Conference decwet::windows-nt

    UPTOMP (UniProcessorTOMultiProcessor) upgrade utility... available from
    the Resource Kit can do it.
    
    --Ron

    
    
    Hi Ron, 
    
    
    My customer told me that if he needs reinstall the Windows NT he won't
    buy our Servers (Prioris, etc...).
    Is this application supported by Windows NT Server 4.0? Can I tell to 
    my customer that everything will be ok if he uses this application in
    the future?
    Who will respond for this matter? Microsoft? 
    This customer is a big account here in Brazil. There are many
    AlphaServer including 8200 in their site.
    What can I do to get this answer? Send this topic to RSS?
    
    
    Thank you very much!!
    
    
    
    Yukari Vieira
    Pre-Sales/Brazil 
    
    
    
     
      

    
    
    
    Sorry,
    
    
    I forgot something!
    The customer wants to buy Intel Server with 1 cpu running Windows NT
    Server 4.0 and in the future make a cpu upgrade without resintall Windows
    NT Server.
    Is It possible? 
    
    
    ThanXs!    
    
    
    Yukari

    re: VAXSPO::YUKARI
    
    Hi Yukari,
    
    Upgrading an NT system from 1 processor to more is a common occurrance.
    Does the customer not have any NT administrators in their employ?
    
    /Bill

    AM I correct in saying that upgrading the processor kernel using UPTOMP
    will preserve the existing NT Server environment and just install the
    components needed to be multi-processor?
    
    I believe the upgrade calls for a few reboots but not a re-install.
    
    James.

    Yes, it should be simple...but isn't always.  For example, if the
    system were running 3.51 SP5, UPTOMP wants to put back the NTMPKRNL
    from the CDROM.  do that and you don't boot because it is not 
    compatible with SP5.  
    
    What you probably need to do is always replace the files from the same
    service pack as the system was running before the CPU upgrade.
    
    Its always something - for instance, with 4.0 WIN32K.SYS is not copied
    and if you don't, you don't boot.  (Here's MS's recommendation:
    "If you already ran UPTOMP.EXE and can no longer boot to Windows NT, you
    might need to manually copy WIN32K.SYS from the Windows NT CD-ROM to
    your Windows NT System32 directory. If you can boot to Windows NT,
    change UPTOMP.INF as noted above and re-run UPTOMP.EXE." -- RIGHT can't
    boot so how do you do the copy?!?!?!?  This requires an installation 
    to another directory to manipulate the files.)
    
    See Q159564 for details on the problems with 4.0.
    

    re: .6 by CSC32::K_MEADOWS
    
    >> -- RIGHT can't boot so how do you do the copy?!?!?!?
    
    My fallback when a system won't book due to problem files is to take
    the disk to another system to load the missing/broken files.
    
    /Bill

    That's OK for us in-house but if you're dealing with a "one machine per
    site, replicated n times" customer setup (e.g. retail, telco mgmt,
    whatever) it can get a little tedious. I s'pose in that case the answer
    is - take a known good bootable disk with you and learn how to edit boot
    selections...

    re: -.7
    
    My fallback is, ...
    
    Geez, I'm getting sick and tired of these issues. Is there an
    architecture behind this Operating System, or isn't there?
    
    Many of these things are real simple, basic silly things that someone,
    possibly and most probably, many someones should be cognisant of.
    
    I'll bet that Dave Cutler is writhing in agony over Windows NT right
    now cause the marketing hype people own the Operating System
    Architecture and not him.
    
    This is fundemental and basic stuff, and if Microsoft can't start
    getting it right, I am damned if I'm going to do any rah, rah, rah,
    shoosh, boom, bah about any Windows XXX.
    
    Oh, lest I be accused of making any comparison to OpenVMS VAX Version 3
    and above or Macintosh Version 4 and above, I am.
    
    Regards, Richard Tomkins

	UPTOMP is the Microsoft supported way to go from
single processor NT to Multiprocessor. It doesn't effect
the rest of NT. If this produces a non-working system
you can use the disaster recovery disk to fix the problem.

	You can also use the Windows Installation kit to
do an "Upgrade". This method will upgrade to muliprocessor
and replace system images to make a working system without
effecting the configuration and layered software. You just
have to install the service packs again.

	I have used both methods.


		Steve P.

    There might have been an architecture, way back when. The OS is now
    apparently owned by MS marketing and currently they have no reason to
    do many of the things DEC (sic) customers have grown to love: e.g.
    backup subsystems that work, every time. Nor do they have any real
    reason to preserve upward compatibility of architecture or
    implementation. Look at what happened to graphics in V4: what used to
    be mainly user-mode driver stuff in V3 got re-implemented in mostly
    kernel mode to make it go a little faster. Or so it would appear. 
    
    This is not, was not, and never will be VMS++. But quite a lot of
    people think it's good enough for their needs, so let's make sure they
    get it from DIGITAL.
    
    regards
    john

    >UPTOMP is the Microsoft supported way to go from single processor NT to
    >Multiprocessor. It doesn't effect the rest of NT. If this produces a
    >non-working system you can use the disaster recovery disk to fix the
    >problem.

    Unfortunately this is not true with a 3.51 SP4 or SP5 system since the
    format of the SAM database changed with the service pack.  Using the
    ERD takes you back to original files - which cannot read the security
    files.  And BTW, the RESKIT is "as is" - not supported by MS or us.
    
    Seems to me that there is $$$$$ to be made in tools for this OS.....