DOCUMENT:Q98726  20-JUL-1993  [W_NT]
TITLE   :Frequently Asked Questions: Installation and Setup
PRODUCT :Windows NT
PROD/VER:3.10
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - March Release of Microsoft Windows NT operating system
   version 3.1
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Summary:
 
The following information was taken from the Windows NT and Windows NT
Advanced Server Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that is
available on CompuServe in the WINNT forum. This article contains the
Installation and Setup section, including the following topics:
 
 - Installing Windows NT Over Previous Installation
 - Selections in Boot Loader keep returning to the Boot Loader Menu
 - Windows NT Boots but Looks in Wrong Boot Directory
 - Converting the system partition to NTFS on MIPS R4000
 - Windows NT Needs 600K Free
 - PS/2 Hangs when Searching for SCSI Adapter
 - What is the $WIN_NT$.~LS Directory
 - Setup Fails When Switching from Text to Graphics
 - Emergency Repair Disk on Unsupported CD-ROM
 - MIPS Installation not working
 
More Information:
 
Installing Windows NT Over Previous Installation
------------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
Can I install the March Release of Windows NT Beta over my previous
(October) version of Windows NT?
 
Answer:
 
Please refer to the Release Notes for complete installation details
before installing the March release.
 
Selections in Boot Loader keep returning to the Boot Loader Menu
----------------------------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
Whenever I choose MS-DOS from the Boot Loader menu, it keeps returning
me to the Boot Loader menu. Why?
 
Answer:
 
This can happen when installing Windows NT over a previously existing
Windows NT installation without using the MS-DOS SYS command to
activate the partition. When Windows NT installs, it reads the drive
boot sector to create the BOOTSECT.DOS file. It then uses BOOTSECT.DOS
when you select the previous operating system choice from the Boot
Loader menu to restore the original partition information.
 
If you install Windows NT over another copy of Windows NT,
BOOTSECT.DOS may contain a copy of the Windows NT partition
information and not the MS-DOS partition information. Each time you
select the previous operating system, the Windows NT partition
information is loaded and executed.
 
There are two ways to fix this:
 
 - If you have a previous copy of BOOTSECT.DOS, replace the current
   version with the previous version.
 
 - If not, you need to recreate the boot sector for MS-DOS by booting
   from an MS-DOS diskette and running SYS C: from that disk. Doing
   this removes the Boot Loader feature from your system. To re-enable
   Boot Loader, you will need to reinstall Windows NT, or use the
   MKSECT.ZIP utility which is available in Library 1 of the WINNT
   forum.
 
Windows NT Boots but Looks in Wrong Boot Directory
--------------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
Windows NT looks in the wrong boot directory. Why?
 
Answer:
 
This can be caused by a few different things:
 
 - Make sure BOOT.INI refers to the correct Windows NT directory.
 
 - The IBM MOST utility for OS/2 2.0 is installed on the hard drive.
 
   Windows NT uses logical partitioning. When an unknown partition
   type (MOST for example) sits between the base partition and the
   Windows NT partition, it can set the logical partitions off by one.
   MOST is not supported with Windows NT.
 
   Install Windows NT on a machine that does not have the MOST utility
   installed.
 
Converting the system partition to NTFS on MIPS R4000
-----------------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
Can I convert my MIPS system partition to NTFS?
 
Answer:
 
No. The ARC specification requires that the system partition be FAT.
This is done so that HAL.DLL and OSLOADER.EXE will be accessible
regardless of the media type. If you want to use NTFS on a MIPS
machine, create a small system partition (1M or larger) to hold
HAL.DLL and OSLOADER.exe. The rest of the disk can be formatted as an
NTFS partition. The installer correctly puts HAL.DLL and OSLOADER on
the system partition.
 
Warning: Do not use CONVERT.EXE on the system partition. It will
convert it to NTFS and the system will no longer boot. If this
happens, your only option is to run ARCINST.EXE from the installation
CD-ROM and reformat the system partition as FAT.
 
Windows NT Needs 600K Free
--------------------------
 
Question:
 
When I start up Windows NT, it gives the following error:
 
   Windows NT has found only xxxxK of low memory, 600K of low memory
   is required to run Windows NT. You may need to upgrade your
   computer or run a configuration program provided by the
   manufacturer.
 
Answer:
 
In order to start Windows NT there must be at least 600K of low
memory. You may have to perform some configuration changes to
rearrange the hardware memory mapping so that 600K of low memory is
available.
 
PS/2 Hangs when Searching for SCSI Adapter
------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
While installing the March beta release of Windows NT on my IBM PS/2,
it hangs after searching for third party SCSI adapters. What should I
do?
 
Answer:
 
Check to see if your IBM SCSI adapter has a 1991 BIOS chip. At this
time, it is not possible to install the March Beta release of Windows
NT on a machine that has this chip set. You need to use either another
supported SCSI adapter or an IBM adapter with a BIOS date other than
1991.
 
You may check the date of your SCSI BIOS by examining the card and
looking at the end of the adapter closest to the front of the machine.
You should be able to see a chip with a paper sticker containing the
SCSI BIOS date.
 
What is the $WIN_NT$.~LS Directory
----------------------------------
 
Question:
 
After I attempted to install, Windows NT left a directory named
"$WIN_NT$.~LS" on my hard disk. What is it? Is it alright to delete
it?
 
Answer:
 
This is a temporary directory created by the WINNT.EXE installation
program. The WINNT.EXE program copies all the setup files it needs to
your hard disk, then reboots into Windows NT and runs setup from your
hard drive.
 
This directory is normally deleted after a successful installation of
Windows NT. If Setup should fail for some reason, this directory is
left on your hard drive. You can safely delete this directory.
 
Setup Fails When Switching from Text to Graphics
------------------------------------------------
 
See the entry titled, Fatal Kernel Error 006E or 0071 During Setup, in
the Common Error Messages section.
 
Emergency Repair Disk on Unsupported CD-ROM
-------------------------------------------
 
Question:
 
Can I use the Emergency Repair disk if I install Windows NT from an
unsupported CD-ROM configuration or over the network?
 
Answer:
 
Unfortunately, this is not possible currently. The repair disk will
not function correctly in this case, because Windows NT has no way to
access the original installation media from Setup.
 
You can create an Emergency Repair disk by installing from either CD
or floppy. If you install from floppy (or from a Setup share created
by floppy), you need the original Setup floppies to use the Emergency
Repair disk. If you install from CD (or from a Setup share created by
CD), you need the original setup CD to use the Emergency Repair disk.
 
MIPS Installation not working
-----------------------------
 
Question:
 
Why doesn't Windows NT work on my MIPS machine?
 
Answer:
 
The March release of Windows NT requires an upgrade to your MIPS
machine to run successfully. If your hardware manufacturer has not
contacted you already, please contact them. In addition to the
upgrade, your MIPS CPU must have R4000 revision 2.0 or greater.
 
 
Additional reference words: 3.10

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.