How to Configure Windows 95 Remoteboot on Windows NT 4.0

MORE INFORMATION

Requirements

An SBS of Windows 95 requires 90 megabytes (MB) of available disk space on the server, as well as an additional 2 MB for the Windows 95 client configuration files and at least 10 MB for each Windows 95 machine directory. More disk space is required if users install additional software.

The remoteboot client computer requires 8 MB of RAM, must use a 386DX or higher processor, and must have a supported Remoteboot Network Card.

Installing SBS for Windows 95 Clients

The following procedures are taken from the Windows NT Server Networking Guide Help file in the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit.

For more information about SBS servers, see the Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit. The resource kit describes additional purposes, beyond remoteboot, that you can use an SBS server for.

To install an SBS server for a Windows 95 client, you will need a Windows 95 installation compact disc (not to be confused with a floppy disk) and the Windows 95 client computer. You must then complete the following steps:

1. On the server that will contain the SBS files, create a shared directory with 90 MB of available disk space. The shared directory can have any name.
   
   NOTE: As you share the directory, assign read-only permission for regular users and full access for administrators. Use Server Manager to focus on the shared directory, and set read-only permission for the Users group and full permission for the Administrators group. In File Manager, on the Disk menu, click Share As (do NOT open the Security menu and click Permissions).
2. Install one regular Windows 95 client on the network or use an existing one. You will use this client to configure the SBS server.
3. Log on to the Windows 95 client using an account that has write access to the shared directory on the SBS server.
4. Put the Windows 95 compact disc in the client's CD-ROM drive. In Windows Explorer, switch to the Admin\Nettools\Netsetup directory.
   
   NOTE: Only the retail version of Windows 95 includes the Netsetup.exe utility. Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1, 2, and 2.5 do not include the Netsetup.exe utility.
5. Double-click the file Netsetup.exe.
   
   Note that you must run Netsetup.exe at a Windows 95 client. Errors will occur if you run this file on a computer running Windows NT.
6. In the Server-Based Setup dialog box, click Set Path, and specify the path to the SBS server. In specifying the path, you can type a drive letter for a mapped drive, a network name for a server (for example, \\server1\sharedir), or a network path to a specific directory (for example, \\server1\sharedir\rpl\win95). The button name becomes Change Path if a server was defined previously.
7. Click OK, then click Install.
8. Server-Based Setup now presents you with a series of dialog boxes asking you to select among various options. The boxes you see may include the following:
   • A dialog box for specifying an installation policy controlling how users can install Windows 95 from the server. If you support only remoteboot clients, click Server. If you support other SBS functions as well, click User's Choice. Do not click Local Hard Drive.
   • A dialog box for setting the source path for Windows 95 files. This is the path to the compact disc on the client.
   • A dialog box for indicating whether you want to create a default setup script. Specify that you do NOT want to create a default setup script. Setup scripts for Windows NT remoteboot installation require special settings.
   • A dialog box for providing a CD Key number for product identification.
   • A dialog box for directing Server-Based Setup to copy Windows 95 files to the SBS shared directory.
9. At the remoteboot server, insert the compact disc or floppy disk containing the Windows NT remoteboot for Windows 95 files. Change to the newly inserted disc or disk, then change to the Update\Win95 directory. To update the Windows 95 files for remotebooting, run Win95srv.bat. The following inputs illustrate this process:
   

         d:
         cd \clients\rpl\update\win95
         win95srv.bat <dest>
   						

   
   where <dest> is the shared directory on the SBS server.
10. If you are updating from version 3.51 or earlier of the Remoteboot service, start the Remoteboot service at the remoteboot server (if it is not already started). Then run the program Rbootsrv.bat to update the remoteboot files and database for Windows 95 remotebooting. Thus, at the server's command prompt, you would type:
    
    d:
    cd \clients\rpl\update\win95
    rbootsrv.bat <SBS_path> <RPL_path> [\\servername]
    
    where:
    • <SBS_path> is the path to the installed SBS server's Windows 95 files.
    • <RPL_path> is the path to the remoteboot directory.
    • \\servername is the name of the remoteboot server (you can omit this if you are typing at the remoteboot server).
11. At the remoteboot server, start Remoteboot Manager.
12. On the Configure menu, click Check Configurations to activate the new configurations.

Installing the First Windows 95 Client

Each remoteboot client has a machine directory. This directory contains client-specific configuration information and data. Stored here are the appropriate initialization and configuration files, the registry, desktop, start menu directories, spool directories and the swap file and temp directories. These machine directories can reside on any server on the network provided that the server is running NetBEUI and IPX protocols and that there is ample disk space available. You may want to spread the load of the machine directories across servers.

1. On the server that will contain the machine directory, create a shared directory with at least 10 MB of space available per client. Additional space may be needed depending on the installed applications. The share directory can have any name and be located in any directory. One suggestion is that you create the directory under the WINNT\RPL and supply a name of Win95.mac.
   
   NOTE: The server for the machine directory must be in the same domain or workgroup as the SBS server.
   
   NOTE: The machine directories may not be subdirectories of the SBS directory.
2. Set the permissions for the share and directory (NTFS only). The group RPLUSERS and the group ADMINISTRATORS both need full control.
   
   NOTE: For added security (NTFS only), assign the permissions to a machine directory so that only the users who will use the client have full control of the machine directory for that remoteboot computer.
3. Boot the remoteboot client with DOS 6.2x.
4. Using the NET LOGON command, log on to the remoteboot client using an account that has read access to the SBS server and write access to the server with the machine directory share. Many users have found it easier to use the administrator account during the installation process for full access to all systems.
5. Using the NET USE command, map one drive to the SBS share and another to the machine directory share.
   
   NOTE: The drive letters used during this step cannot be changed and will be dedicated to the booting and operation of the Windows 95 remoteboot client. For example, in the following:
   
   net use F: \\NTSERVER\WIN95.SBS
   net use G: \\NTSERVER\WIN95.MAC
   
   drive F is mapped to the Windows 95 SBS and drive G is mapped to the Windows 95 machine directory share. These drive letters cannot be changed or used for other shares since Windows 95 uses them during its operation.
6. Change to the drive letter mapped to the SBS share. In the above example, this is drive F.
7. Run the Windows 95 Setup program by typing:
   
   Setup /t:temppath
   
   where /t: is required and temppath is a path to a directory to store temporary files during the installation. This path could be G:\win.tmp. Note that the temp path is completely removed after completing the installation of Windows 95.
   
   NOTE: You may want to use SETUP /T:TEMPPATH /IW /IS MSBATCH.INF. This bypasses licensing during setup and skips scandisk.
8. Setup will display the following dialog boxes:
   • Server-Based Setup dialog box. Select "Setup Windows to run from a network server."
   • Startup Method dialog box. Select "Start Windows from the network (remoteboot server)."
   • Machine Directory dialog box. Enter the drive letter and a directory to install the Windows 95. (The drive letter must be the same drive letter mapped for the computer's directory, and the directory name should reflect the configuration for the computer. For example, G:\DELL5166 might be used for a Dell Pentium 166. The directory is created during setup.)
   • Setup Options dialog box. Choose custom setup.
   • Analyzing Your Computer dialog box. Select "No, I want to modify the hardware list." (You should exclude as many hardware types and items from the auto-detection as possible. If during the auto-detection phase, the system fails, you should restart the setup process and exclude more items from the auto-detection phase.)
     
     NOTE: If your network adapter is using IRQ2 or IRQ3, this will conflict with the serial port detection and possibly cause the system to fail during Setup.
   • Select Components dialog box. Clear the checkbox for Communications if your remoteboot client doesn't have a modem.
   • Network Configuration dialog box. Select the appropriate network adapter and the desired protocols. If your network adapter is not displayed, you will have to add and configure your adapter.
     
     NOTE: If you add your network adapter, you must confirm the resource settings for the adapter by selecting OK. If you select Cancel, your Windows 95 remoteboot setup will fail to boot properly.
   • Identification dialog box. Make sure the workgroup name is the same as the domain or workgroup name of the SBS server and machine directory server.
   When the Windows 95 setup program completes, reboot the client and either turn it off or leave it at the prompt that asks you whether you want to boot from the network or not.
   
   
9. At the remoteboot server, start the Remoteboot Manager.
10. Create a profile for the Windows 95 client. In the Configuration box, choose the Windows 95 configuration that corresponds to the client's network adapter type. The adapter type should be the same one used to do the DOS6.2x remoteboot.
11. Select the client's workstation record by double-clicking on it or selecting Properties from the Remoteboot menu, and assign the new Windows 95 profile.
12. Once the profile has been configured, you need to move the client- specific Windows 95 real-mode boot files from the client's machine directory to the Rpl\Rplfiles\ Profiles\<profile_name> directory on the remoteboot server. To do this, go to the remoteboot server (or a client with write access to the remoteboot server's Rpl directory), and run the Rpl\Bin\Win95clt.bat program by typing:
    
    cd <systemroot>\rpl\bin
    win95clt mach_directory \\rpl_server profile_name
    
    where:
    
    
    • mach_directory is the path to the client's machine directory.
    • \\rpl_server is the name of the remoteboot server.
    • profile_name is the name of the Windows 95 profile associated with the client.
    For example, you could type:
    
    cd \winnt\rpl\bin
    WIN95CLT G:\DELL5166 \\NTSERVER WIN95
    
    NOTE: You must have a drive letter explicitly pointing to the machine directory and cannot specify the UNC name for the location of the machine directory. If you try to use the UNC name, the remoteboot client will not be able to locate the full registry during the boot process.
    
    NOTE: If the machine directory is on the same computer as the Remoteboot service, then you can just type in the local path.
13. At the SBS server, edit the Machines.ini file in the SBS directory. Add the following lines for the new client.
    

          [Adapter ID]
          SysDatPath=G:\machine_dir
          G=\\mach_server\mach_share
    						

    
    where:
    
    
    • Adapter ID is the network adapter ID (MAC address from manufacturer) specified in the remoteboot workstation record for this client.
    • G:\machine_dir is the location of the client's machine directory on a server.
    NOTE: The drive letter G: is the same drive letter assigned during the installation of Windows 95 for the machine directory. G=\\mach_server\mach_share assigns a drive letter to the shared directory where the machine directory resides. The G= should be the same drive letter assigned during the installation of the Windows 95 for the machine directory.
    
    Based on our previous examples, the Machine.ini for our client would contain the following:
    

             [12345AB67C89]
             SYSDATPATH=G:\DELL5166
             G=\\NTSERVER\WIN95.MAC
    						

14. Power on the remoteboot client. The client will now boot to Windows 95 and complete the Windows 95 Setup program.

For more information about installation, refer to the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit.