<P>Since our last NT Q&A was published in January, NT 4.0 has shipped. This version has been revised to include NT 4.0-specific items.</P>
<H2>Should I get NT 4.0, or Windows 95?</H2>
<P>This is clearly the number one question I get--and it <B>still </B>doesn't have a simple answer. My stock comment is "run NT if you can--otherwise get Windows 95." What I mean by "if you can" is, if you have hardware that's NT-compatible (see the next question) with 16+ MB RAM and a big hard disk. You also have to check whether your software is NT-compatible (see below), and whether you can live with the limitations against using NT Workstation as a webserver in the 4.0 license agreement (again, see below). If you get past all that, then my answer is: Go with NT. It is rock-solid, reliable once you get it installed, and has real advantages as a platform for both 16- and 32-bit Windows applications.</P>
<P>Having said that, Windows 95 does have advantages for some users: it runs in about half as much RAM as NT, has more driver support, and is probably still a better platform for games and DOS-based legacy applications. </P>
<H2>What are NT 4.0 Hardware Requirements?</H2>
<P>For NT Workstation 4.0, you need a 486/25 or better, with 12MB of RAM and a simple (non-RAID, non-mirrored) local disk partition with at least 117MB of free space. NT Server 4.0 requires 16MB RAM and 147MB disk space (these are minimum requirements for Intel-based system, requirements for RISC systems are somewhat higher). For best performance, I recommend at least double the minimums: 24MB RAM and 200+MB disk for NT Workstation, 32MB RAM and 300+MB disk for NT Server.</P>
<P>Even that may not be enough if a system (especially a server) is heavily used. To get a better idea of how much RAM will actually be required on a Workstation, make a list of all the applications you plan to run, and their recommended memory requirements. For example, Microsoft Office recommends 16MB—which is 4MB more than the 12MB minimum for NT Workstation, so write down 4MB. Follow the same procedure for all applications and add them to the 24MB we recommend as a basic requirement. The result should be enough RAM to avoid swapping in all but the most extreme situations. For NT Server, Microsoft has some online planning guides that can help: check the planning, migration and deployment link on the NT Server webpage at </P>
<P>Unfortunately, no—upgrading from Windows 95 to NT 4.0 is not supported. But you can set up a dual-boot environment. Just make sure your hard disk has an uncompressed partition with 150MB free, and install NT in a separate directory (do not install it in the same directory with Windows 95—if you do, you'll corrupt the Windows 95 configuration registry). You'll have to use the Windows 95 FAT file system without compression (neither DOS, WFWG nor Win95 supports NTFS; while NT doesn't support any FAT compression scheme), and the computer will be easier to use if you set up both operating systems to use the same user account name and password.</P>
<P>It's kind of a mess—but it works.</P>
<H2>Can I use NT Workstation 4.0 as a Web (or any other kind of) Server?</H2>
<P>Legally, no. Microsoft has changed the license for NT 4.0 Workstation—like NT Workstation 3.5 and 3.51, it's limited to no more than ten simultaneous inbound peer connections; but the definition of "peer" has been expanded to include web/gopher/ftp and <B>all other non-management network services</B> as well as file and printer sharing. What to do if you've been using NT Workstation 3.51 as a webserver? Microsoft wants you to upgrade to NT Server 4.0, and will let you do so for half price… or you can decline to upgrade and stick with NT 3.51. It's up to you.</P>
<H2>Is NT compatible with [insert hardware here]?</H2>
<P>There's still just one definitive answer: Check Microsoft's current hardware compatibility list. You'll find it on any Microsoft TechNet CD, as part of Microsoft's NT Workstation (and NT Server) evaluation guide diskettes, and on Microsoft's InfoSource CD.</P>
<P>The HCL is also included on the NT 4.0 distribution CD-ROM (look for HCL.HLP in the CD's SUPPORT directory), and it's also available online at <a href="http://www.microsoft.com">http://www.microsoft.com</a>.</P>
<P>If your hardware's on the list, then it's guaranteed to be compatible--if not, you're taking a chance. My personal experience is that NT runs on most standard PC clone systems, but you want to be careful if your peripherals (video card, disk controller, etc.) aren't supported. Check with the vendor and see if they're supporting NT--if not, then there's a good chance the hardware won't work.</P>
<P>Problem areas include scanners (only a few old HP models are on the HCL—<B>and they're no longer made</B>), some accelerated video drivers, non-standard pointing devices (particularly joysticks), low-end tape drives and multimedia upgrade kits. Check them out before converting to NT--and once you've converted <B>never</B> buy hardware unless it's on the compatibility list, or the vendor guarantees NT compatibility! </P>
<H2>Is NT compatible with [insert software here]?</H2>
<P>This is tougher--neither Microsoft nor anyone else I know of maintains a complete list of what software is, and is not, NT-compatible (at this writing, Microsoft's new "Designed for Windows 95 and Windows NT" logo program hasn't really gotten off the ground yet).</P>
<P>As a general rule, most 16-bit Windows software is compatible, <B>provided</B> it doesn't depend on a private device driver--especially a VxD. Windows NT doesn't support VxDs, so any such software (fax applications are a major headache--but see the list below) won't run on NT. Similarly, most DOS applications will run--but not if they perform direct hardware access. Trouble spots include low-level disk utility applications like those in PC Tools or the Norton Utilities. The only way to use such software with NT is to dual-boot to DOS and run the applications from there. And then there's the issue of Windows 95 compatibility (see the next question).</P>
<P>The best way I've found to be sure software works on NT is to ask--if you find an NT user who is running the same software, then you're probably safe. Good places to ask include Microsoft's WINNT forum on Compuserve, and the Windows NT sections of Windows Magazine's Compuserve and America On-Line message forums.</P>
<P>One bit of good news here: beginning with the January 1996 issue, WINDOWS Magazine has been reporting NT compatibility in <B>all</B> software reviews—so that's another place to check!</P>
<H2>Where did Program Manager and File Manager Go—and How Can I Get Them Back?</H2>
<P>They've been subsumed by NT 4.0's Windows 95-style Explorer desktop. You can't go back, but here's a procedure that will get you something close to the old look-and feel: right-click on the Start button, and select Explore from the resulting context menu. An Explorer window will open, with the Programs folder in the right-hand pane. Right-click on it, and select Create Shortcut from the resulting context menu. There will now be a Shortcut to Programs folder in the right-hand pane of the Explorer. Click on it, drag it to the desktop, rename it "Program Manager", and double-click to open it. By default, it will open in large icon view, and the folders within it correspond exactly to NT 3.x Program Manager groups.</P>
<P>One of the icons will be Windows NT Explorer. Right-click on it, create a shortcut, drag the shortcut to the desktop, and rename it "File Manager". It will open in Explorer (2-pane) view, and will default to the root of your system disk. To finish the job, move the standard NT icons off to one side where they're out of the way (unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to delete them), and set the Taskbar to auto-hide. The result is a clean desktop that looks and feels much more like NT 3.x!</P>
<H2>What Happened to PIF Editor, and Separate Win16 Sessions?</H2>
<P>NT 3.x users who've upgraded to NT 4.0 can be justified in asking <B>"where did my PIF editor go?"</B> The answer is: to the property sheet for the program. Browse for it in Windows Explorer, and right-click on the application's icon. Then select Properties from the resulting context menu. The resulting Properties dialog includes Program, Memory, and Misc. tabs that allow you to set everything you could set with the old PIF editor. Want to have more than one set of Properties for a single application? Create a shortcut—it will inherit the Properties of the original icon by default, but the shortcut's properties can be edited separately.</P>
<P>To run a 16-bit Windows program in its own private memory space, you can do one of two things: For one-shot purposes, the Start button's Run… item supports a Run in Separate Memory Space check-box. If you have to do this frequently, create a short-cut to the program's icon in Windows Explorer, right-click on the Shortcut icon, and select Properties from the resulting context menu. The Shortcut tab on the Program's Properties dialog includes not only a Run in Separate Memory Space check-box; but also a field for the directory to start the application in, and options to run the program minimized or maximized.</P>
<H2>How can I undelete files in NT?</H2>
<P>There are still no simple undelete programs for NT available (I have seen a prototype, but the company in question hasn't decided whether to ship it—if you have an opinion on this, please write and let me know). However, there are three approaches which <B>may</B> allow you to retrieve an accidentally deleted file. First, if you're using the DOS-compatible FAT file system, you can boot your computer to DOS (either using NT multiboot or a DOS boot diskette) and use DOS undelete software (likewise, on HPFS partitions you may be able to use an OS/2 boot diskette and OS/2 undelete software).</P>
<P>The other alternative is to use a low-level disk editor. The one I recommend for NT 4.0 is Microsoft's <B>DiskProbe</B>, which comes in the NT 4.0 Resource Kit. You can also use my DiskEdit application from the Windows Magazine NT Disk Tools beta (see </P>
<P><a href="http://www.winmag.com/ew/ntfs.htm">http://www.winmag.com/ew/ntfs.htm</a>). Neither DiskProbe nor DiskEdit provide a simple undelete, <B>but they will let you search the disk for data and make a clean copy of it, on </B>any<B> partition type, including NTFS.</B> </P>
<P>Finally, there's Microsoft's solution--you <B>did</B> keep a backup, right?</P>
<H2>How Can I Defragment A Hard Disk In NT?</H2>
<P>Until recently, this was another major problem area in NT--Microsoft's position was first, use NTFS because it doesn't require defragmenting (wrong!); second, if you run a DOS-compatible FAT partition, boot DOS and use a DOS-based defragmenter (or an OS/2 defragmeter on HPFS partitions); third--as a last resort, back everything up on tape, reformat your disk and restore the tape.</P>
<P>Of course, the obvious question is--does NTFS in fact require defragmentation. The answer is a resounding <B>yes</B>--I've seen a 2:1 performance impact by using the third approach above to defragment my machines, and other users (especially those running heavily used servers) are reporting the same results.</P>
<P>Fortunately, there's now an answer--Executive Software's Diskeeper for Windows NT. It comes in two flavors: workstation and server at $149 and $349 respectively. It really does improve performance--on both FAT and NTFS partitions (see the August 1995 "Windows NT" column for more information).</P>
<P>You can contact Executive Software at (818)547-2050, or browse their web site at <a href="http://www.execsoft.com">http://www.execsoft.com</a>. </P>
<H2>How do you Fax from NT?</H2>
<P>Faxing is one of NT's major weak spots--all fax software requires special device drivers (to control the fax modem hardware), and since NT's not compatible with DOS and 16-bit Windows device drivers (or VxDs for that matter), you cannot expect that your DOS/Windows fax programs will run on NT. Fortunately, a selection of NT fax software <B>is</B> available (this list is based on research for my book <B>Networking Windows NT 4.0</B> due out in its 3rd edition this December):</P>
<P>Microsoft also has limited 16-bit fax support (specifically, for Delrina's WinFax Pro) in NT versions 3.51 and 4.0, but as with any type of application, you'll get best performance from a pure 32-bit native NT application rather than a 16-bit application.</P>
<P><B>Late-breaking news: As this is written, I've received a preview CD for "Microsoft Fax for Windows" which is an NT 4.0 add-on providing full "At-Work" fax support like that in Windows 95. I haven't tried it yet, but the documentation looks good, and it should be available by the time you read this. Check Microsoft's NT Workstation site (</B></P>
<P><B><a href="http://www.microsoft.com">http://www.microsoft.com</a>) for more information!</B></P>
<H2>How do you get NT tech support?</H2>
<P>This is another touchy area. Microsoft provided 30 days of free support for installation problems with NT 3.1, but dropped all free support in NT 3.5. With NT 3.51, you were allowed one free call for setup problems—in NT 4.0 this has been expanded to two calls. After that, if you need support, you <B>buy</B> it--starting at $150 per service call. Microsoft justifies this by calling NT a "Business Systems" product rather than a personal product--but I think it's excessive for NT Workstation. Fortunately, Unisys (800-328-0440) offers a $30 per-call support program for setup problems--and they cover all versions of NT on all platforms. That's a whole lot more reasonable. Organizations may want to purchase a support contract or one of Microsoft's higher-end support options--call Microsfoft Product Support Services at (800-426-9400).</P>
<P>If you don't want to pay for support, the alternative is self-support. You'll find knowlegable people in Compuserve's WINNT forum, and in the Windows NT sections of the WinMag forums on both Compuserve and America On-Line. The NT resource kits mentioned above (Microsoft has separated the NT Workstation and Server kits for 4.0) include many of the same tools used by Microsoft's support folks--at $69.95 for the Workstation kit, it's less than the cost of <B>one</B> service call. Another product worth considering is Microsoft TechNet, which is a subscription service that supplies a CD once a month with tech support data on <B>all</B> Microsoft products--including NT. It's $295 per year.</P>
<H2>What about NT and Fonts / DTP (esp ATM)?</H2>
<P>Adobe never finished their NT version of Adobe Type Manager (ATM), so NT cannot directly use type 1 postscript fonts (NT's font support is built around Microsoft's TrueType technology). One feature NT has that can help is the ability to automatically convert type 1 fonts to TrueType--the Fonts applet in the NT control panel has a TrueType button lets you add type 1 fonts and will ask if you want them converted to TrueType. Since NT <B>does</B> support postscript printers, this is a workable solution for some users...</P>
<P>But not for all. The fact is that ATM's absence has limited NT's usability in desktop publishing applications--we tried it at WinMag, and quite frankly, it didn't meet our expectations. I hope Microsoft and Adobe can iron out their differences and solve this problem soon, because in every other way NT is <B>exactly</B> what you want in a DTP platform!</P>
<P><B>I have heard rumors that Adobe is working on an updated ATM for NT 4.0, but I have not been able to confirm them as of this writing.</B></P>
<H2>Are NT and Windows 95 Compatible?</H2>
<P>Yes and no. Beginning with NT 3.51, support was provided for Windows 95 common controls (tabbed dialogs, window "widgets") and help, but not for the Windows 95 "Explorer" shell, unless you ran the pre-beta Shell Technology Preview. With NT 4.0, the shell was brought up to Win95 standards—but even that doesn't assure that Win95 applications will work.</P>
<P>Under the hood, NT and Windows 95 are two very different animals. NT doesn't support Windows 95's VxD virtual device driver model--so applications that depend on VxDs (such as The Norton Utilities for Windows 95 and many fax applications) won't run. Low-level disk support is different on the two platforms, so disk compressors, defragmenters, undelete and other low-level utilties won't run. And Windows 95 uses different techniques to provide support for international users—applications using the NT approach will not run on Windows 95, and international applications written for Windows 95 may or may not work on NT. Finally, NT 4.0 still lacks full plug-and-play support.</P>
<P>Both the Windows 95 and NT development groups at Microsoft are aware of these problems, and work is being done to converge the two systems. The new "Designed for Windows 95 and Windows NT" logo program is intended to assure that all logo-complaint applications will work on both systems, and based on talking to several ISVs, I expect that <B>most</B> Windows 95 applications (low-level utilities remain an exception) will provide NT support in some form. Microsoft itself is fully committed to this, and the Windows 95 version of Microsoft Office runs today on both NT 3.51 and NT 4.0.</P>
<H2>What does "NT" stand for, anyway?</H2>
<P>It stands for "New Technology". Thus, NTFS is "New Technology File System". As for why the product is formally named Windows NT rather than just NT--it seems that Northern Telecom objected to the use of the letters NT by themselves as a product name.</P>
<H2>Why does Microsoft have both Windows 95 and NT?</H2>
<P>This is a question that bedevils users, managers and pundits of all kinds--including some within Microsoft. In a nutshell, making one operating system that's 100% compatible with all your DOS and 16-bit Windows apps <B>and</B> having that operating system be absolutely reliable, C2-securable and portable to RISC and multiprocessor hardware; appears to be impossible. Of course IBM keeps trying with Warp, as do the UNIX folks...</P>
<H2>What benefit is there to using NT?</H2>
<P>Mainly reliability. It's quite common to run NT machines for <B>months</B> without a reboot--I've done that myself (the two NT machines in my office stay on all the time--at night, I turn their monitors off, but the consoles are never powered down.) Aside from that, NT runs on RISC hardware and multiprocessor servers, and it's a securable operating system.</P>
<P>For end-users, NT offers reliability, compatibility with <B>most</B> DOS and Windows applications, some nice convenience features like the ability to run multiple 16-bit Windows apps in separate, preemptively multitasked sessions, and--best of all--it eliminates the horrible 16-bit Windows resource limit completely.</P>
<H2>Are there any people who should not run NT?</H2>
<P>Yes there are. First of all, NT requires at least 12MB on a desktop system--and if you use it heavily, you'll probably want twice that. It isn't 100% compatible with all the hardware and software you may have (see above). It's probably more operating system than most home users need--and besides, some DOS games won't run on it (though you'd be surprised at how many <B>do</B>!)</P>
<H2>Service Packs</H2>
<P>Between major releases of NT (3.1, 3.5, 3.51) Microsoft periodically makes updates software available in the form of a Service Pack: typically a big binary file (or CD) containing new versions of NT system files. The most recent service pack for NT 3.51 is SP4. As of this writing there are no service packs for NT 4.0, but rumor has it that two are under development—this first will contain "hot patch" bug fixes, and the second will update some NT 4.0 features (among other things, raising IIS/PWS to revision 3.0). Check Microsoft's web site for details.</P>
<H2>Getting Tape Drives, Printers, and other Peripherals to work with NT</H2>
<P>Per my recent column on "e-mail and backup hell", I've now had personal experience with just how much of a pain it is to deal with unsupported peripherals. As noted earlier in this file, the best way to deal with this problem is to avoid it altogether—make sure the device you're buying is on the current NT hardware compatibility list. If it isn't, then don't buy it!</P>
<P>You can make an exception if 1) the vendor assures you that the product is compatible—and guarantees compatibility; but make sure they'll take it back if it doesn't work! Or, 2) if you know someone who has gotten the device in question to work.</P>
<P>That leaves the question of what to do if you must use a particular device, and it's not compatible. The only solution I've found is to either run the device in a separate computer that runs WFWG or Win95 rather than NT—then just send data to the NT machine over the network; or you can set up a dual-boot system. See below.</P>
<H2>Anti-virus</H2>
<P>The NT anti-virus situation is getting better! There are now half-a-dozen NT anti-virus applications ranging from single-user (Carmel antivirus) to network-wide (Cheyenne InncouLAN). Here's a partial list (my source is Microsoft's WinNTnews electronic letter, volume 1, number 2):</P>
<P>Avalan Technologies has just recently shipped an NT 4.0-compatible version of their Remotely Possible product, and most other remote control vendors are working on NT 4.0 support (NT 3.51 versions won't work because of the new video driver architecture—see below). The Remote Control feature built-in to Microsoft's SMS 1.2 supports both NT 3.51 and 4.0.</P>
<H2>Remote Cross-Domain Administration</H2>
<P>NT Server's domain administration is a blessing—most of the time. If you're trying to work remotely, however, it can be a curse! When a user from one domain attempts to log in to a remote domain via RAS, the domain controller in the domain being logged into attempts to contact the other domain controller to verify the user's access rights... and unless there is some link between the two servers, this fails.</P>
<P>To work around the problem in NT 3.51, give the remote user a local account on the domain being logged into. The user can then make a RAS connection without problems. In NT 4.0, the log-in screen has an option to use dial-up networking which largely eliminates the problem.</P>
<H2>Why Don't my NT 3.<B>x</B> Drivers Work?</H2>
<P>Microsoft drastically changed the video architecture in NT 4.0, which improved performance, but means that NT 3.<B>x</B> video drivers are <B>completely</B> incompatible with NT 4.0. If you use one of the standard video drivers from the NT CD, there's nothing to worry about: You'll get a new driver automatically when you upgrade NT. If you use a 3rd party driver, however, you'll have to check with your vendor for NT 4.0 driver compatibility. Besides video drivers, SCSI and printer drivers are also affected.</P>
<H2>How Can I make NT 4.0 Recognize a Second EIDE Drive?</H2>
<P>In some cases, NT 4.0 Setup will mistake an EIDE controller for a generic ATAPI controller, and automatically loads the ATAPI.SYS driver—which doesn't know how to deal with the second drive. To correct the problem, disable ATAPI.SYS (using Control Panel/Devices) and load the appropriate EIDE driver.</P>
<H2>Can I run NT 4.0 on a Portable?</H2>
<P>Yes—but most of the time, it's not worth the trouble. Problems include no plug-and-play hardware support, no support for advanced power management, limited PC-Card (PCMCIA) support (among other things, PCMCIA drivers that stop working when a portable is put into suspend mode), and—specifically in NT 4.0—no support for floppy diskettes in NT Setup. If you must use NT on a portable, make sure the vendor provides a custom "enabler" to allow PCMCIA drivers to survive suspension (Digital and Toshiba do on some top-end models), and get a system with a built-in (or add-on) CD-ROM.</P>
<H2>What Happened to the 8-bit SCSI Drivers?</H2>
<P>They are now located in the DRVLIB directory on the NT distribution CD. To install NT on a system with one of these cards, you'll have to create a driver diskette by copying the relevant files onto a floppy <B>before </B>running NT Setup. If you have any 8-bit SCSI card, or a 16-bit Maynard or Mediavision card, check the NT Hardware Compatibility List to see if a driver diskette is required.</P>
<H2>Questions and Comments...</H2>
<P>About this file and NT issues generally can be addressed to me via e-mail: </P>
<P>John Ruley's e-mail ID is: <A HREF="mailto:jruley@cmp.com">jruley@cmp.com</A>. I'd be delighted to hear from you!</P>
<P> --<B>John D. Ruley</B>, Sr. Technology Editor (and Windows NT columnist), <B>WINDOWS Magazine</B>, CMP Media, Inc.</P>
