Configuring Server-Based Installation for Wide-Scale Deployment

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The quickest way to install Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on a large number of computers is to use a network distribution server as the source of the installation files (especially when you need to install Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on computers that have network connectivity but don’t have CD-ROM drives).

Procedures to set up a network distribution server include the following:

1.	Use the Windows NT Explorer, Windows 95 Explorer, or the MS-DOS XCOPY command to copy the I386 folder from the Windows NT Workstation 4.0 CD to a folder on the network server. Make sure that you also copy all the subfolders. Share the folder on the network server with the appropriate permissions that will allow authorized users to access the files.
2.	You could also share the I386 folder on the Windows NT Workstation 4.0 CD, but that method causes your installations to be performed significantly slower and should only be used if you must conserve hard disk space on your network server.

Keep in mind that if you use Windows NT Explorer or Windows 95 Explorer to copy the files, the default options must be changed to allow for hidden files and system files with extensions such as .dll, .sys, and .vxd to be displayed and copied. In the View, Options dialog box, select Show all files in the settings for the Hidden Files list (see Figure 2.1).

If you are using WINNT32.EXE to upgrade an existing copy of Windows NT, you can use more than one network server to significantly speed up the rate at which the installation files are downloaded to your client computers. If you set up two network servers called SERVER1 and SERVER2 with installation shares called NTW, for example, the proper command line option to use both servers during the installation process is:

WINNT32 /B /S:\\SERVER1\NTW /S:\\SERVER2\NTW