Sams Teach Yourself MCSE Windows NT Server 4 in 14 Days
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): David Schaer, et al
ISBN: 0672311283
Publication Date: 12/15/97

3.3.3. Coexistence with OS/2

Coexistence with OS/2 would be desirable for people who have an installed base of Microsoft LAN Manager or IBM LAN Server, both of which were designed to run on OS/2.

OS/2 1.x

Integrating OS/2 1.x is fairly simple. Before you load NT, simply install and configure OS/2 1.x to allow for dual booting of OS/2 and DOS. To boot between OS/2 1.x and DOS, select DOS from the options offered during the NT boot. When the system loads to the command prompt you can type boot /os2 or boot /dos to enable the proper operating system.

OS/2 2.x

Like NT, OS/2 supports booting into multiple operating systems. If you plan to support additional operating systems besides NT, you should first configure NT to boot as described previously.

After installing NT, you can install OS/2 on the same system. A different partition must be used for the OS/2 boot partition. The OS/2 BOOTLOADER can be used to select the operating system boot choice of OS/2 or NT. If NT is selected, the system will call the NTLDR that in turn reads the BOOT.INI to present the user a choice of operating systems to boot into.

3.4. Upgrading Existing Operating Systems

The issues with upgrading are slightly different than issues with coexistence. When upgrading it is important to confirm that NT will support all hardware required.

A system might have run without problems on Windows 95 or even NT 3.x but might not work with NT 4.0. You should check the hardware against the HCL before beginning the upgrade, and confirm the availability of drivers. Back up all data before you begin the upgrade process.

3.4.1. Upgrading from OS/2 to NT 4.0

Although NT can be installed on a machine running OS/2 it does not upgrade the operating system. NT will be installed as a separate operating system on the machine. In previous versions of NT the High Performance File System (HPFS) was supported. In NT 4.0 the OS/2 subsystem no longer supports HPFS.

3.4.2. Upgrading from Windows 95 to NT 4.0

This is a manual upgrade process. Although both NT and Windows 95 use a registry to store configuration information, the two registries are incompatible.

Do not install Windows NT into the same directory as Windows 95. You would be unable to boot either operating system due to registry incompatibilities.

You do the upgrade as a new installation of NT. You can perform the installation from the local CD-ROM or from across the network. When you use the across the network installation method you must execute WINNT.EXE. Even though Windows 95 supports 32-bit applications you cannot use the WINNT32.EXE utility to perform your upgrade because it requires NT-specific support files.

You can install Windows NT from the RUN prompt under Windows 95 by using WINNT.EXE with the /w switch. This also requires that you manually perform the first reboot.

It is necessary to reinstall all applications under NT. Install each application into the same directory to save disk space. If you are installing a member server, it will only contain default users, groups, and policies. A BDC will receive a copy of the domain SAM database.

It is possible to get around reinstalling certain programs by using the System applet on the Control Panel to add the location of the needed DLLs to the Windows NT path.

3.4.3. Upgrading from NT 3.x to 4.0

The preferred method of upgrading a system that already has a version of NT loaded is to use the WINNT32.EXE executable. This method can also be used to install additional copies of NT on the same machine.

3.4.4. Updates and Service Packs

Periodically, Microsoft releases service packs to correct bugs or enhance the released product. To install a service pack, run the UPDATE.EXE utility from the source directory. Check with the hardware vendor before applying service packs to machines with proprietary hardware. When applying service packs to machines with multiple processors, special instructions are required.

3.5. Initiating NT Server 4.0 Setup

There are two basic setup methods: installation from a local CD-ROM and installation from a source on the network.

3.5.1. Initiating NT Server 4.0 Setup from a Local Source

When you set up a single system, using a local CD-ROM as the setup source is usually simplest. Having the source files held locally, on the CD-ROM, or even copied to a directory on the hard disk can aid in later repairing the system files if necessary. However, don’t assume that all systems will have a CD-ROM drive or the extra hard disk capacity to hold a copy of the source files.