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updated by
Christopher Spry
28/06/2020

Guidelines for installing 'NT 4.0 workstation' on Toshiba Tecra 730XCDT computers including suggestions for software, service packs and hardware settings.

This set of guidelines was first written after I had completed installing Microsoft's NT 4.0 workstation on a Tecra 730XCDT notebook computer that I had bought on 17 April 1997. I have updated the advice, as I 'improved' the installation with new software and new versions of currently installed programs. I hope that my experience will be of use to other people installing NT 4.0 on Tecra computers, which can run NT v 4.0 well, if you know how to set it up properly.

In February 2000 I published 'Guidelines for installing Microsoft's 'Windows 2000 Professional' on Toshiba Tecra 730 computers'. My advice is to use 'Windows 2000' if you can chose between the two operating systems, because support for notebook computers is more advanced in 'Windows 2000' than in 'Windows NT 4'.

Toshiba have on-line information on Tecra 730X computers: 'Detailed Specifications', 'Downloads' and 'Support Bulletins'. Links to Toshiba's 'TechNotes' for installing NT 4 on all their computers, including the 730XCDT, are listed under the 'Windows' heading there. (Note added 11 October 2000. The TAIS site I refer to has been reorganized and there are no forwarding URLs to the new pages :( The files mentioned above are hidden under layers of JavaScript, somewhere on the site.  Sorry not to be more helpful, but JavaScript web pages can not to provide as links). There is also a detailed set of instructions on 'Windows NT 4.0 single and dual boot installation procedures' on Toshiba computers by Robert Lawrence of Toshiba TAIS. Microsoft have a web site devoted to NT 4 on notebook computers including an on-line video of how to use it.

I recommend that you set aside several days to install NT 4.0. Do not rush into it before doing the preliminary work recommended below. My Tecra's NT 4.0 configuration was not completed for several weeks, as there was little information available to me then on how to install NT and I had many programs to install after setting up the NT 4.0 operating system.

Index

Support for NT on Toshiba computers

There is no direct support for NT by Toshiba, unless the computer was bought with it already installed. Fortunately, there is prompt, volunteer support (with access to Toshiba's TAIS information) for NT 4.0 installation on Toshiba computers at the Toshiba forum on CompuServe. This is reached within CompuServe by using a web browser to connect to http://forums.compuserve.com/vlforums/default.asp?SRV=Toshiba&LOC=US . I am particularly grateful to Gregg Scharnagl for advice on installing NT and for arranging for the Guide to be posted on the Toshiba web site. The most current version of the Guide is posted on my web site.

Hardware

The Tecra 730XCDT computer has a 60 Hz 12.1" screen showing up to 64,000 (16-bit) colours at 1,024 x 768 pixels resolution (XVGA) using the Chips & Technologies CT65550 video controller chip, a 150 MHz Pentium processor with MMX and a 30 MHz PCI bus. The removable CD-ROM drive is model XM-1502B. The hard disk is a Toshiba 2.1 GB hard disk pack which uses enhanced IDE. There is an external/internal 3.5" floppy drive. I also bought a ‘D-link’ DE-650’ ethernet PC-card. I added an additional 32-MB memory to the memory base of 640 KB and 16-MB internal RAM to give a total of 49.152-MB memory. I recommend that you have at least 32 MB total memory to run NT 4. (I have now put the maximum amount of memory (a 132-MB memory card) and a 5-GB drive into my Tecra. I bought them from Micro Solutions Inc. I can warmly recommend both 'upgrades' for NT 4 users).

When I first started the system, I chose 'Windows'95' as the operating system, rather than 'Windows 3.11'. The first step after this was to backup the software on the computer, as it contains several programs that will be used in NT 4.0 .

Backup disks of the Windows'95 installation:

As the computer was not supplied with any diskettes or CDs, it was essential to make the diskettes that are required as backups (and to run NT 4.0 ). These were made using the backup procedure that was presented after the Windows'95 operating system was installed. I used 29 diskettes for Windows'95, and other disks for the Toshiba screen saver, Windows'95 utilities for the Tecra computer, the screen driver, the sound drivers ‘Mouseware’95’, ‘Cardworks’, the ‘MagiCDisk’ programs, the ‘user online manuals’, ‘TranXit’, ‘Multimedia connect for Windows'95’ and the ‘Toshiba companion disk’.

Note that after Windows'95 was installed, some of the useful programs such as the ‘online manuals’ were in c:\toshiba\discs\userolm. On the other hand, the ‘MultiMedia Connect’ and ‘MagiCDisk’ programs, which are installed and run under Windows'95, do not run under Windows NT 4.0.

In order to start the NT 4.0 installation it is essential to make a DOS diskette that can boot the system and provide drivers for the CD-ROM drive.

Obtaining Toshiba drivers and utilities for NT 4.0:

It is recommended that all the relevant drivers for running NT 4.0 on the Tecra 730XCDT are downloaded, before starting the NT 4.0 installation. They can be obtained with a direct web connection or modem, using a web browser, ftp, CompuServe account or by contacting a helpful Toshiba dealer. The web sites to use are:

(a) The Toshiba-USA web site, Toshiba-Canada web site and Toshiba-Australia web-site, which have downloadable copies of all files and drivers for Toshiba computers. 
(b) The free 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT' which includes 'MaxTime', 'FnEsse', 'HWSetup' (WNTU73XUSB1) and the Toshiba NT 4 'subsystem', which can be downloaded from http://www.toshiba.com/tais/csd/support/files/ntutil.htm/. Note however, that I use the equivalent commercial software called 'Card Wizard for NT4' and 'PowerProfiler/SE', from SystemSoft, which has several improvements on 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT', see below.
(c) The 'Toshiba portable computer' forum and 'Toshiba Windows 2000' forum on CompuServe (enter a screen name and password) are also places to download files. These forums provides technical support for Toshiba notebook computers by helpful volunteer who can call on the help of TAIS, the professional Toshiba team in the States.

John Saville's NT ‘FAQ’, which provides the answers to many general questions about NT 4.0, is at http://www.ntfaq.com/. See also the NT Tips site, which is well worth downloading and printing out, to learn the basics of NT 4 and how to overcome its limitations.

Obtaining updated NT 4.0 software to install after NT 4.0

The NT 4.0 service pack 5 can be obtained from Microsoft. The downloaded files is 34.5-MB. It provides all the updates found in earlier Service Packs. Installation is described in the section 'Service Pack 5'. The NT4 Option Pack, 41-MB, is also available online, to download and install. It provides a web server, ftp server and so on.

Viewing and altering the BIOS settings:

The 'latest' BIOS v 6.50 for the Tecra 730XCDT was released on 13 April 1999. It is available at http://download.toshiba.com/4730xv65.exe. As my Tecra 730XCDT was sold me with BIOS v 6.20, I downloaded the updated BIOS. This is a WinZip self-extracting ZIP file.  I executed the '1044d650.exe' file from the unzipped distribution and it created a bootable BIOS installation diskette. I closed the system down and took out the PC cards and restarted without the computer attached to any external components other than the power line and floppy disk. The system booted up on the newly created flash BIOS diskette. This started automatically and updated the BIOS. I closed the system down, turned it off, connected the PC cards again and restarted. The BIOS seemed to have updated without problems. The version history of the BIOS for the Tecra 730XCDT is:

Before starting the installation of NT 4.0 it is best to become familiar with the available ways to control how the computer BIOS can be viewed and altered. You will have to do this quite often if you run NT 4.0 . You can view and alter the BIOS settings either by

(a) press ‘Esc’ repeatedly then ‘F1’ when prompted, when the machine first starts, or

(b) boot the computer with the DOS diskette and run the ‘tsetup.exe’ program. If you set a ‘boot’ password, I recommend that you make a ‘password Service Disk’ as described after setting the password.

(c) opening a DOS shell in Windows'95 and type ‘tsetup.exe’.

Preparation of a 'Windows'95 ‘DOS’ boot diskette'

It is recommended that Installation of NT 4.0 workstation from the CD-ROM is done to a ‘clean’ (e.g. 'empty'), DOS-formatted hard disk as directory and file ‘security’ permissions are not set correctly if NT 4.0 is installed to a disk that already has Windows'95 installed on it. For this reason, it is best to obtain all the drivers and other files mentioned above, before using the NT 4.0 workstation CD-ROM to install the operating system.

To install NT 4.0, first boot the computer with a 'Windows'95 ‘DOS’ boot diskette', so that a ‘clean’ copy of the NT operating system can be installed on the hard disk. If you have not already made this disk, do so as follows:

Start Windows'95 and in a 'DOS shell' type ‘sys c: a:’. This command will copy the Windows'95 system files to the diskette. Then copy onto this diskette the contents of the 'c:\toshiba\disks\compan95\' directory. These are programs that enable the computer BIOS to be altered (tsetup.exe) etc. Copy the CD-ROM device driver called ‘TOSCDROM.SYS’ onto this DOS startup disk as well.

I also put the ‘ntfsdos.exe’ program onto this diskette (see below)

The complete list of the programs and files on this diskette is:

AUTOEXEC.BAT
COMMAND.COM
CONFIG.SYS
COUNTRY.SYS
DISPLAY.SYS
DRVSPACE.BIN
EGA.CPI
FDISK.EXE
HIMEM.SYS
KEYB.COM
KEYBOARD.SYS
MODE.COM
MSCDEX.EXE
SCANDISK.EXE
SCANDISK.INI
TOSCDROM.SYS

(If some of these files are missing from your diskette, copy them over from the Windows'95 installation.)

The contents of ‘CONFIG.SYS’ are:

device=display.sys con=(ega,,1)
country=044,850,country.sys
DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=TOSCDROM.SYS /D:TOSCD001

The contents of ‘AUTOEXEC.BAT’ are:

mode con cp prepare=((850) ega.cpi)
mode con cp select=850
keyb uk,,keyboard.sys
MSCDEX /D:TOSCD001 /M:10 /L:D

Starting the installation of NT 4.0 Workstation from the CD-ROM

Only do this if you know how to use the ‘fdisk’ and ‘format’ commands, as the next steps will remove 'Windows'95' and all your files from the computer. Do not panic. If the installation fails, you can repeat it or install 'Windows'95' again from the 'backup diskettes' made as described above. Also, you may like to make a complete backup of the drive to an 'image' file using the 'ghost' program see http://cspry.co.uk/computing/pc_cloning.html

Please note that I can not be held responsible for any problems you may have doing these procedures! This is simply a guide and you use it at your own risk. It all worked properly for me first time, so good luck!

Put the DOS diskette in the floppy drive and restart the computer. It will load a ‘Windows'95’ DOS shell for you to work in. Execute 'a:\fdisk' to delete the entire Windows'95 programs and files from the hard disk C:. Use 'fdisk' to create a ‘primary partition’ on the hard disk. Reboot the computer using the ‘DOS’ boot disk again and run 'a:\format c:'. This formats the whole internal disk as one 2.1 GB DOS partition. Then restart the DOS disk again and put the NT 4.0 CD-ROM in the CD caddy and copy the contents of the NT 4.0 CD to a new directory on the hard disk called ‘c:\i386’. This takes about 40 minutes. Execute ‘c:\i386\winnt’ which is the program that starts up the installation of NT 4.0. This first creates three diskettes of ‘Boot’ and ‘Setup’ disks for NT 4.0, then copies the NT files to the hard disk. This process takes over 30 minutes.

After rebooting, NT 4.0 is installed using the data from ‘Setup’ diskettes 1, 2 and 3. It loads the device drivers and identified the IDE CD-ROM (ATAPI 1.2)/PCI IDE controller. Agree to the software license agreement. In my computer it found: Standard PC, Display ‘autodetect’, Keyboard, Layout UK, Pointing device: MS mouse port mouse <includes ballpoint>. It found the FAT partition and installed it. I set it to convert the FAT partition to NTFS. (NTFS is the preferred and secure file system for NT). It put the operating system files in ‘c:\winnt’. I did not let it do an exhaustive examination of the hard disk. Files were then copied to C:. I removed the CD and floppy disk when this had completed and the system started up using NT 4.0 as its operating system. It showed the operating system was ‘WinNT 4 SP 1’ and it then converted the FAT system to NTFS as requested above. The computer restarted again. ‘Custom setup’ continued: I gave my name and institution name and installed most of the options that were offered. It installed networking: ‘wired’ and via a modem; It found a Novel NE2000 Socket EA adapter. TCP/IP and NetBEUI were selected. RAS, rcp, netbios, workstation and server were selected automatically. The NE10 network adapter: IRQ: 10; I/O Port address 0x300; Is there a DHCP server on your network? (this assigns network addresses dynamically): No. Modem installer so that RAS can be installed? Yes. COM2 found Standard Modem. It installed RAS to this device. I entered the networking. It started the network. The computer was assigned to a work group. No membership of a domain was required in my case. It set the time to GMT. It used the simple VGA display driver. It copied files from c:\$WIN_NT$ then created the ‘emergency repair disk’. It restarted the computer. This found the network and I was able to connect to other computers on the network as an ‘Administrator’ of an NT 4.0 workstation. Success!

I then installed the NT 4.0 service pack 3 and two of the Post SP3 fixes. I restarted the computer again and it was now shown as using ‘NT 4 build 1381 sp 3’. Note that the service pack 3 update alters the networking security for passwords which can then only be sent ‘encrypted’ over networks. This can cause problems with ‘Samba’ if you happen to have this installed on UNIX computers that you wish to access on your network. You can alter this security setting so that ‘plain text’ passwords are accepted, by following the information in the MS knowledge base Article ID: Q161372 found at http://www.microsoft.com/kb. A year later I installed Service Pack 4 followed by the 'Toshiba Windows NT 4.0 Utilities for Tecra 730XCDT', see below.

Installing the 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT'

I then updated the drivers to be the current ones provided by Toshiba for Windows NT 4.0. These had already been downloaded, as described above.

I executed the program for the Windows NT 4.0 Display driver version 1.08B for C&T 65550/54 ‘ct-nt4.exe’ which put the driver in c:\video. I installed it using ‘control panel’, ‘display’, ‘have disk’, ‘c:video’. I set the video driver to 1,024 x 768, 65536 colours and 60 Hertz. This driver allows resolutions to be altered without rebooting. Note that the screen is only filled when using the 1024 x 768 resolution mode so most people will use it at this resolution exclusively. I put a copy of the drivers for possible later use in c:\video.

I executed the ‘cs-nt4.exe’ sound driver. It ran setup and placed the audio driver in c:\audio. In ‘control panel’, ‘Multimedia’, ‘Device drivers’ I installed the driver that was in ‘c:/audio’.

I installed the ‘730x-nt4.exe’ update from Toshiba that updated several drivers and installed drivers in ‘c:\winutils’: ‘fnesse32.exe’ which is the Toshiba application launcher, ‘hwsetup.exe’ the hardware set-up utility and ‘maxtime.exe’ the battery monitor. Note that ‘maxtime’ should be opened in the ‘startup’ group when you login, as it allows you to use the ‘Fn’ key for altering several parameters that control the computer. They will not work if ‘maxtime’ is not loaded in memory.

I installed the printer drivers, then the Toshiba ‘retro fit programs’ and subsystem for the Tecra 730XCDT. It overwrote the ‘PCMCIA’ driver, and ‘hal.dll’. The SCSI drivers were installed, then the ‘programs’ utilities in c:\winutils. The installation gave useful information in the ‘c:\toshtml.htm’ file about the use of NT 4.0 on the Tecra.

Next I downloaded and installed the Netscape's ‘Communicator Professional’ web browser from the UK, Imperial College Sunsite server. I downloaded the Windows'95 ‘kernel toys’ and ‘Power toys’ from Microsoft. As these run well under NT 4.0 I installed them all by right clicking on the 'install.inf' file and clicking ‘install’.

Installing 'mouse' device drivers

The mouse driver in NT 4.0 works well on the Tecra. Note that the Microsoft ‘IntelliMouse’ v 2.2c software can be installed and the mouse can be used normally. The middle ‘wheel’ is supported by Tecra computers but only when the c:\msinput directory and its contents provide 'full control' access to 'everyone'. These permissions may have to be set as Administrator who 'owns' this directory, after you install the IntelliMouse software that comes with the mouse. Do not install the 'updated' Intellimouse 'pnt32upd.exe' from Microsoft as this will prevent the middle wheel from working on the Tecra. The 'Flywheel' program from Plannet Crafters Inc. is a useful additional program to use, as it provides 'middle wheel function' to most Windows programs.

Hardware settings: IRQs etc.

I found that information on hardware settings was shown in the ‘Windows NT Diagnostics’ application ‘c:\winnt\system32\winmsd.exe’. In this useful program there are lists of ‘devices’ IRQ, DMA, memory and other settings. If there are conflicts so that drivers do not work, review the lists here then update the settings appropriate for each driver. They can not be changed using the 'winmsd.exe' program unfortunately. The IRQs on my Tecra are:

0 : Timer, MSI8042
1 : Keyboard
2 : Used by the computer according to the documentation
3 : Serial COM3 for an Xircom PC-card modem. I do not use the internal modem, as it is too slow. I do not use COM2, although it is present in 'Control Panel, Ports'.
4 : Serial, COM1
5 : Sound, CS32ba11
6 : Floppy disc
7 : LPT1 for the attached printer
8 : Real-time clock
9 : Modem PC-card, pserial
10: Network PC-card, setup as NE2000, DE-650
11: AMSINT for the hard disc in the 'DeskStation V Plus'
12: PS/2 mouse, MSI8042
13: Math coprocessor
14: Build-in hard disk (Primary IDE), ATAPI
15: Select Bay hard disk or CD-ROM (Secondary IDE), ATAPI

As you can see, there are no spare IRQs, when the Tecra is using 'DeskStation V Plus' devices.

'Suspend' and 'resume' under NT 4.0

There are two boot 'modes' that determine how the computer first starts up. 'Boot' mode is the standard way used by most computers. 'Suspend' mode is an alternative way to start the computer. It allows the computer to be 'suspended', when the computer appears to be switched off, then 'restarted' by pressing the start button. The computer returns, in a few seconds, to the state when it was 'suspended'. This is particularly valuable for mobile users. The 'boot/suspend' settings are chosen in the 'tsetup.exe' program.  'Suspend' mode can not be used when the computer it used in a docking station, as unfortunately, NT does not support 'plug and play' for computers that are run in one hardware configuration and are moved to another. See the manual for further details.

The ‘suspend’ and resume’ functions (set on and off by ‘Fn-F3’) work well in NT 4.0. However note the following Usenet message from Marc Slater <mslater@netcomuk.co.uk> on 15 July 1997. It appears that many people have bought memory modules that reproduce the problem reported by him.

"Until last week I worked for a memory manufacturer's support department based in the UK and I have come across a couple instances where Toshiba's fail to resume with certain [memory] modules installed.  I hope some of my experiences may of be some use...

The first problem we had was when one of our resellers reported that one of their customers had a Tecra 510CDT that wouldn't resume with one of our 32 Mb modules installed, the system would fail by just simply executing the suspend in Windows 95 and when the system had suspended pressing the ON button 95 would start to resume but then the system would just hang.  It didn't matter whether we resumed as soon the system had suspended or waited and then resumed. However the system would resume perfectly if the module was removed and would also work when an OMB or 16 Mb module was installed.  Toshiba had said to the reseller that it could be down to the module and something to with voltages or power requirements of the module.

As we had a Tecra 510CDT in-house we decided to test the problem, however even if the system was left with just it's original 16 Mb it generate a Fatal Exception error when resuming.  We put this down to a possible software problem with Windows 95 and we then tested using one of the resellers 510CDT's.  Here we used a replacement batch of memory and these modules worked and resumed perfectly.  The end user fitted one of the modules and everything worked.

The same end user then reported the same problem on 2 Tecra 740 systems, this time with 64Mb modules.  Again replacing the modules solved the problem. All of the problem modules tested fine in our QA and we didn't have a real answer as to why the problem occurred. The above problems appeared to be related to the modules themselves rather than the Toshiba.

However on a separate note, we did have a problem with a Tecra 730CDT and a 32 Mb module.  The 32 Mb module used in the 730 is also used in the Satellite 105CS.  An end user reported that with the module installed the DOS HIMEM would give unreliable memory errors while Windows NT 3.51 would fail to boot.  The user replaced the module and replacement also failed.  If they installed their Toshiba original OMB module the system worked.  During a site visit we found that when the module was first installed both DOS and NT would boot and also pass diagnostics however when the system was actually turned off either once or twice HIMEM would again report unreliable memory and NT wouldn't boot.  The 32 Mb module then wouldn't again.  A 16 Mb module works perfectly.  We then came across a document on one of Toshiba's web sites, unfortunately you must be authorized to access it.  The document relates to some problems with some versions of the system board and the modification required. The reseller replaced the system board and when a new 32 Mb module was installed it worked and more importantly it stayed working.

With regard to your situation, are the modules you are fitting original Toshiba or made by a 3rd party?  Either way you should be able to get the modules replaced.  If it is from Toshiba, what do they say about the problem?  Do you have access to another system and are you able to try the modules there etc.?"

There is software from SystemSoft called ‘PowerProfiler/SE for Windows NT 4.0'  v 2.30.03 of 23 October 1998  @ $49.95 that provides 'suspend/resume' functions and Advanced Power Management (APM) for all versions of NT4 including service pack 4.  Before installing 'PowerProfiler/SE', if you have installed 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT', you must first uninstall the ‘TOSHIBA Windows NT subsystem’ and replace c:\NTDETECT.COM (27,120 bytes) with the non-APM version of the file called c:\NTDETECT.OLD (26,800 bytes). When 'PowerProfiler/SE' is installed, the power states of the battery are monitored with an icon in the system tray and 'Suspend' is started using an icon in the 'Start' menu. 'PowerProfiler/SE integrates well with SystemSoft's 'CardWizard for NT' (see PC-cards PCMCIA). The two programs can be bought as a software 'bundle'. I have installed both products and I find that they works well.

'Advanced Power management' under NT 4.0

If the 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT' are installed, the computer can use Advanced Power Management (APM). The ‘Fn-F2’ key is used to alter the settings as described in the Toshiba system manual. It runs as a service in 'Control Panel | services' and it is started automatically at boot time. Note that when 'NT 4 Utilities for 730SCDT' are installed, the C:\NTDETECT.COM file is 27,120 bytes in size and there will be another file called c:\ NTDETECT.OLD (26,800 bytes), which is the same file but without the APM data.

I recommend that you do not use the APM resources in 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT', but instead purchase and use SystemSoft's  'PowerProfiler/SE' from SystemSoft , as described above. This is a complete APM resource which integrates with SystemSoft's 'CardWizard' software. If you do decide to use it, you will have to uninstall the 'Toshiba NT 4 Utilities for 730XCDT' in 'Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs', rename c:\NTDETECT.COM (27,120 bytes) to c:\NTDETECT.NT4 and rename 'c:\NTDETECT.OLD (26,800) to c:\NTDETECT.COM', before installing 'PowerProfiler/SE'. For those who bought their Toshiba computers with NT4 and CardWizard already installed, but who need to install it again, CardWizard is available to download and install.

Using the CD-ROM

When I first installed NT 4.0, I found that the CD was not usable unless the system was booted with a data CD in the drawer. If this had not been done, it was necessary to put a CD in the drawer and reboot the computer.  Data CDs were also not 'recognized' until the CD-drawer had been opened and closed once with a CD inside, after NT 4.0 has booted. Occasionally NT 4.0 would crash with a 'page fault' when accessing the CD for the first time after booting. To deal with this: disconnect the battery and turn the power off to the computer. Wait a few seconds, then power up the computer. If you restart the computer any other way, the 'remembered' faulty state of the computer will start up again. However, since September 1997, these problems with the CD drive have not occurred. I have not knowingly altered any of the settings that could affect the CD drive, so the cause and cure of this irritation is a mystery to me.

If you find that you can not play music CDs in the CD-ROM drive that is otherwise working properly, check the drivers in ‘control panel’, ‘multimedia’, ‘devices’, ‘media control devices’. There should be two drivers called: ‘(MCI) CD Audio’ and ‘(MCI) sound’. If these are not present add them from the list that is offered when you click on 'add'. If the drivers are already on the system, accept the current ones. If they are not present, 'add' them from the directory where you stored the 'Crystalware Audio' drivers, when you first installed them (possibly c:\audio). Then you will be able to hear audio CDs as well as view the contents of data CDs,

PC-cards (PCMCIA)

NT 4 installs PC-card support natively. Unfortunately, this support is limited. For example, it is necessary to close the system down before replacing PC-cards under NT 4. This is an important difference between NT 4.0 and Windows 98/2000. 'Hot’ (Plug and Play) PCMCIA card inserts and removals are not supported natively in NT 4.0. However, SystemSoft sell 'CardWizard for NT', that allows users to 'hot plug' a wide range of supported PC cards in Tecra (and other) computers. I have installed 'CardWizard for NT' on my Tecra 730XCDT and I can confirm that it works well.

Note that Toshiba computers that support PC Card controller modes (PCIC, CardBus), which include the 730XCDT, must have the BIOS set to 'CardBus' mode. Otherwise 'CardWizard for NT' can not 'see' PC-cards in the PC-card slots. When 'CardWizard for NT' is controlling PC-cards, the control panel settings for PC-cards are often no longer valid. Settings for the 'CardWizard for NT' program are accessed after clicking on its icon in the system tray.

Placing a DOS partition on the hard disk

I found that there was 20 MB of 'unused' disk space not allocated to NTFS on the Tecra's hard disk after the NT 4.0 installation described above. I used 'disk manager' to create a 20 MB FAT partition with the empty space and set the drive letter to ‘G:’ which I do not used for any other purpose. I copied files from the ‘DOS boot disk’ to this partition as they could be useful in dealing with any problems with NT 4.0.

There is a useful free program called 'ntfsdos.exe' from Open Systems Resources Inc. which runs under DOS. It allows you to 'see' and copy files from NTFS partitions to other partitions. This is very useful if you are unable to 'boot' NT 4.0 for any reason and have vital files to recover.

Other Toshiba programs

I installed the Toshiba additional programs from the disks that I had made from the initial Windows'95 installation. I put the Tecra730XCDT files in c:\toshiba\manuals. I also installed the v 2 software which supports infrared, serial and parallel port communications. I put the 'diags.exe', which is the Toshiba DOS diagnostic program in the DOS partition 'g:\'. The 'multimedia Connect' program does not run in NT 4.0 so I did not add it. I installed the Toshiba WinNT System LED application version 1.0.1, toshledn.exe 587,776 bytes, released: 5 August 1999. This software is an optional system component that displays system LED icons for Toshiba notebook computers. Applicable models include the 730XCDT. I installed it and the system rebooted.

'Repair' disks

I ran ‘start’, 'run’, ‘rdisk /s’ to make a backup of the system files and an ‘emergency repair disk’. This should be done after altering any files that affect the way that the operating system works. The computer can then use ‘emergency repair’ functions later on, if the operating system fails to load for any reason.

Modem drivers

NT 4.0 installs a default modem driver. Toshiba have an 'Internal modem driver' for NT 4.0. Instructions on how to install and use it are provide by Toshiba.   The driver can be obtained from Toshiba or the CompuServe site (GO TOSHIBA, 'user to user tips', file: 'ntmodem.inf', thanks to Gregg Scharnagl at this forum). 'ntmodem.zip' contains the latest Toshiba's 'ntmodem.inf' installation file and 'ntmodem.txt' help file. They install the Toshiba 'internal modem driver' on Toshiba Tecra computers under Microsoft Windows NT 4. Use this file to update the modem driver: right click on the file in Windows Explorer and select 'install'.

Sound driver

I found that the sound drivers were installed but had not started. This had to be done in ‘control panel’, ‘multimedia’, ‘audio devices’, ‘Audio for Crystalware Audio driver’, ‘properties’, ‘Use audio features’. This may not be necessary in some NT 4.0 installations, as it should be set ‘on’ by default.

After I had installed the Remote Access Service (RAS) I did not have any sound when using it with the modem. I should have heard the dial tone and warbles. This was solved when I discovered that sound has to be enabled for RAS in: ‘Dial-Up Networking’, ‘service’, More’, ‘Edit entries and modem properties’, ‘Configure’ modem, ‘Disable modem speaker’, checked off.

Networking

Type in a DOS shell: ‘ipconfig /all’ to check the network configuration currently installed.

In order to speed network connections, edit the ‘c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\lmhosts.sam’ file, which provides a ‘sample’ of how to make a ‘c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\lmhosts’ file containing the IP names of computers on the local network. Then check the 'Enable LMHOSTS lookup' box in 'Control Panel/Network/Protocol/TCP/IP/Properties/WINS address/'.

Note that (as NetBEUI uses NDIS over TCP/IP) when the computer is asked to connect to other computers, it prefers to see a TCP/IP stack on all the computers that it may have to connect to, on a network. If TCP/IP is not installed on even one of the many ‘Windows'95’ computers on the network, it may fail to connect to any of the shares on the network because it may ‘time out’ looking for the settings on the computer that does not have a TCP/IP stack.

Using a second 5.25" IDE hard disk, Iomega 'Zip' drive or graphics card in the 'DeskStation V Plus'

The ‘DeskStation V Plus’ is an optional, useful hardware addition for the Tecra computer. Toshiba discuss the limitations of this device in their Support Bulletin 'Configuring an IDE/EIDE device in DeskStation V+'s 5.25" drive bay'. The DeskStation V Plus has the following limitations:
1. The computer BIOS can only support a maximum of three IDE devices. These can be hard disks, a CD-ROM or a tape drive. The floppy disk drive is not considered here to be an IDE device.
2. The computer BIOS can support only one EIDE CD-ROM, which can be either in the computer SelectBay or in the DeskStation V Plus.
3. The computer BIOS can support only one EIDE device in the DeskStation V Plus, either in the SelectBay or in the DeskStation V Plus 5.25" slot. . The DeskStation V Plus has the following limitations:
1. The computer BIOS can only support a maximum of three IDE devices. These can be hard disks, a CD-ROM or a tape drive. The floppy disk drive is not considered here to be an IDE device.
2. The computer BIOS can support only one EIDE CD-ROM, which can be either in the computer SelectBay or in the DeskStation V Plus.
3. The computer BIOS can support only one EIDE device in the DeskStation V Plus, either in the SelectBay or in the DeskStation V Plus 5.25" slot.

Hard disks: If you put an IDE drive in the 'DeskStation V Plus', the jumpers on the drive should be set to ‘Master/single’ before it can be seen by the Tecra BIOS. This is done by removing all the jumpers from Western Digital EIDE disks. (The first pair of pins is for ‘Master/many disks’, and the second pair for ‘Slave’). In addition, NT 4.0 can also only ‘see’ IDE disks in the DeskStation when the BIOS ‘DS 5" Drive Bay’ setting is set to ‘Secondary IDE(170H/IRQ15)’ and the SelectBay drive settings are 'none'. (See BIOS settings for using a CD-ROM or second hard disk in the 'SelectBay' below, on how to do this). The IDE cable is used to connect it to the DeskStation, as mentioned in the Tecra manual.

Iomega 'Zip' drive: You can only install an IDE version of the 'Zip' drive in the DeskStation V Plus if you do not have a CD-ROM or second hard disk in the SelectBay of the computer.

Video cards/display adapters: I found in ‘\HTML\toshnt40.htm’, which is part of ‘730X-NT4.EXE’ and which is used to install the NT4 Toshiba subsystem, that three display adapters are supported in NT 4 on the Tecra 730XCDT:
    ATI 'Graphics Pro Turbo SVGA'
    Diamond Stealth '64 Video 3400XL' and
    Number Nine '9FX Reality 332'
I have found that the Number Nine ‘Revolution 3D’ 8-MB accelerated 2D/3D graphics card also works well  in the 'DeskStation V Plus' under NT4. I use it to view 1,280 x 1,024, 24-bit colour at 85-Hz on a Mitsubishi 'DiamondPro 21TX monitor.

The following video cards are not supported in the 'DeskStation V Plus' under NT 4:
    Matrox 'MGA Millennium'
    STB 'Velocity 64V 4MB' and
    Number Nine 'Imagine 128'.
David Hamilton david.hamilton@sap-ag.de has told me that you can use a Matrox 'Millennium' graphics card in the 'DeskStation V Plus if you first uninstall the hardware subsystem drivers.

Running DOS applications in full screen mode outside NT4
There is a free video driver called 'vexp' v 1.3 that works with C & T 65550 & 65554 video controller chips (the Tecra 730XCD uses the CT65550 chip) to enable the screen to show DOS applications in 'full screen' (stretched) mode. It is available at http://www.dil.u-net.com/vexp.htm Note that this driver is normally used when booting from a DOS diskette. It has no uses under NT 4, that I know about. I just mention it here for completeness.

Using SCSI devices on the 'DeskStation V Plus'

Mike Darrish mdarrish@desktalk.com has kindly contributed the following information on this topic, on 1 February 1998:

"Aside from any performance issues, SCSI in general is a welcome bit of relief for notebook computer users as it allows up to 7, 15 or 31 devices to the host, depending on SCSI version, to share one IRQ on a relatively high speed, parallel data interface. The SCSI bus and its devices operate at speeds of up to 5, 10, 20 or 40MB (that is Megabytes) per second, depending on whether the interface used is the original SCSI, SCSI-2, SCSI-3, Wide SCSI, FastSCSI FastWide or UltraSCSI. That is the nice thing about standards: there are so many of them to choose from :)

SCSI, in the 730XCDT DeskStation, is implemented through an internal AMD SCSI-2 controller on the PCI bus, using IRQ 11 and I/O range FF80-FFFF.  Devices can be added both internally in the DeskStation V+ on a ribbon cable or externally via the interface located on the lowest leftmost plug. In my case, I had already connected a scanner and an external hard drive to the DeskStation V+ and simply added a SCSI CD-ROM by adding it and its cable to the end of the chain. Up to 6 meters of cabling is generally allowed. One should also be aware that SCSI operates at the speed of the lowest capable device on the chain. That is, a SCSI-1 device will slow down a FastSCSI device to 5MBPS.

From a hardware viewpoint, one daisy chains the devices together, from the DeskStation interface V+ out. On the last device, one needs to install a plug known as a 'terminator' which completes the electrical circuitry, reducing voltage reflections on the cable. SCSI cables are heavy, and tend to pull the connector off the DeskStation and other devices. One should be certain that the connectors are seated properly, and use strain relief straps, if necessary.

Next, one chooses a SCSI ID for each device which is unique and is generally not '1' which is reserved for the 'boot device'. The '0' ID is reserved for the computer, and other numbers are periodically reserved by the computer manufacturer for diagnostics and the like. Check the appropriate manuals for this kind of information before assigning ID's. There is usually a push button selector or small wheel on the outside of each device, with an arrow pointing to the SCSI ID. The lower the number, the higher the priority and therefore performance on the chain. I installed a Toshiba XM-3701TA CD-ROM, firmware revision 3475  on SCSI ID '3.

On the software side, one needs to download the file called 'AMDSCSI.EXE' from Toshiba's web site or CompuServe. At these sites, search for 'scsi', to find this file. The file contains the DeskStation V Plus AMD SCSI drivers for DOS, Win'95, and NT 3.5. The NT 3.5 SCSI driver also works under NT 4.0.  Execute ‘amdscsi.exe’  in a DOS shell. This copies some files to C:\SCSIDISK (which can be deleted later) and it makes a floppy disk with all the drivers on it. The NT drivers are in the directory called ‘a:\winnt35’. They are installed by opening ‘control panel | SCSI adapters | drivers | add | have disk | a:\winnt35. When the installation is complete, the system will restart. Make sure that the SCSI devices are switched on before the DeskStation V Plus, so that the SCSI chain can be recognized when NT starts. In Control Panel/Devices, the controller shows up as an 'amsint'. In Control Panel/SCSI Adapters, the Controller should show up as ‘AMD PCnet-SCSI/PCscsi SCSI controller' below 'IDE CD-ROM(ATAPI 1.2)/Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller'. All the devices on the SCSI chain should be recognized automatically when NT starts up. One will be able to see entries for a scanner, hard drives, CD-ROM and so on in the Control Panel/SCSI Adapters, chained below the SCSI Controller. Information in the Control Panel extension includes SCSI ID, device model, and so on. NT should assign a drive letter to a CD-ROM, but if it does not show up, or one wishes it to be a different drive name, it would be necessary to run the Disk Administrator program, which is located in the Programs/Administrative Tools(Common) menu item.

Using a SCSI hard disk inside the 'DeskStation V Plus'. A SCSI hard disk can be installed inside the 'DeskStation V Plus'. First, install the AMD SCSI driver, as discussed above. Then set the SCSI drive to 'SCSI 2' (or any number other than '1' which is a 'boot' disk setting) using the jumpers on the back of the SCSI disk. See the manual about the SCSI drive on how to do this. Connect the drive using the SCSI cable supplied with the DeskStation V Plus. There is a SCSI 'terminator' at the end of the cable, after the drive, as mentioned in the Tecra manual. Restart the system and the disk should now be visible as a drive. Normally you do not have to format SCSI drives, but you may want to partition it into smaller 'drives' with drive letters, using NT's 'Disk Administrator'. Marc Lacroix has used an Iomega SCSI 'Jaz' device inside the 'DeskStation V Plus' and a 4.5-GB IBM-Quantum HD and another 'Jaz' drive on the external SCSI connector. He stated that there was nothing special to do, except to use Disk Administrator to provide a disk drive letter. SCSI terminators are necessary inside and outside the 'DeskStation V Plus' when these two SCSI chains are used: e.g. a terminator inside the 'DeskStation V Plus'   and a second terminator on the outside SCSI chain, if the SCSI device does not self-terminate itself.

BIOS settings for using a CD-ROM or second hard disk in the 'SelectBay'

The 'SelectBay' can be used to hold a CD-ROM or a second hard disk. The BIOS settings for these two devices are different. As NT 4.0 is not 'plug and play', the BIOS settings have to be altered manually when you change the type of drive in the 'SelectBay'. (They also have to be altered if you want to use a 5.25" drive in the DeskStation V Plus', see below). BIOS settings are altered by first closing the system down and disconnecting it from the power source. Put the CD-ROM or second hard disk into the 'SelectBay'. Press the 'start' button and press the 'Esc' key as the system tests the hardware. It will prompt you to press 'F1'. This starts automatically the 'tsetup.exe' program which allows you to alter the BIOS settings. You should alter two of the BIOS settings: one in the first 'panel' and the other is in the second 'panel' which is reached by pressing the 'Page Down' key. Start with the second 'panel' then alter the first 'panel' as follows:

To use  

'Panel' 2 settings 

Drives: Int Selectable Bay 

'Panel' 1 settings  

Hard Disk: Int Selectable Bay 

'Panel' 1 settings

DeskStation 5" Drive Bay

CD-ROM

in the 'SelectBay' 

Secondary IDE(170H/IRQ15)

      -    

    -

Second hard disk

in the 'SelectBay'

Secondary IDE(170H/IRQ15) 

Enhanced IDE (normal) 

     -

5.25" hard disk in the

'DeskStation Plus V' 

None

       -     

Secondary IDE(170H/IRQ15)

 Note that you can not use a second hard disk in the 'SelectBay' at the same time as a 5.25" hard disk in the 'DeskStation' drive bay, as they both need to use IRQ 15 and this can not be altered. When these settings are correct, press the 'End' key and agree to update the BIOS settings, or the 'Esc' key to leave the BIOS unchanged. The system will restart automatically with the new settings.

'Plug and Play'

This is not fully supported in NT 4.0 yet. A friendly feature of NT 4.0 is, that if you have a Tecra in the DeskStation and press the 'eject' button to have it 'pushed' off the stand, a notice comes up saying that NT 'does not support Plug and Play', allowing you to stop this action. You should shut the computer down before 'ejecting' it from the DeskStation.

The infrared device (IrDA) in NT 4.0

The infrared device (IrDA) is turned on and off by running 'tsetup.exe' in a DOS shell. In panel 2 you can see the settings for the infrared device and you can change them there using the 'space' key. When it is turned on, the infrared device is mapped to a COM port on earlier Tecra computers, including the Tecra 730XCDT. On my system I have turned it off. As it uses an IRQ, it can prevent you using one of the serial COM ports. Panel 2 of 'tsetup.exe' on my system is set as follows:

  • I/O ports
  • serial=COM1 (3F8H/IRQ4)
  • InfraRed=Not used
  • Built in modem=COM2(2F8H/IRQ3)
    •

    You can also check what IRQs are being used with '%SystemRoot%\system32\winmsd.exe' the 'Windows NT diagnostics' program, but you can not change them there.

    Unfortunately, IrDA is not supported under NT4 by either Microsoft or Toshiba. Microsoft's 'IrDA driver 2.0' for Windows is a CardBus device driver, but as CardBus is not supported by NT 4, it can only be used in Windows9*. Toshiba only provide a  PCI IR-driver for 'Windows 95' and 'Windows 98' on Tecra computers.

    I have read that 'Quickbeam Suite for Windows NT 4' is able to use IRD when the IRD device has been 'mapped' to a COM port, as described above, for the Tecra 730XCDT. In later Tecra models. the IRD is mapped as a PCI device, which can not be used by Quickbeam. I do not know whether Quickbeam works on Tecra 730XCDT computers as advertized. Please let me know if you have succeeded in using it. Marc De Smet has emailed me on 13/10/1999 "I have a Toshiba Tecra 510CDT with WinNT 4.0 and I have purchased Quickbeam Suite 3.0 from Extended Systems. It works fine with both the build-in front InfraRed in my notebook and the external InfraRed device delivered with the Quickbeam Suite. The infrared applet in control panel works well. An application I use to synchronize my Nokia 9110 with my PC works fine via InfraRed. An other application I have (Pocket Point from Mindscape: a wireless remote control for my PC) has problems. Maybe because Quickbeam monopolizes the build-in infrared device. I'm still looking at this. Quickbeam uses COM2, so that it can not be used for my modem. I uninstalled Quickbeam, then installed my modem."

    Videoconferencing

    Video conferencing is only available as a supplied item under NT 4.0 on the Tecra 750 computer, which has dedicated 'video-in' hardware. In other Toshiba computers, which have a 'Noteworthy' video camera and software, videoconferencing will not work under NT 4.0, as the software requires CardBus support. CardBus is not supported in NT 4.0 but it will be supported in NT 5, it is rumoured. There is useful information on USB video cameras in March 1999 'PC Magazine', see http://www.zdnet.co.uk/mags/pcmag/1999/03/cont.html. The recommended camera ('Intel Create and Share Camera') has PCI support as well as USB. For this reason, it should be possible to use a PCI card in the 'DeskStation V Plus' for this video camera. The 'Creative' and 'Phillips' video cameras can use parallel ports. Although I do not know of anyone who has succeeded, one of these newer options should enable video conferencing under NT4 on Tecra computers. Please let me know if you have succeeded with any of them.  

    Printer settings in NT 4.0

    When setting up a printer, both the ‘properties’ of the printer and the ‘document defaults’ in the 'Printers' settings have to be set to the required page size. Otherwise US ‘letter’ size is used by default.

    File associations in NT 4.0

    If 'file associations' do not enable a file to be started with the relevant application after double clicking on the file name in Windows NT Explorer 'c:\WinNT\explorer.exe', this can be set by an ‘Administrator’. There are at least two ways to do this:

    (1) Using commands in a DOS shell, as illustrated for the ‘.doc’ files. This illustration assumes that 'Word'97' has been installed as 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe'. The second line is the response from the computer:

    Start a DOS shell and type:

    c:\> assoc .doc=Word.Document.8
    .doc=Word.Document.8

    c:\> ftype Word.Document.8="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe" /n

    c:\> ftype Word.Document.8
    Word.Document.8="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe" /n

    Then clicking on a '*.doc' file in 'Windows Explorer' will open it with 'Word'97' (Word 8).

    (2) Perhaps the easiest way to set or alter 'file associations' for a file, is to use the mouse to point to the program that should open the file, using Windows NT explorer. Here is how to do this:

    In Windows NT Explorer, highlight the file you want to associate with a program, using the mouse combination  'Ctrl-LeftClick'. Then press 'Shift-RightClick' to open a dropdown list. Click on 'Open with' and a dropdown list of programs will appear. Use the down-arrow key (not the mouse) to scroll down the list to the program that you want to use to open all files of the type you have highlighted. Click on the box 'Always use this program to use this type of file' and then click on the name of the program that you have chosen. If the program you want to use is not listed there, browse to it by first clicking on the 'Other' box and select the program. This will open the file using the program you have chosen. Check that it runs properly and then close it. Now, when you double-click on a file with that extension, it will open automatically with the program you selected. It is quicker to do, than explain!

    'Powerdown' registry settings

    As the Tecra did not 'powerdown' but 'restarts' after clicking on ‘Star/Shut Down’ after installing NT 4.0, I followed the instructions in a Usenet posting by Alex Moore asmoore@mail.edge.net and altered HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\PowerdownAfterShutdown' so that the value was changed from 1 (the default) to 0. Now, when the computer closes down it says it is 'safe to turn it off' instead of restarting automatically.

    Application software

    Most of the software that I use, installed and ran very well under NT 4.0. I have listed them in a document 'Windows95 and NT software'.. The document gives details of over 140 programs, with the latest release and where they can be obtained. Some of this software is free, or shareware..

    Unfortunately, three items of software caused me considerable difficulties in NT 4.0. I believe that the problems have all been corrected in subsequent versions. My experience may help, if you have install the 'defective' earlier versions.

    ‘WinFaxPro’ v 8.0

    I tried to install ‘WinFaxPro’ v 8.0 from CD. After five hours and two calls to their software support in Holland I found that (a) only one user in NT 4.0 could use the software and that this person had to have Administrator privileges and must install the software to his account (b) that the control panel/service ‘WinFaxPro’ had to be disabled to prevent the ‘Controller’ program from crashing when this user logged in, (c) the user had to start WinFaxPro and use the ‘live update’ function to download and install the patch 801 from their slow ftp server (1.5 kb/sec) in the States. None of this was hinted at in the documentation or CD. There is an update to give version 8.01.

    ‘PageMaker’ 6.5

    I installed Adobe's ‘PageMaker’ 6.5 from CD but it failed to open when I was logged in as a ‘user’ saying that there were problems with the hyphenation and dictionaries. I uninstalled it. I spent an hour finding out that the program could only install by an ‘Administrator’ and that it could only be used by an ‘Administrator’ and not by ‘users’! If it were run as a ‘user’ it came up with errors that it could not install the hyphenation module and language dictionaries and did not have enough memory (errors 8205:32529 and 8209:8031). The patch update to make PageMaker 6.51 is at ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/pagemaker/win/6.x/updaters/ but this does not fix this file permissions error in PageMaker which can only be used by an ‘Administrator’. Adobe's advice on 3 July 1997 was to run PageMaker 6.5 as 'Administrator'. They may have updated the program since then to deal with this serious bug.

    Microsoft's 'Internet Explorer v 5.0'

    'Internet Explorer v 5.0' (the official release v 5.00.2014.0216) and its suite of programs including 'Outlook Express' v 5, integrates well into the desktop and operating system under NT 4.0 on my Tecra 730XDCT. I use 'Outlook Express' v 5 for my Usenet work. I use 'Outlook 98' for my email. This is a separate program that integrates with Explorer and Outlook Express. Note that, if you were using the PGP plug-in to Outlook Express v 4, you must uninstall it before installing Outlook Express v 5. If you installed Outlook Express  v 5 before uninstalling the PGP plug-in, Outlook Express 5 will not start. To fix this, uninstall Outlook Express v 5, uninstall the PGP plug-in from the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel, and then install Outlook Express v 5. PGP should be updated later to provide a working plug-in for Outlook Express v 5.

    Service Packs

    I recommend that you install Service Pack 6 (SP6), if it is not already installed. First, read the section below on installing Service Pack 4 (SP4), which applies to Service Pack 6 as well, then the section on Service Pack 6.

    After installing Service Pack 6, install the 'Toshiba Windows NT Service Pack Update (SP4/SP5)' version 1.2B2. This is in a file called NT4SP4UP.EXE,  2,910,368 bytes, released: 8 November 1999. It provides the APM subsystems and other components in support of Windows NT 4.0 Service Packs 4, 5 and (presumably) 6. The self-installer automatically detects the machine and installs the appropriate updates. WinZIP self-installing ZIP file. Can also be unZIPped using PKUnZip 2.04g or equivalent. Applicable Models: 100CT 110CT 220C 2515CDS 2530 2540C 300CT 3010C 3020C 305CDS 310C 320CT 320C 330C 4000C 4010C 4020C 4030CDT 4060CDT 4080XC 440C 460C 470CDT 480C 490CDT 490XCDT 520CDT 530CDT 550CDT 650CT 660CDT 7000 7010 7020 730CDT 7300 730XCDT 740CDT 750CDT 750CDM/DVD 780CDM/DVD 8000. 

    You can download the SystemSoft PC-Card 'CardWizard' software, if you need to reinstall it after these updates, see above.

    Service pack 4

    This is an important upgrade to NT4 which is now superseded by Service Pack 5. You only have to install the latest Service Pack, which contains all the updates in earlier version. There are two vital issues you must deal with, if you are about to install either NT 4 service pack on a Tecra 730XCDT:

    (a) Uninstall ‘PowerProfiler/SE for Windows NT’ if it is setup on your computer, and if the version is prior to v 2.30.03 of 23 October 1998. If you install SP4 with the older versions of 'PowerProfiler/SE' present, the computer will be unable to restart (blue screen of death) and you will lose all the files on that drive and you will have to recreate the drive with a new NT4 installation. (You have made a system backup, haven't you?)

    (b) Ensure that you do not reboot the computer after installing SP4 without first renaming 'c:\WinNT\explorer.exe' to 'explorer.new' and renaming 'explorer.old' to 'explorer.exe'. This is because a 'new' version of explorer.exe' is put in c:\WinNT during the installation of SP4 and the current version is renamed 'explorer.old'. The computer will not restart unless the newly installed version of 'c:\WinNT\explorer.exe' is disabled and the current version is renamed back to 'explorer.exe'.

    Thomas Lee mvp@psp.co.uk, Microsoft Backoffice MVP, has provided the following advice on installing this important upgrade and 'bug-fix' for Windows NT 4. Note: it is not necessary to uninstall previous service packs or hot-fixes, before installing service pack 4 (SP4).

    1. Read the 'readme.txt' file to read installation instructions and view the issues that are resolved by the Service Pack you are installing. Only install the Service Pack if you are experiencing a problem that the Service Pack addresses or you are instructed to do so by a Microsoft Support Engineer. The release notes and the 'readme.txt' are in the directory root when SP4 is expanded.
    2. If possible, test the service pack in a lab environment using the same hardware and software installed on production machines to be sure there are no problems.
    3. If at all possible, have access to the Premier Support Account ID or will be working with someone who does. Contact your department head or the Customer Support Manager in charge of the Microsoft agreement at your site. If something goes wrong you want to be sure you have access to Microsoft engineers who can help you out.
    4. Perform a FULL backup of files and registry. Before installing any Service Pack, you should make sure that you have a working backup of your system. The only supported method of restoring your Windows NT to a previous working installation is from a Windows NT backup. For more information about backing up Windows NT, query on "ntbackup.exe" in Windows NT Help.
    5. Run SRVINFO.EXE from the NT Resource Kit and document existing Hotfix information
    6. Update the emergency repair disk (ERD.) Use the rdisk /s parameter to get the SECURITY and SAM registry hives updated on the disk. For more instructions see Q156328 and Q122857. You can update your repair information even if there was no original ERD created. The information used to create an ERD is saved on the system's hard drive in the Repair folder. The Rdisk.exe tool will update the repair information on the hard drive and then recreate the ERD when you choose the Update option. You can run the Rdisk.exe tool from a Windows NT command prompt. NOTE: The ERD is intended to provide just enough recovery to restore a system to a bootable state and is not a replacement for regular backups.
    7. For more information about the ERD and the Rdisk.exe tool, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    ARTICLE-ID: Q156328 </kb/articles/Q156/3/28.htm> TITLE : Description of Windows NT Emergency Repair Disk
    ARTICLE-ID: Q126464 </kb/articles/Q126/4/64.htm> TITLE : Repair Disk tool Does Not Update SAM and Security Hives
    ARTICLE-ID: Q122857 </kb/articles/Q122/8/57.htm> TITLE : RDISK /S and RDISK /S- Options in Windows NT 3.5
    8. Close all active debugging sessions or remote control sessions before starting the install. If you are running any form of Remote Control Software that controls the screen display, uninstall it. Contact the Vendor of the software if you have any questions regarding the correct procedure to uninstall.
    9. Perform a full system restart and check the Event Viewer for errors. Resolve any issues BEFORE installing SP4.
    10. Disable ALL third Party services located in Control Panel Services. Setting to manual startup is not sufficient. Reboot the server before continuing the installation. Any service that accesses the file system is ESPECIALLY important. This includes all virus scanners, quota managers, and scheduling programs. Always get a clean reboot with NO errors before starting to install a service pack.
    11. Set all Microsoft services, which can stress the system in your environment, to manual. Some good examples would be heavily used SQL Services, Exchange Services, and Spooler on dedicated print servers.
    12. Rename or copy your existing uninstall directory for SP3 so that it won't be overwritten. By default, this directory is located in %SystemRoot%\$NTServicePackUninstall$
    13. Check that you have enough disk space on the workstation or server before beginning SP4 installation. The downloaded, compressed EXE is approximately 35MB, it will expand to approximately 95 MB. Setup uses 40 MB, the Uninstall directory is another 40 MB for a total of 80 MB required on the partition containing the system files. The CD version contains additional applications and utilities.
    14. Note that SP4 is cumulative.
    15. The 128-bit version is only available to U.S. and Canadian customers. It contains a 128 bit version of schannel.dll, security.dll, ndiswan.sys, ntlmssps.dll, rsaenh.dll.
    16. Do not mix encryption levels. If your version of Windows NT is 128 bit, install only the 128 bit version of SP4. If you are unsure as to which encryption level of Windows NT was originally installed on a server, you can check by right clicking on schannel.dll in system32 and check the file version. If it says Export version, it's 40 bit. If it says U.S. domestic, it's 128 bit.
    17. Unattended installation of SP4 is possible using parameters passed to update.exe. The installation switches for 'update.exe' are:

    -u     Unattended mode
    -f      Forces other apps to close at shutdown
    -n     Do not backup files for uninstall
    -o     Overwrite OEM files without prompting
    -z     Do not reboot when installation is complete
    -q     Quiet mode - no user interaction

    18. To search for bug fixes in SP4 search for keyword: NT4SP4FIX
    19. To search for enhancements in SP4, search on keyword: NT4SP4FEA
    20. Read Q143475 regarding System Key for strong encryption of SAM information
    21. Read Q167029 for information regarding the new utility that comes with SP4, setprfdc.exe
    22. Read Q181171 for information regarding secure channel manipulation with TCP-IP
    23. SP4 will update your existing RRAS system components, however, if you install RRAS after installing SP4, you will need to re-run SP4 to get the updated components. See Q189594
    24. A new version of MSCHAP has been implemented for VPN connections, see Q189595
    25. See Q184693 for WINS and DHCP updates in SP4
    26. SP4 provides an update that allows NT 4.0 to support NetWare's Client32
    27. See Q159310 for DNS fixes in SP4
    28. See Q172514 for information on RIP listener in SP4
    29. See Q186358 for information on TAPI 2.1 and SP4
    30. Read the readme.txt in the \mssce folder for information regarding the Security Configuration Editor
    31. See Q181385 regarding OEM file replacement
    32. It would also be a good idea to have your environment set up for debugging prior to deployment of SP4 or any major change to your environment.
    33. The central download site for 40-bit SP4 is ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/nt40/ussp4/

    Note that SP4 changes two registry keys which should be altered back to their correct values after SP4 has been installed. Use 'regedit.exe' or regedit32.exe' to do this. Be careful to do this correctly:

    (1) ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Currentversion\winlogon\PowerDownAfterShutDown’ should be '0' to prevent the computer restarting unintentionally, after it has been 'shut down'.

    (2) 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run TIPS.EXE'. should be deleted, to prevent the a 'Dr. Watson error for ‘tips.exe’, when logging in after SP4 has been installed successfully.

    How to Uninstall SP4

    From control panel-add/remove programs, highlight Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 and click the remove button or from $NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst\ directory run spuninst.exe. NOTE: These procedures do not completely remove all SP4 changes from your system. SP4 modifies the SAM database structure so the following files will be retained on the system after uninstall: Samsrv.dll;Samlib.dll, and Winlogon.exe. Additionally, SP4 modifies the SECURITY database structure so the following files will be retained on the system after uninstall: Lsasrv.dll, Services.exe, Msv1_0.dll. The one safe and secure way to completely back out of SP4 installation is to restore the WinNT directory and registry you saved prior to installing the service pack. Alternatively, you can run the uninstall of SP4, then use your ERD previous to installing the service pack to repair the 6 files that are not automatically uninstalled.

    Service Pack 5

    The Service Pack v 5 (SP5) for NT4 workstation and server was released on 04/05/1999. You should first read Microsoft's SP5 'readme.txt' information and check the list of fixes and updates, before you decide whether you want to install it. You can download the 34.5-MB SP5 file, unzip it (retaining the directory structure of files) and run '/update/update.exe' to install service pack 5 which replaces all the previous service packs. I have done this. SP5 installed flawlessly on my Tecra 730XCDT with NT4 workstation and already SP4 present. I did not have to uninstall SP4 first. I let the SP5 installation program save the files that it was replacing, so that I could reverse the installation later, if I need to. I have no experience of installing SP5 on Tecra computers that do not have SP4 already installed. If you want to do that, I suggest that you first check the issues that I have discussed above for SP4.

    Service Pack 6

    Service Pack v 6 (SP6) for NT4 workstation and server was released at the end of October1999. I downloaded this update to the operating system from http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/sp6/default.asp. SP6 contains all the updates and fixes from previous service packs, which do not have to be uninstalled before installing SP6. I suggest that you check the details of service pack 6 before installing it. I recommend that you inactivate virus checking software and any optional 'services' in 'Control Panel | Services' before installing SP6. I have installed Service pack 6 on my Tecra 730XCDT, which already had service pack 5 installed. During the installation I told it not to replace the PCMCIA.SYS file that SystemSoft provided previously when I installed the PC-Card drivers, as described above. I had no problems installing SP6 and I have not noted any problems using it.

    If you have any corrections or additions to make to this document, please mail them to me, Christopher Spry. Please note that all standard exclusions and waivers apply to this guide and that all Trademarks and Copyrights are fully acknowledged.

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