Previous Page TOC Next Page



- 4 -
Setup Primer


I'm often surprised at just how little emphasis some people put on the installation of their software. Many people—including me—got the idea somewhere along the way that you should be able to stick a floppy disk into the drive, type a command (or double-click an icon), and then forget about anything other than shuffling the rest of the floppy disks in the stack. This is the way software installation should work for the most part, but it doesn't.

Reality is somewhat different from the theory of software installation. I recently spent half an hour configuring a piece of software for installation and another 15 minutes installing it from the CD-ROM. The amount of time it took to configure this piece of software was staggering when compared to the relatively short time required to actually install it. Software now comes with so many different configuration options because some people want bells and whistles and others don't. (Of course, the fact that vendors are trying to create applications that are all things to all people doesn't help matters much. What happened to the good old days when you got a word processor to perform just that task?)

Today's software often reminds me of the proverbial Chinese menu in which you have to select one from Column A and two from Column B. I don't mind having a few choices, but some software has become ridiculous. You could easily get lost in the sea of choices that some software offers.

Suppose that you're a network administrator (perhaps you don't need to try too hard, because you are one). How many weeks would you spend installing the same piece of software I did on the company network of about 100 machines (assuming, of course, that the installation on each machine went perfectly)? You're looking at a minimum of two and a half weeks—just for one application! Now suppose that you have to install all the applications required by each machine in addition to a copy of Windows NT. This is one of the major reasons many people think the move from Windows 3.x to Windows NT will be a very slow one. To its credit, Windows NT does provide some methods to automate the installation process, but the transition will still take a lot of time for most network administrators. (We'll talk about automation methods later in this chapter.)

If earlier versions of Windows did free us in any way, it was from having to tell every one of our applications what hardware has been installed every time we install it. Windows 3.x made application installation easier (but still not automatic). That's one of my pet peeves with DOS software: You have to know everything about your machine to get any and every application installed. Of course, this ease of installation doesn't extend to Windows 3.x itself. To install the operating system, you still have to know a lot about the machine you are installing it to. For most people, this means dragging out every piece of paperwork you can find about the machine to answer the myriad questions Windows 3.x presents.

My previous installation experience was still fresh in my mind as I tore open my beta copy of Windows NT. Would the installation cost me as many hours as OS/2 did the first few times I tried it out? Worse still, would I have to spend endless hours trying to configure the software after installation as I did with previous versions of Windows NT? Thankfully, the answer to both questions was no. Windows NT still isn't as easy as Windows 95 to install because it doesn't support Plug and Play, but Microsoft has taken large strides in making the installation experience at least a bit more palatable. The latest version of Windows NT is about as easy to install as Windows 3.x in most cases, and perhaps a tad bit easier in others.

Before you go much further, let's get a few important items out of the way. If you're installing the upgrade version of Windows NT to your system, you'll need to install one of the following operating systems first. (Fortunately, the stand-alone version doesn't require and kind of pre-installed software.) The upgrade version of Windows NT looks for these operating systems as a prerequisite to starting the installation process:

You'll also need to do a quick check on your hardware. Microsoft has one set of hardware specifications, but I don't think you'll want to use them. (Microsoft played the same game when creating the system requirements for Windows 95.) The problem is that the "minimum" system the specifications describe is too minimal to get any kind of performance. If you want a system that'll really work with Windows NT, use the following parameters:



Tip: There is one big problem with this release of Windows NT: It supports a lot fewer non-SCSI CD-ROM drives than 3.51 did. You can get around this problem by installing 3.51 first, and then upgrading it with the newer version of Windows NT. Of course, this means that you'll have to keep a copy of 3.51 hanging around. You might find it cheaper in the long run to simply upgrade your CD-ROM drive to a newer model.



Note: Some dual-channel IDE controllers (those that support four drives) require special software to enable the second channel to work. If your controller falls into this category, make sure that your CD-ROM drive is installed on the first channel, because Windows NT won't load the drivers for the second channel until later. The lack of drivers makes the second channel invisible—Windows NT won't be able to see any drives attached to it. You must provide access to the CD-ROM drive during installation.

Unlike Windows 95, Windows NT doesn't automatically detect the majority of your hardware. It does an adequate job using the INF files provided by Microsoft, but the lack of Plug and Play support really hurts Windows NT's efforts to figure out what hardware you have installed. I installed the product on a variety of machines using all the methods mentioned here and met with a variety of successes in that regard, but at least Windows NT provides a starting point for future efforts. I also like the way the software led me by the hand in getting things configured. Again, there were choices to make, but the way they were laid out made it a lot easier to figure out what I wanted to do. In addition, unlike previous versions of Windows, the on-line help for this installation routine actually told me a little bit about what I was installing.

Is the new installation for Windows NT perfect? Not by a long shot; the Windows 95 installation program is far superior as of this writing, mainly because of its Plug and Play support. Other problems plague the Windows NT installation. I experienced some truly weird problems during installation—from hardware that was detected fine during one installation but not during another, to utility programs that installed even when I asked Windows NT not to install them (more about that later). Some of the worst failings of the installation routine in one way were the highlights in another. During one installation, for example, I found it nearly impossible to get through the installation procedure and end up with the correct sound card installed in my machine. (I finally figured out a surefire method for getting an accurate detection from Windows NT. I'll explain it later in this chapter.)

Installation Preparations


You might want to spend a little time preparing for your Windows NT installation, especially if you're the ill-fated network administrator who will spend the next few weeks getting it installed on all 100 network workstations. Of course, the first piece of preparation is to make a complete backup of each system before you start the installation. Trying to back out of a failed installation can prove to be quite a problem in some situations. In fact, if you have the upgrade version of Windows NT, you might find recovering from a failed installation quite impossible without reinstalling your old software first.



Peter's Principle: Boot Disks: The Cheap Form of Insurance

Let's assume for a second that you're upgrading from DOS or Windows 95 (there are other techniques for recovering from a failed Windows NT installation using the REPAIR disk we'll create later). For that matter, you might want to create a dual-boot system. You just started an installation and it goes south for the winter. The machine is frozen and you can't get back to the DOS prompt. What do you do?

If you're like me, you stick your boot disk into drive A and reboot the machine. I never start anything as involved as an operating system installation without making a boot disk first. In fact, I usually make a boot disk for all my installations, even if I think the software will install without a hitch.

Just what does a boot disk contain? It has to contain the operating system; otherwise, you can't use it to boot the system. I usually include renamed copies of my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files as well. You don't want to use the original files to boot the machine because they contain entries that you probably won't need. If I'm performing some type of Windows installation, I always include copies of my WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files as well. In fact, for shaky installations, I make a copy of all my INI files on a separate disk. If I'm working with Windows 95, then I make a copy of the USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT registry files.

A boot disk really needs some utility programs too. I usually include FDisk and Format. Debug normally makes an appearance also. The disk has to include any files required to activate your disk compression—if the drive is compressed. A disk editor usually comes in handy, as does a small text editor. You'll probably want to include a disk-scanning program such as ChkDsk or its equivalent as well, because a disk crash will require the services of such a diagnostic program.

You'll also need a DOS backup program that can read the backup of the workstation you created. There are two fatal assumptions that some people make when they create their workstation backup. First, you can't assume that you'll have network access after a failed workstation installation. That's why I make a local backup of the machine instead of using network resources. Second, because you're booting DOS, you need a DOS application that can read your backup. I once ran into someone who thoughtfully made a backup of his hard drive but used a Windows program to do it. His only choice after the system failed was to reinstall Windows and all the software required to gain access to the tape drive. It cost him almost three hours to restore the drive. Using a DOS backup program means nearly instantaneous access to the data you need to restore after a failed installation attempt.

Don't be afraid to make up a two- or three-disk package to ensure that you'll have everything you need in order to diagnose problems with the machine. Just because this is a software installation, you can't assume that the hard drive will be accessible. Those trips back and forth to the office to pick up this utility or that can get to be quite time consuming. A little preparation goes a long way toward making what looks like a difficult problem easier to fix.




Tip: When you partition your hard drive, it's always a good idea to keep this principle in mind: Don't compress your boot drive. The reason is simple. You can't access a compressed drive very easily in an emergency. The same holds true for drive formatting. The FAT file system may not be efficient, but you can access it from any operating system. If you use NTFS for your boot drive, then only Windows NT can access it. I always set aside a 30MB to 40MB partition that I won't compress but I will format using the FAT file system. A partition this large is just big enough to accommodate my copy of DOS, any files required to boot the machine in its normal configuration, a few utility programs, and some diagnostic aids. Compressing your boot drive is just another way to play Russian Roulette. Somewhere along the line, you'll shoot yourself, and it won't be in the foot.

Getting all the required equipment together to perform the installation is only the first step. You need to do other things before you actually perform the installation. The following sections give you the inside scoop on all the preinstallation steps you should take. I'll cover the two installation techniques that you can use with Windows NT in the sections that follow.

Check Your Hardware


Remember that stack of hardware brochures I talked about earlier? You can probably put some of them away, but not until you've checked a few details. Windows NT automatically detects many items of hardware out there. The detection capabilities that Windows NT currently provides are less than perfect, however, so you'll want to spend a little time checking your system hardware for potential problems.



Note: Unlike Windows 95, which provides a lot in the way of auto-detection and auto-configuration capabilities, Windows NT provides you with marginal auto-detection. This means that you'll want to verify that every piece of hardware has its own interrupt and that you use jumpers (or software configuration) in place of Plug and Play configuration wherever possible. Yes, it sounds like a jump backward, but you'll want to take this step to ensure the best possible installation. Hopefully, Microsoft will provide hardware-installation capabilities more in line with those provided with Windows 95 sometime in the future.

Microsoft uses INF (information) files to implement all the Windows NT autodetection capabilities. What this means is that Windows NT will check the characteristics of your hardware against a list of characteristics stored in its INF files. If a piece of hardware matches those characteristics perfectly, Windows NT will recognize it.

There are certain types of hardware that I can almost guarantee you'll run into problems with under Windows NT. If you have hardware with the following characteristics, you might want to take a second look at it before you install Windows NT. Of course, you can always try to install it, but I've run into more than my share of problems with these hardware types:

There's also some marginal hardware out there that you can fix after the initial installation is over. A sound board is one big item that falls into this category. Windows NT does a pretty good job of detecting sound boards, considering that one sound board is designed to emulate the qualities of another. Just about every sound board out there claims some sort of SoundBlaster emulation mode. Trying to detect this hardware is a nightmare. In some cases, you'll just have to manually install the hardware later. You'll see the procedure for performing a manual installation later in this chapter.

A final "difficult to install" hardware category is the older stuff that depends on a real-mode driver for support. I had an old Hitachi 1503S CD-ROM drive that fell into this category. Believe it or not, it worked just fine under Windows 95, even though I had to use real-mode drivers. This same device won't work under Windows NT at all. If you have old hardware and you plan to run Windows NT, take the plunge and get something that'll work. Trying to install an advanced operating system on old hardware just doesn't make sense. (On the other hand, if the boss absolutely won't spring for that new piece of hardware, consider getting Windows 95 instead of Windows NT.)



Peter's Principle: Replacing Old Hardware to Save Money

Sometimes, you'll actually save money right now by spending a little on new hardware. Whenever you choose to keep an old piece of hardware to save money but introduce some type of instability into your system as a result, you're actually wasting more money than you're saving.

Windows NT provides an opportunity to rid your system of all the old hardware that makes it inefficient. Not only will you get your work done faster, but you'll get it done with fewer problems. Think about the last time you spent days trying to find a problem with your system only to discover that it was a bad driver or some other hardware-related problem. The hardware still works, so it's very difficult to give it up.

Because Windows NT won't allow you to use real-mode drivers, part of the decision to update is made for you. Those old 16-bit drivers need to go too, however. If a vendor won't update your old 16-bit drivers to a 32-bit equivalent, you may need to start considering whether that piece of hardware is too old to keep around.




Looking Ahead: Just because you have a few pieces of older or incompatible hardware in your system is no reason to roll over and give up any idea of installing Windows NT. Chapter 25, "Hardware Problems," takes a detailed look at hardware troubleshooting techniques—especially tough-to-install hardware. In some cases, you might find that Windows NT even provides protected-mode drivers you can use with the old stuff.

Once you figure out whether you're going to have any potential problems with your hardware, you'll want to create an inventory of what you have. Some hardware, such as the newer sound boards, use a real-mode driver that accepts configuration parameters as part of the device driver command line. Record these parameters just like you would any jumper settings, because they're required to make the board work. If you plan to move your current CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to Windows NT, you'll want to remove all driver references from them. Simply REM them out for right now; you don't want to destroy a potential source of documentation if you don't need to. Obviously, you'll want to keep these files intact if you plan to create a dual-boot setup.

Some hardware still uses jumpers for configuration purposes. The one big item that just about everyone will need to consider is a network interface card (NIC). NICs usually have one or more address settings and an IRQ setting. You need to write down the settings of any boards that use jumpers before you start your Windows NT installation. This list will come in handy later as you try to resolve any IRQ or address conflicts that arise during installation. Changing a "soft" setting is easy, but changing jumpers is a lot more difficult.



Tip: Some people discount dual-boot configurations out of hand; they think they'll never need to go back to an older operating system like DOS. Software configuration is just one example of an area in which you'll need a boot disk or a dual-boot configuration. Windows NT won't allow your configuration utility (especially those that need DOS to work) to run because it needs to directly access the hardware. If you need to change the software configuration of a board on your machine, you'll need to create a boot disk or dual-boot configuration in most cases to get the job done.

When you get to this point, you have just about every piece of hardware information you need. It doesn't seem like such a big deal to take care of this step prior to installation if you're doing it on your personal machine. Gathering all this information before you leave the office to work on a remote machine is essential if you want to do it with any level of efficiency.

You should check for one final piece of information for machines that use file compression. Windows NT won't work with any disk-compression software that requires a CONFIG.SYS entry. This means that you're probably out of luck unless you use Microsoft's DriveSpace or DoubleSpace drive compression. You'll definitely be out of luck with other drive-compression schemes until you install that vendor's Windows NT-specific software. Obviously, this also means that your boot drive can't use any form of compression.

A few people I've talked with say they had problems getting Windows NT to work properly with their disk-compression software—even the Microsoft variety. In most cases, it turned out to be some kind of interaction between the compression software, the drive controller, and Windows NT. If you want to make absolutely certain that there aren't any problems, decompress the drive prior to installation and recompress it using the Windows NT-specific disk-compression software.



Peter's Principle: Keeping Your INF Files Straight

You might think all INF files are the same, but they aren't. At least three kinds of INF files are used under Windows 95 (Windows NT uses two of them), and they're all incompatible. The first type is the OEMSETUP.INF file Windows 3.x used to configure devices. This file might work under Window NT, but in most cases it won't work correctly. You'll probably want to get Windows NT-specific drivers from the vendor anyway, so don't take a chance using this old file. The second type is the MSBATCH.INF used as a script file for Windows 95 Setup; Windows NT doesn't support this kind of INF file. The third type of INF file (which we'll explore later) contains hardware and software configuration information for Windows NT. It's a superset of the OEMSETUP.INF file.

The best thing you can do to avoid confusing one INF file with another is to keep them totally separate. This is actually very easy to do with only a little work from you. The Windows NT hardware and software configuration INF files always appear in the \WINNT\INF folder. If you only use that folder to hold those files (and nothing else), you already have part of the problem solved. I always see the OEMSETUP.INF files in my \WINNT\SETUP folder or on a floppy disk, but some vendor probably stuck them in other places as well. If you see any INF files in the SYSTEM folder, it's a good bet that they are leftovers from Windows 3.x.

Of course, the problem with finding an INF file anywhere else on your system is that you will never be sure just what kind of an INF it is. I always begin by checking the date. If it's prior to 1995, you know that the file is probably something left over from Windows 3.x. The Windows NT hardware and software configuration files follow a very specific format that you can see by just looking at them with a text editor. I usually check for this kind of file next. Finally, if I just can't figure out where that INF is supposed to go, I move it to a special directory and keep it there until an application asks for it. If it sits there too long, it's probably time to recycle it.



Ready to Install?


When you get to this point in the chapter, you should have created a boot disk and inventoried your hardware. You should also have decided whether you plan to retain your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (for a dual-boot setup) or modify these files for use under Windows NT. Before you begin the setup process, you might want to make a few additional changes to these two files if you plan to move them. It might seem like a pain to have to pre-set up your machine to provide the best possible environment for an operating system installation, but you really will get better results this way.

The first thing you'll want to do is REM out any unneeded TSRs from your AUTOEXEC.BAT. I even took out the little utility programs, such as DOSKey. You'll also want to REM out ANSI.SYS (or a vendor-specific alternative) because you won't need it under Windows NT. In addition, you'll need to disable any drive mappings, or Setup will run into problems trying to identify your boot drive.



Tip: The Windows NT Setup program may overwrite or replace some of the files in your DOS directory. If you have any intention of uninstalling Windows NT later, it's a good idea to make a copy of this directory before you start the installation. That way, you can easily restore it later.

After you complete these final modifications, reboot your system. You should now have a completely clean environment in which to install Windows NT. One last check using the MEM /C command to verify that memory is as clean as possible is always a good idea.



Tip: When you start the setup process, the first thing Windows NT does is scan your drives for errors. You might want to save yourself a bit of time by doing this check in advance. That way, you can fix any errors and prevent the Windows NT Setup program from stopping before it even gets started.

Let's look at some of the WINNT and WINNT32 command-line switches. WINNT is the DOS-executable installation program and WINNT32 is the GUI version. They'll help you get around any problems you might experience while installing Windows NT. The following is a complete list of these switches. You'll find that WINNT supports a superset of the WINNT32 switches, so the list will specifically mention any switches that WINNT32 supports. WINNT supports all the switches in the list. There's one thing you need to know about the way I present this information. When you see a term in italics between angle brackets, it means that you have to supply a value of some kind. The description will tell you what to provide. Don't type the angle brackets when you type the switch.

You can perform three types of installations:

The decision on which installation route you want to use is partly based on which files you need to use. The one thing you'll want to remember is that you can always add or remove features later on. A mistake right now doesn't mean that you'll have to start the installation from scratch later. Table 4.1 contains a list of the various files that Windows NT installs using the four installation options. (All four options obviously install the entire core system.)

Table 4.1. Optional features installed by various setup options.

Feature Typical Compact Custom
Accessories x
x
Audio Compression Codecs x
x
Backup x
x
Briefcase


Desktop Bitmaps x
x
Dial-Up Networking x
x
Direct Cable Connection x
x
Disk Compression Tools x x x
Disk Maintenance and Repair Tools x x x
Document Templates x
x
Games x
x
Hyper Terminal x
x
Internet Mail Service


Microsoft Exchange


Microsoft Fax


Multimedia Applications x
x
Multimedia Sound and Video Clips x
x
Musica Sound Scheme x
x
Network Administration Tools


Online User's Guide


Paint x
x
Quick View x
x
Screen Savers x
x
The Microsoft Network


Video Compression Codecs x
x
Windows NT Tour x
x
WordPad x
x

Standard Installation


Installing Windows NT is just as simple as the same installation was for Windows 3.x. All you need to do is start DOS or Windows and type Setup. Microsoft suggests that you install Windows NT from an existing copy of Windows 3.x, and it's true that this particular installation provides you with a better interface. Beyond the interface issue, however, both installation methods (character-mode or GUI) are the same. The following paragraphs walk you through the installation procedure.



Note: You will need to retain any drivers and TSRs required to access your CD-ROM drive in the DOS startup files to install Windows NT. Remember to REM out any unneeded drivers after the Windows NT installation is complete. Even though Windows NT doesn't use this file as part of its startup process, you don't want to keep unneeded entries around that could get in the way when you want to run DOS applications.



Note: There are actually two installation programs provided with Windows NT: WINNT and WINNT32. The WINNT file is designed for DOS and Windows 3.x users. Any operating system that supports Windows 32-bit applications can use the WINNT32 program. This includes both Windows NT and Windows 95. Some Windows 3.x users with 32-bit API support installed may be able to use the WINNT32 installation program as well. Throughout this procedure, I'll refer to both programs as SETUP to avoid confusion. The same procedure works with either installation program.

  1. Insert your CD-ROM into the CD drive. Use the File | Run command within Windows to display the Run dialog box. At the Run prompt, type

  2. and press Enter. The installation program will check the amount of free space on the drives on your workstation. You should then see a display similar to the one in Figure 4.1. Notice the Options button. It allows you to change some of the installation parameters, such as whether you want to create boot floppy disks and install the operating system files to a local directory. There's also an option for changing the default setup information file from DOSNET.INF.

  3. Click Continue. You'll see two dialog boxes similar to the one shown in Figure 4.2. The first dialog box tells you that Install is copying some files to your hard drive. The second dialog box asks you to insert the first of three floppy disks into the disk drive.

    Figure 4.1. The initial Windows NT screen starts like many Microsoft installation programs.

    Figure 4.2. The Windows NT Setup program installs files to your hard drive and creates boot disks for you.

  4. Insert the first floppy disk and click OK. You'll see the dialog box asking you to insert a floppy disk two more times as Windows NT creates the boot disks for you. When the file copying and disk creation process is complete, you'll see a Restart dialog box. Click Restart Computer to continue the installation process.

  5. After your computer reboots, you'll see a couple of messages on-screen. The first tells you that Windows NT is inspecting your hardware. The screen will turn blue at that point, with a status bar at the bottom. The status bar displays a series of messages, beginning with one that says the Windows NT Executive is loading. Just wait patiently until the installation program completes this process. Windows NT then displays a message asking you to insert the second boot disk.

  6. Insert the second boot disk and press Enter. After Windows NT completes the file-loading process, you see a Welcome to Setup screen.

  7. Press Enter to continue the installation process. You'll see another screen at this point that asks whether you want to have the installation program detect the disks attached to your machine or skip this process and install them manually. In most cases, you'll want to have Setup do the detection for you. Try that option first; then, if you have to reboot the computer, try skipping the procedure.

  8. Press Enter to start the disk-detection process or S to skip the detection process. Insert the third boot disk when asked and press Enter. Setup then goes through its entire list of disk drivers to see which ones it can identify on your system. After it goes through the list, Setup displays what it found. If you don't see one of your disk drives (mass storage devices) listed, you may have to install it manually. Setup gives you the chance to do so immediately by pressing S. I'd recommend installing the device later unless the missing device is your main hard drive or installation CD-ROM drive; this will help you avoid conflicts. If you do press S, Setup displays a list of drivers. Just highlight the one you need and press Enter to complete the process.

  9. Press Enter to continue the installation. Setup continues loading device drivers. It also identifies the capacity and type of disk drives attached to the controllers on your machine. If Setup doesn't find an old copy of Windows NT, you'll see a screen that tells you the type of keyboard, display, mouse, and keyboard layout Setup will install. Change any of these choices as needed by highlighting the selection and pressing Enter. Choose a new configuration from the list and press Enter.

  10. Press Enter to continue the installation. Setup asks where you want to install Windows NT. You can choose an existing partition or create a new one for Windows NT.

  11. Highlight the partition you want to use. If you choose a new partition, you also need to choose a partition type; I usually choose NTFS because it's the most reliable. Highlight the partition format you want to use and press Enter. Setup automatically formats the new partition for you. Setup then asks where you want to install Windows NT. The default is the WINNT directory on the drive partition you selected.

  12. Type a directory name (if necessary) and press Enter to continue the installation. You should see another hard disk test screen at this point. Microsoft allows you to skip the extensive test, but I think that's ill-advised. Remember that you're counting on those drives to store valuable information. Skipping the test just isn't a good idea.

  13. Press Enter to start the hard disk test. After Setup finishes the hard disk test, it begins copying files from the CD (or network location) onto your hard drive. You'll see a progress indicator showing how many files it has copied. Depending on the speed of your CD and your workstation, this step may take quite a while to complete. After the file-copying process is complete, Setup initializes your Windows NT setup. You'll finally see a completion message.

  14. Remove any floppy disks from your drive A and press Enter to restart your machine. In some cases, the machine may not reboot by itself. In this case, just press the Reset switch to restart the machine. You'll see Windows NT go through some pre-start checks and load the drivers it needs. You'll finally see a Windows NT Setup display. Windows NT uses a three-step setup process: verify your hardware, perform any required network setup, and finish the setup process by copying other files.

  15. Click Next to start the hardware-verification phase of the setup process. The first thing Windows NT asks is what type of installation you want to perform: Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom. Because Custom is the most extensive of the four, I'll go that route in this procedure.

  16. Select one of the four installation types. These options were discussed at length in the preceding section. Most users should select the Typical or Custom installation type.

  17. Click Next. Setup asks you to type your name and organization name. You'll see a dialog box asking for your computer name. This is the name that other people will use to address your computer. You'll want to ask the network administrator for a name.

  18. Type a computer name and then click Next. Because Windows NT is a secure operating system, it'll want you to enter an administrator password. That's what the next dialog box asks you to do.

  19. Enter an administrator password and then confirm it in the Confirm Password field. Click Next. At this point, Windows NT asks whether you want to create an emergency repair disk. I always choose this option because you never know when you'll need to repair your setup.

  20. Click Yes and then click Next. Windows NT presents one of two dialog boxes. The Custom option allows you to select individual components using the Custom Installation Options dialog box. The other three installation methods only allow you to select between no optional components or the most common components for that installation type. Refer to Table 4.1 for a list of common components. I also provided an overview of these accessories in Chapter 2, "Exploring the Interface."

  21. If you're using the Custom installation feature, use the dialog box to select the components you want to install. If you're using one of the other three installation options, select the No Optional Components or the Common Components radio button. Click Next. You should see the original Windows NT Setup screen again. This time, you'll see that the Installing Windows NT Networking line is highlighted.

  22. Click Next. You'll see a Connection Configuration dialog box. You can choose whether to install network support. If you choose network support, you have to select either (or both) a local connection through a NIC, or an ISDN line or remote connection.

  23. Choose one of the network connection types (or no connection at all) and then click Next. If you don't want to connect your system to the network, you can skip to step 27. Otherwise, you'll see a Network Adapter Selection dialog box. You can allow Windows NT to automatically detect the adapter or select it from a list yourself.

  24. Click Next to display the Network Protocol dialog box, which is the most confusing step for new users. Most network administrators will want to provide a script to get users through this part of the installation automatically. You'll need to select the various protocols (like TCP/IP) that your network uses.

  25. Click Next to display the Network Services dialog box. You'll select the various network services you need in this step. Not all the selections appear in the list. Make sure that you click the Select from List button if you don't see a service you need. Click Next to complete the selection process.

  26. After you select the network installation options, Setup takes you through a series of screens to configure that network. Each network has different requirements, so the installation screens vary. You'll see various network options in Part VI of this book, "Networking with Windows NT." If you find that you can't answer the questions here, you might want to skip ahead to Chapters 21 through 23 for a few answers. It's also important that you read the manuals that come with your networking software. In many cases, they'll provide the answers you need.

  27. Complete the network configuration dialog boxes one at a time. Click Next to move from screen to screen. Some networks, such as Microsoft networks, require a single screen. Others might require more screens, depending on the options you select. The last time you click Next, Setup displays the same Windows NT Setup screen you saw at the start of this procedure. This time, the Finishing Setup line is highlighted.

  28. Click Next to clear the Windows NT Setup dialog box. Setup displays a message stating that it's configuring your system to run Windows NT. After it finishes this process, you'll see the Time Zone dialog box. The Date/Time Properties dialog box allows you to choose a time zone. (You can also set the current system time and date using the controls on the Date & Time page.)

  29. Choose a time zone and click Close. Setup displays the Display Properties dialog box. In most cases, Setup automatically detects your display adapter type. It usually doesn't do as well with the monitor, because most monitors don't provide any clues. Your monitor selection will affect some of the choices you have, so it's important to make sure that both the display adapter and monitor types are correct.

  30. Select a monitor and display adapter. Then select the various display settings. I describe these settings in more detail in Chapter 15, "Fonts and Printing." Click Test to test the new configuration. If the settings work properly, click OK to complete the process. At this point, Windows NT saves all your configuration information. If you choose to create an emergency disk, Windows NT displays a dialog box asking you to insert a disk into the floppy drive.

  31. Insert the emergency disk and click OK. Windows NT copies all the required repair information to the disk. After the repair information is copied to disk, Setup asks you to remove any disks from the floppy drives and then click the Restart button.

  32. Windows NT restarts. You'll see it go through some extensive tests—especially on the disk drives—and then restart again. After the system reboots, Windows NT will start normally.

As you can see, Windows NT requires a lot more configuration than its predecessors. I think it makes this process much easier, though, by organizing the configuration dialog boxes better and asking for the information in a more logical sequence. Of course, a higher quality of on-line help doesn't hurt either.

Installing from a Network


A server installation will differ from the floppy disk version in only a few ways. Whether you install Windows NT from a server or a CD-ROM, the same sequence of events must take place. The only factor is the way you choose to smooth the way for the users on the system.

OK, so what would you need to do to create a server setup? About the only thing you need to worry about is copying the contents of the folder for the processor you want to support to a drive on the server. If you plan to support Intel processors, for example, simply use the XCOPY command to copy the I386 folder from the CD to your network drive.

Obviously, the users will need to have access to the directory. You'll need to provide both read and write access because the installation program will write information to the source drive in this case.

I would also suggest creating a batch file of some kind. We covered the batch file switches for both WINNT and WINNT32 in the "Ready to Install?" section of this chapter. Simply decide which installation program you want to use and create a batch file that calls it using the switches you need. Adding the commands required to log the user into the system and change directories to the installation directory will make things a bit easier.

Working with Multiple Operating Systems


For the most part, you'll find that the Windows NT Setup program guides you through a multi-boot setup, just as it did in the "Standard Installation" section. The big difference is that you'll have two operating systems on your machine instead of one. You'll find that you need to do a little additional setup after the process is finished, however. Microsoft assumes that Windows NT is going to be your primary operating system, for example. This might be a valid assumption in most cases, but there are certainly a few situations in which it isn't.

You can choose a default operating system by right-clicking the My Computer icon, choosing the Properties option of the context menu, and selecting the Startup/Shutdown page of the System Properties dialog box. The default operating system appears in the System Startup group in the Startup field. This same group allows you to select how long Windows NT will display the boot menu before starting the default operating system. Obviously, you have to have more than one operating system installed on your machine in order to use this feature. The operating system you choose is selected automatically if you don't make a selection within the time specified in the Show List Box field.

There are other installation gotchas as well. The one that gives most people problems is that Windows NT changes the active partition during installation. This usually isn't a problem because you'll use Windows NT as your primary operating system. Unfortunately, if you're planning on using Windows NT and OS/2 on the same machine, you'll have to reset the active partition. Use the OS/2 FDISK utility to reset the active (or boot) partition to the Boot Manager partition. You'll be able to select the Windows NT partition from the menu that Boot Manager displays. Obviously, you'll have to configure Boot Manager to select a default operating system.

Getting Everything to Work


I'm a great fan of automation that works. Anything that makes my job easier or faster is a good idea in my book. Using INF files to automatically install the hardware that Windows NT recognizes is one form of that kind of automation. It makes sense that a computer could figure out a set of port and interrupt settings faster and with greater accuracy than the average human. One of the reasons that this is possible under Windows NT is that the computer usually has all the statistics it needs to do the job. The majority of this information is contained in the INF files Windows NT uses to communicate with the rest of the machine. (Some of the information appears in the peripheral device's BIOS and within Windows NT itself.)

So, where is all this configuration information stored? If you look in the \WINNT\INF directory, you'll see some of these files (they all have an INF extension). Besides storing the required configuration information on disk, Windows NT gives older hardware first choice of ports and interrupts. This allows older hardware to work most of the time.

Problems start to arise when the system doesn't or can't recognize one or more components in your system. The problem is so bad on some systems that some systems refuse to start at all—a rarity for Windows NT users. Usually, the unrecognized hardware refuses to work properly, if at all. The second this happens, Windows NT has the unfortunate tendency of refusing to boot or ignoring the problem. Unrecognized hardware falls into two categories. The first category is the difficult-to-recognize piece of hardware, which emulates something else so well that the computer has a hard time telling exactly what it is. The second category consists of older hardware that lacks Windows NT-specific drivers. These are the 16-bit drivers that I said you should avoid.



Looking Ahead: If you don't find a technique that helps you here, take a look at the end of this book. Chapter 25, "Hardware Problems," takes a detailed look at hardware troubleshooting techniques—especially tough-to-install hardware. In some cases, you might find that Windows NT even provides protected-mode drivers that you can use with the old stuff.

So now that you have some idea of what the problem is, let's take a quick look at ways you can fix it. This list isn't exhaustive, but it will help you with the majority of the problems you're likely to run into:


Adding Your Own Devices


Now that you have Windows NT installed, let's take some of the magic out of the new Windows NT detection capability. If you take a look in your \WINNT\INF directory, you'll see a new type of file there. The INF file is part of the database of information that Windows NT uses to recognize hardware that isn't Plug and Play-compatible. These files are enhanced versions of the OEMSETUP.INF files that used to appear on the vendor-supplied installation disks under Windows 3.x. They contain a description of the hardware—the same type of information that the Plug and Play BIOS would normally provide when Windows NT scanned it.

There are two main differences between these INF files and the Windows 3.x version. First, the Windows NT version contains a lot more information. It provides detailed configuration and detection information to the system. Under Windows 3.x, the same file would only provide general operating parameters. Second, Windows NT has constant access to these INF files. It can scan them any time you install new hardware or reconfigure the existing hardware. Under Windows 3.x, this file tended to stay on the OEM disk that you got with your display adapter or other hardware. Even if the vendor did write this file to the \WIN\SYSTEM directory, the next vendor installing a product would overwrite the file. Under Windows 3.x, every setup disk contained an OEMSETUP.INF file. Using the same file name prevented you from saving these settings for future use (at least it prevented you from doing so in a convenient way).

As good as these new INF files are, there might be times when you want to modify them. You might have a piece of hardware that provides interrupt and port address settings in addition to those found in the INF file, for example. Modifying the INF file to reflect these additional capabilities could help you install a piece of hardware in some cases.



Tip: Microsoft is devoted to making the INF file format a standard way to configure future versions of Windows to support non-Plug and Play hardware. The contents of that file are a moving target at the moment, however, because Microsoft is still trying to work out bugs in the detection scheme. You can obtain your own copy of the INF file specification from the CompuServe Plug and Play forum (GO PLUGPLAY). Just download INFWHITE1.DOC or INFWHT.ZIP. You also get a copy with the Windows NT DDK (Driver Development Kit). This file contains a lot more information than the average user will need; however, it can help a system administrator find a way to incorporate some devices into the Windows NT environment.

Let's look at some of the general characteristics that every INF file shares. You might find all or only some of these sections in the file; it really depends on what kind of hardware the INF file is trying to define. An INF file only needs to contain the information required to fully define the characteristics of the hardware. A display adapter would need to define the resolutions that it supports, for example. A multiscanning monitor, such as the NEC MultiSync series, would need to define the precise frequency ranges it supports. This includes the refresh rate—an important specification for the new ergonomic display adapters. Table 4.2 shows these generic sections and tells you what they mean. You might even want to open one of the INF files and see whether you can identify each section. (Just make certain that you don't save the file or change its contents in any way.)

Table 4.2. INF file generic sections.

Heading Description
Version This section provides version-specific information, such as the operating system, vendor name, and the device class supported by the INF file. It also provides the name of the general setup file. The general setup file contains the definitions common to all the devices of that type. You might see some additional entries in this section. One special entry allows the vendor to link a new INF file into the list of files for a specific device type. Never change the contents of this section.
Manufacturer The manufacturer section contains a list of all the manufacturers for devices of this class. Not every INF file contains this section. This section appears in the MONITOR.INF file, for example, but not the MSPORTS.INF file. The only time you need to change this section is if you want to add a new vendor. The list might seem incomplete if there is more than one INF file required to describe a specific class of device. There are four monitor files, and each one contains only the vendors that appear in that particular file. You need to check all the INF files for a particular device class before you resort to adding a new vendor. Make sure that you add the new vendor in alphabetical order to the correct INF file (you'll see an example later in this chapter). There's a subsection after this one that provides specifics about each device supported by that vendor. If the vendor already appears in the manufacturer list, adding a new device consists of adding an entry here, in the Install section, and in the Strings section.
Detect This section tells you how Windows NT will detect the device. In most cases, it contains a simple set of instructions. To detect a display adapter, for example, you attempt to load its miniport and display drivers. If the load fails, Windows NT hasn't found the right driver. In a very few cases, you'll see a device name pointer to a detailed detection section in the file. All you need to do is find a section with that name. Sections are always contained within brackets—[Section]—so they're easy to find.
Install This is the most important section of the file. It describes all the characteristics of the hardware and the device drivers needed to activate it. It also contains macro commands that perform the actual installation of support in the registry. Follow the example of other entries in this section when adding a new device. Only change physical characteristics, such as port address and interrupt, when modifying an existing entry.
Miscellaneous Control A vendor can use this section to describe how a device works with the Windows NT interface. If you see this section, you need to use other entries as an example for creating your own entries. Most INF files do not contain this section.
Strings You'll see how to add a new device to Windows NT using the Add New Hardware dialog box later in this chapter. When you use this dialog box, you'll see some descriptive strings that tell you about the hardware. This is the section that contains those user-friendly strings. It identifies the device in human-readable form.

It's a fairly easy matter to add support for a new device to an INF file. The big word of warning here is that you don't want to modify your original INF file without making a copy of it first. You must modify the original, or Windows NT won't know what to do with your new entry, so making the copy is absolutely essential. Let's go through this exercise together to make the process for adding a new device a little clearer. Before we begin, though, I'll outline a few guidelines that I used during the modification process:

Warning: Always modify the original copy of an INF file after making a backup. Place the copy in a backup directory using a different extension than the original file. Your modified version of the original file must appear in the INF directory in order for Windows NT to recognize it. Keeping a copy of the original version in a temporary directory allows you to restore the file later.

Now that you have a better idea of what an INF file contains, let's go through the procedure for modifying one. You can use the same set of steps to modify any of the files in the INF folder. The only thing that changes from file to file is the precise format of the entries themselves and the sections that the file supports.

To modify an INF file, follow these steps:

  1. Use Notepad or WordPad to open DISPLAY.INF. There are several sections in the INF file that you need to change. These sections were discussed in Table 4.2. The first section we'll modify contains the manufacturer information. Because I wanted to add an entry for a Video 7 display adapter, I used Notepad's Find command to see whether I could find the vendor name. Video 7 is already in the vendor list as V7, so I didn't need to add it. If you decide to add a new vendor, however, all you need to do is follow the format of the other vendor entries in the first Manufacturer section. In the case of display adapters, all of the Manufacturer section entries contain a single line, like this: %V7% = V7.Mfg. All this says is to look for the Video 7 information in the V7.Mfg section of the INF file. After I found the vendor name entry, I searched for the device subsection that would contain the list of devices from that vendor that Windows NT supports. I added the following text (shown in bold) to this section so that Windows NT would know to add a new device:

  2. As you can see, I formatted my entry to look exactly like the existing entry. This is a very important part of the process for adding an unsupported device to Windows NT. This entry tells Windows NT that Video 7 produces a My Display Adapter model of display adapter and that it can find further details about that display adapter in the v7vram Detect section of the INF file. We know that display adapters use a Detect section because the DIPLAY.INF file doesn't contain an Install section. Some INF files will contain a Detect section, whereas others will contain an Install section. (It's pretty easy to figure out which section you'll find in a particular file. If Windows NT offers to detect the device during a normal installation session, you'll find a Detect section.) Now use the Find command to locate the next uncommented v7vram entry (INF files use a semicolon at the beginning of a line just like INI files do to represent a comment). This entry appears in the detect. Services section of the INF file. Notice that the INF file makes this entry equal to V7VRAM_COMPAT, the entry we saw at the beginning of the [V7.Mfg] section we discussed in the previous step. All this tells you is that Windows NT can detect this device through a combination of miniport and display driver. If you were to add another device, you would have to know whether the miniport and display drivers both provide detection support. If not, you'd leave this section blank to tell Windows NT not to try to detect it.

  3. Look for the next uncommented v7vram entry in the DISPLAY.INF file. You'll see something similar to Figure 4.3. This is where all the driver-specific information goes. You tell Windows NT how to configure the device. Three sections are shown here: device driver files, service entries, and registry entry. The easiest entry types to spot are the device driver files. Notice that the CopyFiles= entry in the figure points to two different places: one to the miniport and another to the display driver. Every line that starts with AddReg is adding an entry to the registry. Notice that there are several of them, but for the most part, they're adding two things: configuration data or event log information. We'll look at the configuration data registry entries—v7vram_SoftwareDeviceSettings—in just a few moments. The AddService line tells Windows NT how to add the service to the list that you see when you double-click the Services applet in the Control Panel. Notice how the AddService line is put together. The first entry provides a service name. The second entry defines this service as a display adapter. The third entry is actually a call to the v7vram_Generic_Service_Inst section of the file (shown in Figure 4.3). This section contains a list of instructions for the service installation; they're commented in the figure, so I won't describe them here. The fourth entry is a call to the v7vram_EventLog_AddReg section, which places entries for the event log in the registry. You could use this section (and the others in the file) as a template for creating your own driver section.

    Figure 4.3. You can divide the Drivers section for any device into three areas: driver files, service entries, and registry entries.
  4. Search for the v7vram.Display section. You'll see two file entries: VGA.DLL and VGA256.DLL. These are the two files that Windows NT would load to detect the display adapter from a display driver perspective. If we were actually adding a different display adapter type, we'd have to add the appropriate display driver file names here.

  5. Search for the v7vram.Miniport section. You'll only see one file in this case: V7VRAM.SYS. We'll talk about miniport drivers (at least in regard to display adapters) in Chapter 10, "Graphics NT Style." After Windows NT loads the display and miniport drivers, it tests them out. If the drivers worked, Windows NT would keep them loaded and ask you whether the drivers matched your display adapter. If we were actually adding a different display adapter type, we'd have to add the appropriate miniport driver file names here.

  6. Search for the v7vram_SoftwareDeviceSettings section. This is where you find the software configuration registry entries for the device itself. The registry entry section of any INF file requires some detective work on your part. I always look at the registry itself as a starting point (see Chapter 7, "Understanding the Windows NT Registry," for a complete description of the registry). Knowing how the existing device modified the registry can help you determine how to add support for a new device. You should also check the specification sheet that comes with the device for "common" characteristics. Any change you make to an INF file will ultimately require this type of detective work. In this case, the settings are easy to figure out. There are two registry entries. The first says that the Video 7 driver uses the VGA and VGA256 display drivers. The second entry says that the Video 7 display adapter is VGA compatible, so Windows NT won't have to load a special driver to support VGA mode.

    Let's get to the final section of the INF file: the strings section. This is where you'll describe the display adapter in terms the user can understand. To do this, use the Find command to search for the next (and last) occurrence of the V7 string. You'll finally see where I got the idea that V7 is equal to Video 7; it's defined right here, along with a lot of arcane and difficult-to-understand strings used in the DISPLAY.INF file.

Well, that's all there is to it. When you get the hang of it, you can add support for just about any unsupported device to Windows NT. Of course, that won't solve some problems, such as the lack of Plug and Play support and some of the incompatibilities you'll experience with some older devices. But it will make it easier to install an older device. If you want to see how the new entry looks, save the DIPSLAY.INF file and close Notepad (or WordPad, if you were using it). Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties from the context menu to display the Display Properties dialog box shown in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4. Right-clicking the desktop and choosing Properties from the context menu displays the Display Properties dialog box.

You can use this quick procedure to display the display adapter entries:

  1. Click the Settings tab to display the Display Settings dialog box shown in Figure 4.5.

  2. Click the Display Type button to display the Change Device Type dialog box shown in Figure 4.6.

    Figure 4.5. The Settings page of the Display Properties dialog box allows you to change the current monitor settings.

    Figure 4.6. The Display Type dialog box allows you to modify the display adapter or monitor settings.

  3. Click the Change button in the Adapter Type group to display the Change Display dialog box.

  4. Scroll through the list of vendors until you find Video. You should see the new display adapter selection, as shown in Figure 4.7.

    Figure 4.7. Modifications to the DISPLAY.INF file appear in the Change Display dialog box.
  5. Click Cancel three times to exit the Change Display dialog box without changing the display adapter type. Adding a new device to an INF file can be time consuming and even frustrating at times. The benefits in reduced maintenance time, however, are well worth the effort.

This is a quick tour of adding new devices to Windows NT. You might find that some devices are so complex that you'll end up downloading the full INF file specification (see the tip earlier in this chapter) to really understand how to make the change. The worst thing you can do is try to tackle a complex device addition as your first project. Look for something fairly easy—such as a display adapter—as your first project so that you can get a better idea of what the modification will require.

Configuring Windows NT Applets


One topic we haven't covered yet is the process of installing and removing applets on your system. Part of the installation process always involves configuring the applet before you use it. When you install dial-up networking, for example, Windows NT automatically asks you for information regarding you computer setup. You can't network without a telephone number, so it makes sense that Windows NT would ask about this information before it completes the installation process. The same reasoning holds true the first time you start Backup. Even though Windows NT automatically takes care of the configuration, it displays a dialog box telling you that it got the job done (in this case, creating a backup set of files for you). You can use the sample file as the basis for your own configuration sets. That's one of the reasons why Backup creates it for you. The other is that you can't perform a backup without at least some idea of what to do. This sample file can form the basis for someone to learn how Backup works.

The following sections outline four methods of installing applets on your system:

Part of the reasoning behind this four-layered approach to installation is the nature of the applets themselves. They aren't all necessarily applets in the full sense of the word. You can't really execute them and expect something useful to happen. Some of them are halfway between a driver and an applet. Other types of applets work almost as TSRs, helping Windows NT to monitor specific items of information in the background.

Standard Installation and Removal


You start the standard installation in the Control Panel. Simply double-click the Add/Remove Programs applet and select the Windows NT Setup page, as shown in Figure 4.8. If you look through the list of applications you can install, you'll see all the familiar utility programs Windows provides. You'll notice one thing: This list has no network-administration tools. We'll take care of that deficiency a little later.

Figure 4.8. The Add/Remove Programs applet allows you to install the standard Windows user applications.

Completing this particular installation process is easy. Simply check the items you want to install and click OK. The Add/Remove Programs applet takes care of the rest. You might need to supply a disk or two if you aren't using the CD-ROM installation. Otherwise, the rest of the process should be fairly automated.



Note: Make sure that you don't accidentally uncheck any item you want to keep. The Add/Remove Programs applet will automatically uninstall any applet you uncheck. Accidentally removing something could cause problems as you frantically try to figure out what went wrong with your system.

Most of the Windows NT applets wait until you run them the first time to automatically detect the required configuration information or ask you to supply it. Some of them, however, ask for this information immediately if they provide a system service. Installing modem support requires an immediate answer, however, because the system never knows when it'll need that information.

Special Utility Installation


The CD-ROM contains some utilities that don't appear in the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box. You need to know they exist, read about them in one of the files located on the CD-ROM, or do a little exploring like I did. It's kind of surprising to see just how many different utilities the CD-ROM contains. To check your CD-ROM, just use Explorer's Find tool to look for INF files. You won't find any of the installation INF files because they're in compressed format. It's usually safe to assume that any INF files you'll see on the CD-ROM have something to do with an applet's installation routine. Figure 4.9 shows the results of my search.

Figure 4.9. INF files on your CD-ROM usually provide support for some type of applet installation routine.

As you can see in Figure 4.9, my list extends for quite a way. The CD-ROM has lots of INF files, and it's pretty difficult to tell which ones you'd like to have installed on your machine. Knowing that the file exists provides some information, however. A lot of INF files contain notes about the application they're supposed to work with. The folder that holds the INF file and the application might provide a README file as well.



Note: Hopefully, Microsoft will provide better documentation for these utilities in the future. At the time I wrote this, the documentation hadn't changed. Some of these utilities get only a single line of description in the on-line help. You might need to do a little detective work before using any of these other utility programs.

After you decide that an applet will meet your needs, the first thing you need to do is decide what type of installation to perform. You'll find that some of these applets are general-purpose utilities. Use the procedure that follows to install them. Other applets require special installation. Use the section "Special Printer Installation," later in this chapter, to install printer-specific applets. Likewise, use the "Special Network Installation" section for any network-related applets. Using the correct installation procedure will ensure that you get a useable utility when you finish. When in doubt, use this general-purpose installation and test the application to see whether it works.

To perform a special utility installation, open the Control Panel and double-click the Add/Remove Programs applet just like you did before. Select the Windows Setup tab. Instead of choosing an applet from the list, click the Have Disk button. You should see a dialog box similar to the one in Figure 22.10.

Figure 4.10. The Install From Disk dialog box allows you to install an applet that normally doesn't appear in the Add/Remove Program Properties dialog box.

Click the Browse button and use the Open dialog box to find the applet's INF file. Double-click on this file to add its name to the Copy Manufacturer's Files From field of the Install From Disk dialog box. Click OK to complete the selection process. Windows NT displays a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 4.11. Use the Have Disk dialog box to select the applets you want to install. Notice that, as usual, you make the selections using a checkbox.

Figure 4.11. The Have Disk dialog box displays a list of any special applets the INF file contains.



Tip: If you find an INF file that doesn't contain a list of applets, cancel the installation process immediately. Some INF files on the CD-ROM don't contain applet-specific information. Fortunately, the installation won't proceed unless you have some boxes to check in the Have Disk dialog box.

Click the Install button to complete the installation. Windows NT copies the required files from the CD-ROM and returns you to the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box. Scrolling through the list of installed components should reveal the new applets you installed. In some cases, you won't find the applet here. It will appear on the Install/Uninstall page instead; the determining factor seems to be some INF file setting known only to Microsoft at the moment. Figure 4.12 shows an example of the applet I installed using this procedure. (If Windows NT does place your new applet on the Windows NT Setup page, unchecking a box next to one of these utilities will uninstall it. This process works exactly the same as for the standard applets.) These special applets use a diamond-shaped icon to differentiate them from the standard applets in the list. You can depend on this indicator for any special applets that appear in the list.

Figure 4.12. Any new applets you install will appear in the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box.

Special Printer Installation


Windows NT provides some special printer support. It would seem that you should use the standard installation methods to install these applets, but Microsoft decided to take a different path. The printer applet installation looks almost the same as a printer installation, with a few important differences.

To begin the installation process, open the Printers folder and double-click the Add Printer icon. You should see the Print Wizard opening display. Select My Computer and click Next to get to the next screen. Select a port for the printer and click Next to get to the next screen. You should see the Add Printer Wizard dialog box, shown in Figure 4.13.

Figure 4.13. The Add Printer Wizard dialog box allows you to add a new printer or applet.

Click the Have Disk button to display the Install From Disk dialog box. Click the Browse button and use the Open dialog box to find the applet's INF file. Double-click on this file to add its name to the Copy Manufacturer's Files From field of the Install From Disk dialog box. Click OK to complete the selection process. Windows NT displays a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 4.14. Use the Add Printer Wizard dialog box to select the applets you want to install. Notice that the method of listing the potential resource has changed.

Figure 4.14. Adding a printer resource using a disk is fairly easy under Windows NT.

Windows NT will copy some files to disk and then ask some additional questions based on the type of resource you want to install. Following the prompts is fairly easy and should resemble the process for adding a printer.

Special Network Installation


There are some special network administration tools on your CD-ROM as well. As with the printer-specific resources, you don't use the standard installation routine to add these applets to your system. The following procedure will help you perform a special network installation:

  1. Open the Control Panel and double-click the Network icon. The Network dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4.15. Click on the Services page and then click the Add button.

    Figure 4.15. The Services page of the Network dialog allows you to add new network services to your computer.

  2. Click the Have Disk button to display the Install From Disk dialog box. Click the Browse button and use the Open dialog box to find the applet's INF file. Double-click on this file to add its name to the Copy Manufacturer's Files From field of the Install From Disk dialog box. Click OK to complete the selection process. Use the Select Network Service dialog box to select the applets you want to install. Notice that the method of listing the potential resource has changed.

  3. Click OK. Windows NT will copy some files to disk and then display the Network dialog box with a new entry added.


Uninstalling Windows NT


As of this writing, Microsoft hasn't decided to include an uninstall feature with Windows NT. You can install it on your system, but you won't get it back off very easily—that is, unless you took my advice earlier in this chapter.

It wasn't too difficult to figure out that there wasn't going to be an easy way to get rid of Windows NT after I installed it if it overwrote all my system files and changed quite a few others. Even if I did manage to get my old operating system to boot, I'd have to spend a lot of time reinstalling applications.

There is an easier way. The following procedure assumes that you did three things. First, it assumes that you made a boot disk like the one I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. Second, it assumes that you made a copy of your DOS directory. Finally, it assumes that you installed Windows NT to a clean directory. If you didn't follow one of those three steps, you won't have the resources to put your system back together.

  1. The first step in this process is to get DOS to boot again. Use your boot disk to reboot your machine from the floppy disk. (Make sure that you shut down Windows NT properly first.)

  2. Use the SYS command to restore the system files. Then, copy COMMAND.COM and an original copy of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS from your floppy disk to the hard drive.

  3. Copy the contents of the DOS directory backup that you made to the DOS directory.

  4. Take the floppy disk out of the drive and reboot your system. You should now get to a DOS prompt.

  5. Carefully erase all the Windows NT-specific files. Make absolutely certain that you look for all the hidden files that Microsoft thoughtfully stored in your root directory. You can find these by using the DIR /AH /S command. The /AH switch displays every file that has a hidden attribute. The /S switch tells DIR to look in any subdirectories as well as the root directory. Don't erase any DOS-specific files like IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. The date stamp on the file should give you a clue about which files belong to DOS and which ones belong to Windows NT. If in doubt, leave the file in place instead of removing it and taking the risk that your system will become non-operational. It's going to take a little effort to find all the entries. In fact, this is where a good disk editor will come into play.

  6. Reboot your machine one more time to make sure that everything works correctly.

That's it. This isn't the fanciest uninstall method in the world, but it works. You'll probably find bits and pieces of Windows NT lying around on your system for a few weeks. If you were careful when you installed it, the pieces should appear in the root directory of all your drives. Of course, the first directory you'll erase is the \WINNT directory. Make sure that you get all the Recycle Bin directories (one on each drive) and the program directory that contained Microsoft Network and other accessory applications.

On Your Own


Create your own boot disk that contains the items I mentioned earlier in this chapter. Make sure that you test it before you install Windows NT. You'll also want to create a Windows NT-specific startup disk during installation. Label both disks and keep them until you're certain that your Windows NT installation is stable. When it's stable, create a new startup disk using the Startup Disk page of the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box.

Make a list of all the equipment you think you might have problems with. Include all the items that Windows NT doesn't provide entries for in the existing INF files. Do you see any entries that you can fix using the procedures I provided in this chapter? Are there any ways to eliminate some of the 16-bit drivers you might need to use in order to keep older equipment running? Develop a comprehensive strategy for handling any problem areas before you begin the installation process.

Previous Page Page Top TOC Next Page