http://www.microsoft.com/MSPRESS/CSF/UPDATE.HTM (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)

Windows NT 3.51 Update

ADDENDUM

Lesson 1: Licensing Issues
Lesson 2: Correcting the Pentium Floating Point Division Error
Lesson 3: NTFS File Compression
Lesson 4: Server Tools for Windows 95
Lesson 5: Books Online
Lesson 6: The Microsoft Network

Lesson 1:

Licensing Issues

During either a new installation or an upgrade to Windows NT Server 3.51, the user performing the install or upgrade will be presented with an on-line version of the Microsoft License agreement. For setup to continue the installation/upgrade, the user must accept this agreement.

After this lesson you will be able to:

Choose the appropriate licensing mode for a Windows NT Server network.
Convert from Per Server licensing to Per Seat licensing.

Estimated lesson time: 10 minutes

Windows NT Server 3.51 supports two license modes: Per Server and Per Seat. Per Server licensing specifies the number of users that can simultaneously access the services of Windows NT Server. This license limits the number of users that can access a particular server to the number of licenses that were purchased for the server. Per Seat licensing assigns the license to a specific computer. Any user at a computer with a per seat license can access the services of all Windows NT Server computers on the network.

Per Server Licensing

With Per Server licensing, each Client Access License is assigned to a particular server and allows one session to that server for basic network services (file, print, and communications). Although the Windows NT Server interface refers to concurrent connections, the term sessions is more appropriate. A session is not the same thing as a connection; a session includes all connections between a single client and server and not just to an individual share point or printer on that server. If you connect to \\PRODUCT\NEW and \\PRODUCT\OLD, that is considered as only one session for licensing purposes.

You must purchase at least as many Client Access Licenses dedicated to that server as the maximum number of client computers that will connect to that server at the same time. If you select the Per Server option during Setup, you must specify the number of Client Access Licenses (which corresponds to the number of concurrent sessions) that you have purchased for that server.

Note:
When a server reaches the maximum number of concurrent sessions, Windows NT Server 3.51 will display an error message and not allow any more computers to connect until either an existing session is closed or the server is configured with additional Client Access Licenses. Administrators are allowed to connect and resolve the lockout situation.

Per Seat Licensing

With Per Seat licensing, a Client Access License applies to a specific workstation or seat. Using this alternative, an unlimited number of computers or workstations may access a server, provided each one is licensed with the appropriate Client Access License. Once a workstation has been licensed for Windows NT Server, for example, it has permission to access resources on all Windows NT Server computers installed throughout your organization.

A Client Access License is required whether you use client software supplied by Microsoft or software from a third-party vendor. In particular, if the computer or workstation is running Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups or Windows NT Workstation or any other client software Windows NT Server supports, a separate Client Access License for each client is required before the client can connect to and use resources on the Windows NT Server computer.

Administrators must manually add per seat licenses using the License Manager application in the Network Administration program group. There is no enforcement of per seat license violations; however, an event will be logged to the Application log by the License Service.

Per Seat vs. Per Server

Deciding whether to use the per seat or per server licensing mode depends on how the Windows NT Server computers are accessed:

For occasional use servers, such as a RAS server, it is typically known how many clients may connect at any one time. Therefore, the per server license mode is more economical.
When users access multiple servers each day, it is typically more economical to use the per seat license mode. Using per seat allows users to access all servers on the network. If per server were selected, the administrator would have to determine which servers each user accessed and then purchase licenses for each server.
If the number of per server licenses approaches, equals, or is greater than the number of clients, it is typically more economical and reduces administration to switch to the per seat license mode. Switching modes also guarantees that users will have access to all server resources at any given time.

Caution:
If you are unsure which licensing mode to choose, select the Per Server option. There is a one-time conversion opportunity from the Per Server license to a Per Seat license at no cost, using the Licensing option in Control Panel. It is not necessary to notify Microsoft if you elect to make this change. This is a one way conversion. In other words, you may convert from Per Server to Per Seat, but not the reverse.

For example, if you have one server and 30 Client Access Licenses for your 30 clients, you could configure the server using the Per Server option. When you install a second server, you have a choice. You can purchase an additional 30 Client Access Licenses and configure the second server with the Per Server option. Or you can convert the first server to the Per Seat option and configure your second server as Per Seat also. In this way, your 30 Client Access Licenses will be assigned to your 30 clients, allowing them to access either server.

Return to the top of this page.

Lesson 2:

Correcting the Pentium Floating Point Error

Windows NT 3.51 setup has been modified to automatically detect the Intel® Pentium(tm) floating-point division error. If this error is detected, setup provides the user with the option of disabling the floating-point hardware. A command-line utility, PENTNT.EXE can also be used later to disable or enable the floating-point hardware.

After this lesson you will be able to:

Use PENTNT.EXE to enable and disable the floating-point hardware on demand.

Estimated lesson time: 5 minutes

During the final stages of setup for both Windows NT Workstation 3.51 and Server 3.51, Windows NT will detect the Intel Pentium floating-point division error. If found, the user will be prompted to disable the floating-point hardware and enable emulation software to compensate. If the user chooses to disable the hardware, Windows NT will test for the presence of the error every time it boots. If the processor is upgraded to a model that functions correctly, the floating-point hardware will be re-enabled and the emulation software disabled.

PENTNT.EXE

This command-line utility can be used in Windows NT 3.51 to detect the Intel Pentium floating-point division error. In addition, PENTNT.EXE can also be used to both disable the floating-point hardware and enable software emulation of floating-point hardware.

The utility provides two methods, Conditional and Forced emulation, that can be used to disable the hardware and turn on software emulation:

Conditional Emulation

When conditional emulation is enabled, each time Windows NT boots, it tests the processor for the floating-point division error. If the error is present, then the hardware will be disabled and software emulation will be enabled. Conditional emulation is only enabled using the -c switch on PENTNT.EXE and requires a reboot to take effect.

Forced Emulation

When forced emulation is enabled, the floating-point hardware is disabled and software emulation is enabled. This occurs regardless of whether or not the error is present in the hardware. Forced emulation is enabled using the -f switch on PENTNT.EXE and also requires a reboot to take effect. Return to the top of this page.

Lesson 3:

NTFS File Compression

In Windows NT 3.51, the NTFS file system supports real-time compression and decompression of files and directories. The compression algorithm used by NTFS favors performance over compression ratio. In spite of this, the NTFS compression engine is still able to yield compression results comparable with the DriveSpace compression used in MS-DOS® 6.22. After this lesson you will be able to:

Compress NTFS files and directories.
Understand the impact of copying and moving files on the compression status of directories.

Estimated lesson time:10 minutes

On an NTFS partition in Windows NT 3.51, each file and directory has a new compression attribute. What the compression attribute indicates depends on whether a file or directory is selected as described below:

If the compression attribute is set for a file, it indicates that the file is compressed.
If the compression attribute is set for a directory, it indicates that any new files placed in the directory will automatically be compressed.

Using File Manager to Compress Files

Files can be compressed and uncompressed on NTFS partitions three different ways using File Manager:

You can select the file(s) and then select Compress or Uncompress from the File menu.
You can select or clear the Compressed check box in the Attributes box of the Properties dialog box. Compression is an attribute that can be set just as the Read Only, Archive, Hidden, and System attributes can be set. You can also select the Properties option to view the compressed size and compression ratio of a selected file.
You can compress and uncompress files by selecting the compress or uncompress toolbar buttons. (You must customize the toolbar by means of the Options menu and add the compress and uncompress buttons.)

You can compress or uncompress one file, several files, directories, and subdirectories. However, directories and subdirectories are not actually compressed. When you elect to compress a directory or subdirectory, you are indicating that you want any files added to the directory or subdirectory after you have compressed it to be compressed automatically.

Common text-oriented application files show an approximately 50 percent reduction in size while executable files are approximately 40 percent smaller than their original size.

Copying and Moving Files

When a file is copied from one directory to another on an NTFS partition, the compression attribute of the file is changed to that of the target directory. In the same manner as permissions on a copied file, the compression setting is inherited from the target directory.

When a file is moved from one directory to another on an NTFS partition, the compression attribute is retained, regardless of whether or not the target directory is compressed. Again, in the same manner as permissions, the compression setting is maintained when a file is moved.

When a file is moved between two NTFS partitions, just like permissions, the compression attribute is inherited from the target directory. This occurs because a move between partitions is actually a copy and delete operation.

When a compressed file is moved into a directory that does not contain any compressed files, the directory does not appear blue in File Manager. The only time a directory appears blue in File Manager is when the directory has the compression attribute set, so that new files put in the directory will be compressed. Files that are moved or copied from another partition to an NTFS partition always inherit the compression attribute of the target directory.

Return to the top of this page.

Lesson 4:

Server Tools for Windows 95

The Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit includes new Win32 versions of the Windows NT Server Tools for use on Windows 95-based computers. After this lesson you will be able to:

Install the Windows 95-based Server Tools.
Invoke the appropriate Server Tool for a specific purpose.

Estimated lesson time: 5 minutes

Installing the Windows NT Server Tools

The Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit CD includes a directory called \W95ADMIN, which contains the Windows 95-compatible versions of the Windows NT Server Tools.

In order to install the Server Tools, your boot partition will need at least 2.5MB of free space. The Windows NT Server Tools are installed to a directory called \SRVTOOLS. To install, click the Start button, and then point to Settings. Click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs. Select the Windows Setup tab, and choose the Have Disk button. Specify the path to the Windows NT Server Tools files (there must be a SRVTOOLS.INF file in this directory) and choose OK. Click the box next to the Windows NT Server Tools entry. Choose the Install button. After all of the files are copied, choose OK.

After installation is complete, you will need to manually adjust lines in the computer's AUTOEXEC.BAT file to include C:\SRVTOOLS in the PATH (if c: is the boot drive). You will need to restart the computer for the new path to take effect.

Using the Windows NT Server Tools

The Windows 95-based Server Tools take full advantage of the Windows 95 interface. Only three self-contained utilities are installed: Event Viewer, Server Manager and User Manager for Domains, all of which function like their Windows NT counterparts (although there are some exceptions; see the Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit for more information).

Unlike the Win16 Server Tools, there will not be a security menu added to File Manager, nor will there be a new Print Manager utility installed. Instead, you can right click on an NTFS file, directory, or printer and select its properties. There will be a new Security tab which will allow you to view and modify the permissions for the selected resource.

For more information on using the Windows 95-based Server Tools, see the Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit.

Return to the top of this page.

Lesson 5:

Books Online

Windows NT 3.51 condenses thousands of pages of documentation into a series of electronic books you can view through the Windows Help system. The Books Online program makes these books available from the desktop at any time.

After this lesson you will be able to:

Find information about Windows NT 3.51 using the electronic books.
Change the location of the electronic books used by Books Online.

Estimated lesson time: 5 minutes

Windows NT 3.51 installs a new program item, Books Online, into the Main program group during new installations. Books Online points to NTBOOKS.EXE, which simply loads the Windows Help viewer and points it to the location of the books. If you perform an upgrade from a previous version of Windows NT, you will not get the Books Online icon, but you can still run NTBOOKS.EXE from the < winnt_root > \SYSTEM32 directory.

The first time you run Books Online, you will be prompted to enter the path to the electronic manuals. You may enter a local drive path or a UNC path to a network share. You will not be asked for this information again unless you remove the books from their original location, or unless you use the /N (for new location) switch with the NTBOOKS.EXE command.

By default, Books Online looks for the books appropriate to your installation, i.e., if you installed Windows NT Workstation, then it will look for the Workstation manuals rather than Server. To force Books Online to load the Server books, use the /S or /Server switch with NTBOOKS.EXE. To force Books Online to load the Workstation books, use the /W or /Workstation switch.

Return to the top of this page.

Lesson 6:

The Microsoft Network

If you have a Windows 95-based computer, you can dial in to The Microsoft Network for support for and updates to Windows NT Workstation and Server. You can also take instructor-led classes based on this and other Microsoft Official Curriculum offerings on the Microsoft Online Institute.

After this lesson you will be able to:

Find information on and support for Windows NT on The Microsoft Network.
Obtain information about instructor-led training for Windows NT in the Microsoft On-Line Institute.

Estimated lesson time: 5 minutes

The Microsoft Network (MSN) is available to computers running the Windows 95 operating system. If you have not already installed the software for MSN, you may do so by double-clicking the icon called "Set up The Microsoft Network" and following the on-screen directions. The MSN software does not operate under Windows NT 3.51.

Once connected to the Microsoft Network, you can jump immediately to the Windows NT forum by right-clicking the MSN icon in the lower-right corner of the taskbar and selecting the "Go to..." command from its context menu. Enter WINNT for the forum name in the Go to Service dialog box and choose OK. You will be transported to the Windows NT forum. Once inside the Windows NT forum, you can ask questions and exchange information on the Windows NT BBS, or you can download updates and utilities from the Windows NT Library.

The Microsoft On-Line Institute

The Microsoft On-Line Institute (MOLI) is a part of the Microsoft Network. It is a virtual campus complete with classrooms, library, bookstore, and advising. From MOLI, you can obtain information about and can enroll in instructor-led courses offered by Microsoft Authorized Technical Education Centers (ATECs). Many of these courses are based on Microsoft Official Curriculum offerings; some are even based on this self-paced training kit.

To find MOLI, right-click on the MSN icon in the lower-right corner of the Windows 95 taskbar. Choose Go To from the context sensitive menu, and type MOLI in the Go To Service dialog box. Once you have entered MOLI, double-click on the Campus Orientation icon for an introduction to MOLI's campus and services. When you are ready, you can go to the Advising area to explore or enroll in course offerings.

The MOLI library also contains a comprehensive collection of Windows NT information including the Windows NT Knowledge base, Frequently Asked Questions, and a series of white papers on various Windows NT-related topics.

Return to the top of this page.

Return to the previous page.

Please read our disclaimer
before linking to servers that are
not under the control of Microsoft Corporation.
mspwww@microsoft.com

© 1996 Microsoft Corporation