Reducing Potential Problems Performing Windows NT 3.51 to Windows NT 4.0 Upgrade

ID: Q174463

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0

SUMMARY

This article is designed to help users prepare for, and complete a successful upgrade from Windows NT 3.51 to Windows NT 4.0. In most cases, the upgrade process will complete successfully without additional steps. However, these extra measures can aid in assuring the upgrade goes smoothly.

MORE INFORMATION

Upgrade Preparation

Check to see if your system's hardware (including all additional components) is on the Windows NT 4.0 Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). Obtain Windows NT 4.0 drivers from vendors of non-HCL equipment. See the More Information about Third-Party Drivers section below for additional information regarding non-HCL systems, components, and drivers.

Perform a full backup of all drives including the system's local registry.

Update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) using the Rdisk.exe command at an MS-DOS prompt or by double-clicking Rdisk.exe in Windows NT Explorer.

If the partition where Windows NT is installed (usually drive C), is mirrored using Windows NT software fault tolerance, break the mirror using Disk Administrator.

If the system contains any other software and fault tolerance sets (mirror, stripe set, stripe set with parity, volume set), backup the disk configuration from Disk Administrator.

In Disk Administrator, click Partition, point to Configuration, and then click Save. This will save your configuration to floppy disk.

Identify all third-party services and devices. Look in the Control Panel Services tool and Control Panel Devices tool. Confirm Windows NT 4.0 compatibility with the vendors of the identified drivers and services. Upgrade or disable drivers or services not compatible with Windows NT 4.0. See the "More Information about Third-Party Drivers" section below for additional information.

It is also a good idea to disable any non-essential services prior to the upgrade. For example, virus-scanning software, backup software, Compaq's Insight manager, and so forth.

To disable services, start the Control Panel Services tool. Note the current Startup settings by selecting the service, then selecting Startup. Document the current setting for later use. Then set the startup to Manual. Stop the service. If unable to stop the service, restart the system. Because the startup is now set for Manual the service will not start.

Run CHKDSK from an MS-DOS command prompt on the system or boot drive, usually drive C.

Perform the Upgrade

If the upgrade is successful, install any required third-party drivers or services. Enable any services disabled in step 6 above that where not enabled by installing a newer version. Be sure to set the Startup setting in the Control Panel Services tool to the setting found during step 6.

More Information about Third-Party Drivers

A common cause of upgrade failure is incompatibility with third-party drivers or services. Windows NT will automatically replace any of the Windows NT 3.51 native drivers with the Windows NT 4.0 version during the upgrade. If the drivers are supplied by a third-party vendor, there may not be a Windows NT 4.0 version on the Windows NT CD. For this reason, it is important to identify third-party drivers and update or disable them prior to the upgrade. Also, be aware that some drivers are Windows NT 3.51 or Windows NT 4.0 specific. In these cases, disabling the service or uninstalling the driver prior to the upgrade is the safest route. After the Windows NT 4.0 upgrade is complete, install the Windows NT 4.0 version of the driver or service. For examples of upgrade failure because of third- party drivers see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q172229
TITLE : Stop 0x00000050 During WinNT 3.51 to 4.0 Upgrade on Compaq

ARTICLE-ID: Q171317
TITLE : Upgrade WinNT to 4.0 May Hang with Trident 94XX AGI Video Card

ARTICLE-ID: Q158272
TITLE : Printer Disappears After Upgrading to Windows NT 4.0

Information on Non-HCL Hardware, Components, and Software

If your system has been running as expected with Windows NT 3.51 that is no guarantee that Windows NT 4.0 will install and run properly. To test Windows NT 4.0 on your specific hardware, you may want to perform a new Windows NT 4.0 installation into a different directory on the same system, before committing your Windows NT 3.51 installation. If the Windows NT 4.0 installation was successful, install the third-party drivers and services to verify they will work with Windows NT 4.0.

For more information on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

ARTICLE-ID: Q142865
TITLE : Microsoft Support Policy on Hardware Not On Windows NT HCL

ARTICLE-ID: Q126690
TITLE: Windows NT 4.0 Setup Troubleshooting Guide


Keywords          : kbsetup kbhowto nthowto NTSrvWkst 
Version           : WinNT:3.51,4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: January 19, 1999