Installation and Upgrading

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Many factors must be considered as you prepare for a successful installation or upgrade of Windows NT. The installation processes for Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server are quite similar. Shortly, you will be guided through a full installation of Windows NT Server. Before the installation process is explained, there are several factors you need to consider; these important factors are explained next.

Before You Start

Microsoft provides strict minimum hardware requirements for the installation of Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server. You should verify that your system meets or exceeds the minimum recommendations before installation. The minimum hardware requirements for a typical Windows NT Workstation installation are a 486 processor, 12MB of RAM, a VGA display adapter, 110MB of available hard drive space, a CD-ROM device, and 3.5-inch floppy drive. The recommended requirements for a Windows NT Workstation installation are a Pentium processor, 16MB of RAM, SVGA support, 300MB of available hard drive space, a CD-ROM device, a 3.5-inch drive, and an NIC.

As mentioned in Chapter 11, you should always consult the manufacturer’s specifications before installing any software. Minimum and recommended hardware requirements for Windows NT Server as well as other Microsoft operating systems can be found at the Microsoft Web site (http://www.microsoft.com). It is also important to verify that your installed hardware is supported by the operating system you are installing. If you are installing a Windows operating system, you should check your installed hardware against the hardware compatibility list at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx.

Before installing Windows NT on a hard drive, you must also consider which type of file system the operating system will use. Windows NT works with FAT16 and NTFS. It is not compatible with FAT32 partitions unless you utilize special third-party programs. If you are planning a clean install of Windows NT on a hard drive, you should use NTFS in order to take full advantage of its many benefits. The benefits of NTFS include its overall ability to recover from system failure; support for RAID mirroring, which enables data to be written to two hard drives simultaneously, resulting in a complete hard disk backup; smaller cluster size than FAT16, which enables NTFS to support larger partitioned drive volumes and make better overall use of disk space; and the ability to provide file-level security and auditing.

If you are installing Windows NT on the same hard drive as Windows 9.x or DOS, you will want to use FAT16. FAT16 gives you the ability to see files across operating systems and partitions located on the same hard drive. You can always convert a FAT16 partition to NTFS later from a command prompt by entering the following command:

CONVERT C:/FS:NTFS

The Windows NT command prompt can be accessed by selecting Start > Run and entering “CMD” at the Open line. CMD.EXE is the actual command prompt in Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. You can also navigate to the Windows NT command prompt by selecting Start > Programs > Command Prompt.

If you want to create a dual boot scenario, which will allow you to boot into either the Windows 9.x or Windows NT operating systems (assuming they are installed on the same hard drive), you must have a bootable FAT system partition.

Note 

If you have Windows NT installed on the same hard drive as Windows 9.x, and you cannot view files between the operating system’s partitions, you most likely have Windows 9.x installed on a FAT32 partition.

Another important fact about NTFS and FAT32 partitions is that if you copy files from an NTFS partition or ‘volume’ to a FAT32 partition or ‘volume,’ the files will retain their file attributes and long file names. They will also retain any information stored in the file. However, they will lose their compression status, file permissions assigned from within Windows NT, and any encryption status.

This may seem like an awful lot to consider before installation, but it is important to consider all these items in order to achieve your operating system goals.

The Installation Process

The Windows NT Server installation process can be started in one of two ways.

To initiate an over-the-network installation, do the following:

1. Share a networked CD-ROM device and place the Windows NT Server CD-ROM in the shared device. Alternatively, copy the I386 directory and its contents to a local or shared network drive.

2. If you are using Windows or DOS, use the WINNT.EXE command from the client computer to execute the start-up process. If you are upgrading from an older Windows NT version, use the WINNT32.EXE command from the client computer. You will be presented with the Windows NT Setup screen. From this point on, follow the instructions in the next section.

To initiate the installation process using the three Windows NT installation floppy disks and the Windows NT Server CD-ROM, do the following:

1. Assuming that your system is configured to boot first to a floppy drive, insert the installation floppy disk labeled “Setup Boot Disk” into the floppy drive, place the Windows NT Server installation CD-ROM into the CD-ROM device, and restart the system.

2. The Windows NT Setup screen appears. The installation will continue until you are prompted for the second installation floppy disk. While the information on the second disk is processed, you will see the Windows NT kernel loading the version and associated build number. The “Welcome to Setup” screen appears, which gives you the options to Continue, Repair, or Exit the installation process. In this case, you want to choose the Continue option and proceed with installation. Next, the license agreement appears. Page down to the end and press the F8 key to acknowledge your acceptance.

3. You will be asked to insert the third installation floppy disk. The installation process continues searching your system for installed hardware devices. At this point, the installation process has gathered enough information to determine if an older Windows NT operating system has been installed on the hard drive. If the process finds evidence of an earlier version, you will be prompted with the following options:

   • To upgrade, press Enter.

   • To cancel upgrade and install a fresh copy, press “N”.

   Since we are doing a clean install, the second option is appropriate. The installation process continues, displaying the system type, video card, keyboard, and mouse information. The installation process continues until a list appears of the available partitions the program has found on your hard drive. If you have multiple partitions, you must select one on which to install Windows NT. Be careful not to install NT onto a partition that currently contains a file system with information you want to keep. If you have one partition, select it and press Enter.

4. Next, you are given several options, including a choice of file system to format the partition with.

   • Format the partition using the FAT file system.

   • Format the partition using the NTFS file system.

   As explained above, format with FAT if you wish to maintain compatibility or dual boot with a DOS or Windows 9.x partition. Use NTFS if you are interested in performance, program protection, file-level security, and support for file names of up to 254 characters in length. Choose the file system you want to format with and press Enter.

5. After the partition has been formatted, you are asked for the location in which to install the Windows NT files. The default location provided for you is \WINNT. Accept the default by pressing Enter. You will then be prompted for permission to scan the hard drive for corruption. Press Enter to continue. The Setup program will continue to copy files to the hard drive, and you will eventually be asked to press Enter again to restart the system. As the system starts back up, you will notice the “Last Known Good Menu” pass by. This feature will be available every time you restart the operating system in the future. It is used to assist you with restoring the last known good system configuration stored on your drive in case you make operating system configuration mistakes.

6. You are asked for the type of installation you would like, including Typical, Portable, Compact, or Custom. It is best at this point to choose the Typical installation and click Next. You will then be asked to supply a name and company name. Enter the appropriate information and continue. Next, you are asked to provide a CD key, which is provided with the installation CD-ROM kit. Enter it and continue. Then you must enter the type of licensing you would like to use. The two licensing options are per seat and per server.

   • Per seat means per device. If you have a 300 per-seat licenses, 300 users can sign on to and legally use any of the Windows NT servers in your business.

   • Per server. If you purchase 50 per-server licenses, or CALS, as Microsoft calls them, any 50 devices can connect to the specific server simultaneously.

   If you need more help determining which license type to use, go to the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sam/licensing/cal_guide/default.asp

   Enter the appropriate license type, select the number of licenses you have purchased, and continue. Next, you will be asked to specify a computer name of 15 characters or less for your server and to choose whether it will be a PDC, BDC, or standalone server. If this is the first server on your network, you should choose the PDC option. If it is the second domain controller installed, choose the BDC option. If the server is going to be used for exchange (e-mail), SQL (database), fax, or as a file and print server, you should choose the standalone server option. After you have chosen the type of server that will be created, the installation process will ask you to configure a password of 14 characters or less for the administrator account. Confirm the password by entering it a second time, and click Next.

7. You are now prompted to create an ERD. If you choose the “Yes” option, Setup will ask you to insert a blank floppy disk into the floppy drive, and the ERD is created. You can select the “No” option and create an ERD later by entering RDISK/S at the Start > Run > Open line in the Windows NT GUI. The ERD disk contains valuable system configuration information that can be used to restore your system if it fails. The /S switch used with the RDISK command is used to back up the SAM database.

8. After you have created an ERD, Setup offers you the opportunity to install additional components, such as accessories, communications options, games, multimedia, and Windows messaging. Select the components you wish to add and click Next.

9. Windows NT Setup then informs you that you are entering the Windows NT Networking portion of Setup. You are asked to choose how to connect the server from the following choices:

   • Do not connect this computer to a network at this time.

   • This computer will participate on a network:

     • Wired to the network

     • Remote access to the network

   To connect to a network and allow the installation process to continue, select “This computer will participate on a network:” and choose “Wired to the network.” Setup then asks if you would like the Internet Information Server (IIS) installed. Do not select this option unless you want the server to provide Web services.

10. Next, you are prompted to allow Setup to automatically detect your Network Interface Card (NIC).

11. Assuming that Setup has found the NIC, and it has been configured properly, you are then asked which network protocols you would like to install. By default, Windows NT Setup chooses TCP/IP, NetBEUI, and IPX/SPX for you. Accept the defaults, unless you require additional protocols. Setup then asks if you require special services. Accept the default unless you have special needs, and continue. Next, you will be asked if the system will be part of a workgroup or a domain. If this is the first server in a new domain, you will not be presented with this option. If you are joining this server to an existing domain, you can add it with a domain administrator’s user ID and password.

12. Finally, you will need to set your system’s time zone and adjust video display options. After this, the system will restart at least once, and you boot directly into the Windows NT GUI.

Installation Notes

Windows NT can use a unique database file and an answer file to automate the setup of multiple Windows NT installations. If you use these two files to automate your installation, you will be required to include within these two files most of the responses to the installation questions described above.

There are several important switches that you can use in combination with the Windows NT Setup commands. Some of these important switches and useful installation notes are described here.

• Windows NT can be installed on the same hard drive as Windows 9.x, but Windows 9.x cannot be upgraded to Windows NT. Windows NT uses a different Registry and operating system structure. If you are installing Windows NT on the same hard drive as Windows 9.x, you must specify a different location for Setup to install the necessary files to; otherwise, Setup will overwrite your previous Windows 9.x installation.

• If you want to create the three Windows NT installation floppy disks after Setup has completed, you can use the command WINNT32.EXE with the switch /OX from a Windows NT command prompt. You can install Windows NT without being prompted for the three installation floppy diskettes by entering the command WINNT/B2 from a command prompt. This assumes that you have the Windows NT CD-ROM inserted in a CD device.

• The /I:inf_file switch is used with the WINNT command to identify the name of the Setup information file to be used for an automated installation. The default file name is DOSNET.INF. The /udf switch is used during an unattended installation to specify unique settings for specific computers in the uniqueness database file.

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