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You can install Windows NT Server alongside another operating system on the same machine; this provides you with the capability to boot either of the installed operating systems at system startup. An unlimited number of Windows NT variants and roles can coexist on the same computer. Be careful to install each operating system in a separate directory, though. A Windows NT-based operating system will automatically create and update a boot loader menu if it finds other operating systems on the system.

Choosing a server type

Windows NT Server is installed to perform various server roles. These roles include those of primary domain controller, backup domain controller, and member server.

When installing Windows NT Server, you must make an important choice: You have to decide what role your NT Server machine will play on your network. We will install it as a,

Primary domain controller (PDC). The PDC contains the master copy of the directory database (which contains information on user accounts) for the domain. There must be one—and only one—primary domain controller per domain, and the primary domain controller must be the first machine installed.

Choosing the server type during the planning process is important because after you install a machine, you cannot change its role with-out reinstalling NT. A domain controller must always remain a domain controller, and a non-domain controller must always remain as such. You can, however, configure an NT Server as a standalone server and then reconfigure it later to participate in a domain as a member server, and vice versa.

Installation methods

Windows NT Server can be installed from the CD-ROM containing the program files. This installation can be initiated in one of three ways. First, you can boot to the first of three installation floppy disks. These disks allow you to install Windows NT on a computer that does not support CD-ROM boot and does not support drivers for the CD-ROM drive in the machines. To begin the CD-ROM installation process, boot from Setup Disk 1. Setup asks for all three of the setup disks before it asks for the CD-ROM. (You’ll learn how to regenerate these disks should the need arise later in this chapter.)

Second, you can begin the installation from a local CD-ROM from within your existing operating system. Setup copies the installation files from the CD-ROM to your hard drive and asks you to restart your computer.

Third, you can begin the installation by booting your computer to the CD-ROM. You can use this method on machines configured to boot to the CD-ROM when detected. In this case, the Autoplay screen appears, and you can choose the Windows NT Setup icon to begin the file copying process.

If you are initiating the installation from the Setup disks, you must boot from the Setup disks; don’t type the standard run a:\setup. Because Setup is a Windows NT program, in order for it to run, Windows NT must be running; the programs winnt.exe and winnt32.exe are the setup programs for NT Server and will be discussed later in this chapter. When you boot from the initial setup disk, a minimal version of Windows NT loads and initializes.

 

WINNT.EXE Switches

The following switches enable you to customize how WINNT.EXE begins the setup process. /B No Boot Floppies

The /B switch instructs WINNT.EXE not to create the three setup disks. Instead, WINNT.EXE creates images of these disks on your system partition, requiring an extra 4 or 5MB of disk space. The boot sector of the hard disk is modified to point to the temporary directory that contains the images ($WIN_NT$.˜BT).

The /B switch can significantly speed up the installation process. If the computer crashes during Setup, however, you may not be able to reboot to your old operating system. Keeping an MS-DOS or Windows 95 bootable disk around should solve that problem. After you boot to your former operating system, type Sys C: (to transfer the system files to the C: drive), and then reboot your system to the hard drive.

 

 

Installing a Primary Domain Controller on an Intel Platform

The following directions show how to install Windows NT Server in the role of a primary domain controller on your network. Be aware that because hardware configuration varies from system to system, you will need to know how NT references network adapter drivers and video drivers on your particular system. In order to complete this exercise you will need the following:

	A computer capable of supporting Windows NT Server (with a CD-ROM drive)
	The three setup disks you created in Exercise 2.1
	A formatted disk to use as an Emergency Repair Disk
	The Windows NT Server 4.0 CD-ROM

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

1. Power off your machine, insert Disk 1 of the three-disk set, and power the machine back on.

2. When prompted, insert Disk #2 and press Enter to continue.

3. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press Enter to continue.

4. When the screen appears asking whether you want Setup to detect mass storage devices, press Enter to continue.

5. When prompted, insert Disk #3 and press Enter to continue. At this point, drivers for mass storage devices will be loaded, and yours will be detected.

6. When Setup returns with a list of mass storage devices in your system, press Enter to continue.

7. When prompted, insert the NT Server CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. Press Enter to continue.

8. When the license agreement page appears, press the Page Down key to move to the end of the document, and then press the F8 key to accept the agreement.

9. When the detected hardware components list appears, press Enter to continue.

10. When the list of partitions appears, use the up and down arrow keys to select the one on which you want to install NT. Then press Enter to continue.

11. When prompted for the file system, choose the default option of Leave the Current File System Intact. Press Enter.

12. A prompt appears, indicating that the default path for the NT program files is WINNT. Press Enter to accept that location.

13. Press Enter to initiate a thorough scan of your hard drives in preparation for NT installation.

Once the Setup program has scanned the disks, it will begin to copy files from the CD-ROM to a temporary place on your hard drive in preparation for the installation of NT.

14. When prompted, remove the disk from your floppy drive and press Enter to reboot to the GUI portion of setup (you do not need to remove your Windows NT CD-ROM).

15. When the Windows NT Server Setup dialog box appears with selection 1 highlighted, press Enter to allow NT to gather information about your computer.

16. When prompted, enter your name, press Tab, enter your organization (optional), and press Enter.

17. When prompted, enter the key pasted on the back of your NT Server CD-ROM and press Enter to continue.

18. When the Licensing Modes screen appears, enter 20 in the Per Server field and press Enter.

19. When the Computer Name screen appears, enter the name DOMAIN and press Enter.

20. When the Server Type screen appears, press Enter to accept the role of primary domain controller.

21. In the Administrator Account screen, enter the word password in both the Password and Confirm Password fields and press Enter.

22. In the Emergency Repair Disk screen, press Enter to accept the creation of an ERD.

23. On the Select Components screen, click the check box beside Accessories to clear the box, and then click it again to select all the accessories. Then press Enter to continue.

24. When the Windows NT Setup screen appears with selection 2 highlighted, press Enter to install networking.

25. When prompted, click the Next button to indicate that you are wired to the network.

26. When you’re asked if you want to install IIS, clear the check box and press Enter.

27.  To set up a network adapter, click the Start Search button. If an adapter appears, click the Next button; if not, either click the Select from List button and choose your network adapter from the list or click the Have Disk button and specify the driver’s location on the floppy disk. Click the Next button to go to the Protocols screen.

28. When prompted for protocols, make sure that only TCP/IP is selected and press Enter to continue.

29. When prompted for Network Services, press Enter to accept the defaults.

30. When you’re prompted to do so, press Enter tocomplete the networking installation. If configuration dialog boxes appear, configure your network adapter appropriately for its correct operation.

31. When the TCP/IP setup dialog box appears, press Enter to accept the default of no address acquisition from a DHCP server (you will configure TCP/IP yourself ).

32. When the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties dialog box opens, configure it with the following settings: IP address: 192.168.1.42 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Default gateway: (leave this blank) Press Enter to continue.

33. When the bindings page appears, press Enter to accept the defaults.

34. When prompted to start the network, press Enter.

35. When prompted for computer and domain names, click in the Domain field and type DOMAIN. Then press Enter.

36. When the Windows NT Setup screen appears with selection 3 highlighted, press Enter to finish setup.

37. When the Date/Time properties dialog box appears, click the drop-down arrow next to the default time zone (GMT) and select your time zone from the list.

38. Click the Date/Time tab and make sure that the date and time indicated are correct. Then press Enter to continue.

39. When the Detected Display dialog box appears, press Enter to accept the video adapter that NT finds.

40. In the Display Properties dialog box, select the desired number of colors and the desired resolution, and then click the Test button to test the choices for correct operation. When prompted, press the Enter key to initiate the display test. At this point, the screen will display a test pattern.

If the pattern does not appear, indicate that you did not see the bitmap properly and change your settings so that they work. If the pattern appears to be fine, click the Yes button. Finally, click OK to accept the message displayed in the message box that follows; you will return to the setup screen.

The installation is complete.