHER CUSTOM FILES!!!

If you think you’ll figure it out later, you might just be in for a surprise. Now, Admin Mod is easy to install, but our experience has shown us that people tend to skip this step. So, it bears repeating:

THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS BACK UP YOUR CONFIGURATION AND OTHER CUSTOM FILES!!!

Okay. Hopefully you get the picture. Come back here after you have completed your backup.

Next: Unzipping Admin Mod the Right Way