Upgrading An Existing Installation

You can upgrade an existing Windows NT Server installation by running any of the normal installation methods mentioned earlier, or you can run the Windows NT specific setup program called WINNT32.EXE. The process for an upgrade follows the same basic procedures as previously mentioned, with one difference. You are not required to select any network adapter, printer, video adapter, and so forth. Instead, the install process will make those determinations for you. WINNT32.EXE has the following syntax:

WINNT /s:SourceMediaPath /t:TempDrive /i:IniFile [/o | /ox] /x /b

where:

•  /s:—Specifies the source path for the installation files in the form of a UNC file name (such as \\SRV\CD-ROM\I386) or a local drive letter (such as E:\I386).

•  /t:—Specifies the temporary drive where the source media will be copied to. The temporary directory is always $WIN_NT$.~LT.

•  /i:—Specifies a different INF file for the text setup program to use. The default is DOSNET.INF.

•  /o—Creates the three boot floppies that specify the temporary directory as the source media.

•  /ox—Creates the three boot floppies that can use either the CD-ROM or additional floppies for installation. These floppies are an exact copy of the floppies that ship with Windows NT Server.

•  /x—Overrides the creation of any boot floppies.

•  /b—Skips the creation of boot floppies, but creates a new directory on your hard disk called $WIN_NT$.~BT, which contains a complete copy of the boot files.

Initial Configuration

After you have completed the base installation of Windows NT Server, it’s time to work on it a bit more. Specifically, you will want to set various options, which we will discuss here, and complete the installation of any accessory software. Some of the items you will want to complete are as follows:

•  Use the User Manager For Domains to add an administrative user account for yourself and any other network administrators. While you are there, configure the system policies, and select the auditing features you wish to enable.

•  Use Windows NT Setup to add a tape device driver to support your tape backup device. There are currently device drivers to support most 4mm DAT drives, some 8mm DAT drives, and some QIC tape drives.

•  In the Control Panel System applet, configure your virtual memory (paging files) and tasking options.

•  Use the Control Panel UPS applet to install and configure your uninterruptible power supply (UPS). This will protect your server against power outages and poor line conditions.

•  Install any additional printers with the Printers Control Panel applet.

•  Install any additional Network software, such as the Gateway Service for NetWare, the Macintosh Services, Remote Access Service, or additional services.

•  Create any additional partitions, striped sets, striped sets with parity, or other fault-tolerant partitions with Disk Administrator.

•  Add the Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE) and the Repair Disk Utility (RDISK.EXE) to the Administrative Tools group.

•  Add any multimedia device drivers with the Control Panel Multimedia applet.

•  Add a computer description in the Control Panel Server applet. And while you are there, configure the system alerts and, possibly, the replication service, as well.

•  Compress any directories or drives (must be on NTFS drives only) with COMPACT.EXE, Windows Explorer, or File Manager.

•  Install and configure the DHCP and WINS services.

•  Review the event logs with the Event Viewer to check for any installation-related problems.

Once you have completed all of the basic system modifications and restarted the system (so all of your changes are applied), make sure you run through the Repair Disk Utility to create a new repair disk and update the local repair information. That way, you can restore the system to this same state at a later date should there be any problems. I would even recommend that you make a complete system backup at this point, just in case. Besides, you should test out the reliability of your tape backup hardware anyway.

Troubleshooting A Failed Installation

There are several reasons why a Windows NT Server installation may fail. Most of the reasons are related to incompatible hardware. The first thing I suggest you do if you receive a blue screen core dump is to check the error code and compare it with the following listing. You may also want to look in the Event Viewer logs for any additional information that may be contained there about the error. Some of the more common error codes include the following:

•  F002—This indicates a parity error or non-maskable interrupt occurred. In most cases, this error is memory related, although some network and video adapters can also generate this error. If you receive this error, you should run a system diagnostic on the computer, check your BIOS memory refresh rates, and check your cache settings. In some cases, this error is caused by a poorly seated SIMM. So, you may want to remove each SIMM, clean it with an eraser, and then reinstall it.

•  0000001E—Most of the time, this unhandled kernel exception indicates a problem with the file system. If you receive this error, look at the bottom of the blue screen for the stack dump and look for possible causes. For instance, if you see RDR.SYS listed, that is a problem with the network redirector, so check your network adapter settings. If you see NTFS.SYS or FASTFAT.SYS, that is an indication that you have an error in your NTFS or FAT partitions, and you should run the CHKDSK.EXE program on all your drives with the /F (to fix any errors) option.

•  0000000A—This is a catastrophic error and generally indicates an interrupt, I/O, or DMA conflict. So, check your hardware to ensure that you are not sharing any IRQs or have any other resource conflicts.

•  0x0000007B—This is an indication that your boot drive is inaccessible. Possible causes are disk drives greater than 1,024 cylinders, unsupported disk partitioning schemes, accidentally compressing the boot drive with an MS-DOS compression program in a dual-boot environment, or a boot sector virus.