According to ATi's driver section the relevant Catalyst packages are for XP and Vista only. Looking at only the driver portion of the package this also only lists XP.

Has anyone any experience with running this card in Win2k? Can these XP drivers be forced or are they compatible with win2k anyhow, just not supported?

Not sure. Just dont use 3.1 , its dead

The could proably be forced, but 2k is ancient; things simply won't work right. Heck, all the games you need a 4850 for proably cant even Install on win 2k to begin with.

Just spend to $50, and find a XP install somewhere.

Win2K? This is 2008....that software is quickly approaching 10 years old. You want to buy the latest and greatest gaming GPU and run it on a 10 year old OS? You should sit down and completely re-think your situation.
It's time for an OS upgrade my friend.

Some people is stubborn.

The problem is Win2k is the last MS OS that does not use product activation. I refuse to support wga and will push every last bit of use I can get out of Win2k and not "simply upgrade" like a lemming walking into its own doom.

You know... This might not be a good place to talk about it but....

.... You know there's a way to disable product activation in Windows XP and Vista? I do it to avoid the hassle. And it also affects performance. By removing excess stuff that don't contribute anything to Windows at all.

No need to buy xp, if u dont wanna spend the money. Just install it and crack it, i got 4 or 5 pcs with windows and office 2007 all perfect with last service pack sp3 and havent paid a bit.... anyway, correct me someone if im wrong but xp and win2k use the same kernel so there should'nt be a problem with the card, on any other driver package there are Vista versions and XP/Win2k versions, so install it as if u were on XP id say it will work with no issues.

Not to break your wind and all, but hey, you don't need to activate Vista and XP. Just don't do updates !!! XP SP2 works like a charm. Vista as well. Didnt i said Vista and XP ? Sorry i didn't download nothing i thought they were Linux distros. Oh well.
I'm a honest guy....really.

That possibility crossed my mind, but my main problem with it is that I need to upgrade some time or another.

My box is online 24/7 and I'm not risking running a "wide open" OS, because it isn't updated or because I can't update.

Getting a copy of XP from the web also isn't a reassuring thought. God knows what happened to it.

7 years since XP came out..."i don't think you qualify as a lemming walking into its own doom" more like "the last lemming trying to find the other lemmings that are 7 years ahead of it"

there are plenty of ways to either disable or get rid of WGA. it really isn't all that difficult.

The idea of product activation isn't THAT bad... now the remote kill switch, yes... that was a bad idea... but I don't think you're being realistic here. If no one pirated software, do you think Microsoft would spend the time to pay programmers to come up with this crap? They're just looking to protect what is legally theirs... and yes, this protection does have a small cost for the consumer. Most of us accept that small cost as a fair trade for a stable, well-supported OS. I imagine WINE under Linux will run just as many games as Win2K does now... so if you're really determined not to use anything that supports activation, switch to Linux.

You miss my point.

Either you boycott something or you don't. You can't use something and boycott it at the same time.

All Microsoft sees is (happy) XP customers because people are using it. It will just keep getting worse and worse because nobody makes a stand.

You made me giggle like a little girl, nice lemming comment.

On topic: To the OP, you can always go Ubuntu Wine. It is now performing better. Check the Phoronix forums, Windows Vs Wine. Anyway, dont worry, Microsoft is here to hunt you. RIAA maybe. Microsoft naah.