Using the Title command to make your MS-DOS sessions easier to identify

Normally, when you start an MS-DOS window, Windows NT displays a default title in the window. Normally an MS-DOS window is called Command Prompt. If you're running multiple DOS sessions on your workstation, it can become confusing to find the program you want to view from your Taskbar.

Fortunately, you can execute the DOS Title command to change the current windows title. The command is very easy to use. The format for the Title command is

where string specifies the new text for the windows title. For example, to change a DOS windows title to Accounting Software, you enter the command

from the DOS command line of the DOS window. Windows NT then changes the title of that MS-DOS session to Accounting Software.

Creating Boot floppies for NT Workstation 4.0

If you lose the three boot floppies (also known as Setup Disks) that came with your Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM, you can easily use the CDROM's setup utility, WINNT32.EXE to create new copies of them. To do so, take your Windows NT 4.0 CDROM to another Windows NT Workstation or Server 4.0 system and run the command

from the CDROM's \I386 directory. The Setup program will prompt you to insert three formatted disks to create the boot floppies but won't begin the installation process itself. You can also run the command

from the CDROM's \I386 directory on a Windows 95, Windows 3.11 or DOS machine to create the three boot floppies.

Bugs with Windows NT Workstation and NetWare

Have you encountered problems using Windows NT Workstation on a Novell network? If so, you re not alone. Some of the problems are caused by bugs and incompatibilities between Windows NT Workstation and NetWare. These unresolved bugs and incompatibilities include:

If you try to change your password on a 3.x or 2.x NetWare server, Windows NT prompts you for the Novell NDS tree.
When you run a VI editor to open a read-only file on a File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) server, it may open a new file for editing as though the original wasn t there. However, when you use the VI editor on the same file on a NetWare server, the file opens with no problems. 16-bit programs may not be able to use long filenames on NetWare servers. NetWare login scripts that include the ENDIF command may produce errors on a Windows NT Workstation.
When you turn off Packet Burst on Windows NT 3.51, the computer may not be able to copy files larger than 1,450 bytes to or from a Novell server over Ethernet. The copy can also fail if the NetWare server doesn't have Packet Burst turned on and Packet Burst is enabled on Windows NT.
Login errors can occur after you remove the NWLink IPX/SPX Compatible Transport on a computer running Windows NT that has the RAS server service installed and previously had the IPX protocol enabled for RAS dial-in.

Creating passwords that are easy to remember, but hard to crack

Remembering passwords is sometimes difficult, especially if the system administrator requires you to use a password that contains numeric and non-alphabetic characters and mixed letter cases. However, using a mix of characters makes it much harder for a hacker to crack your password. As you probably know, writing a password down on paper is a common cause of security breaches. Fortunately, you can use a simple character substitution scheme to create a password that's easy to remember but hard to crack. First, think of an easy-to-remember two- or three-word phrase. Substitute the numbers 0, 1 and 5 for the letters O, L and S, respectively. You can also replace spaces (which are normally illegal in a password) with a non-alphabetic character such as a tilde or an ampersand. Use uppercase letters for vowels and lowercase letters for consonants. With this system, an easy-to-remember but easy-to-crack password like "the bulls" becomes thE&bU115.

How do I stop a "Stop: 0x0000001E" error message during Setup?

The Stop: 0x0000001E message may occur after the first reboot during Windows NT Setup. It may also occur after Setup is finished. You may get the error because:

To fix the problem, solve each symptom one at time starting with freeing disk space. Next, remove the video driver. Go back to plain VGA if necessary.  Finally, upgrade your computer's BIOS.

Binding multiple frame types in NT Workstation 4.0 and Novell Client 32

Depending on your network configuration, you may be running more than one type of IPX frame type. Microsoft NT Workstation 4.0 only allows you to specify a single IPX frame type. Normally if you want to use multiple types, you can use the Autodetect option. If you use Autodetect, NT searches for multiple frame types in the following order:

This may not be the best order for your network.

You can specify more than one frame type to be bound when the network services are initialized by making changes in the Registry. The key you'll need to change is:

PktType is a multiple string value (REGEDIT32), which means you can make more than one entry as long as the values are on separate lines. The following values are possible:

You can determine what frame types are bound by using the IPXROUTE CONFIG command at a Command Prompt.

NT Server doesn't restrict you to a single frame type like NT Workstation.

Problems with using Citrix WinFrame with Novell's intraNetWare Client for Windows NT

If you use WinFrame on some of the Window NT workstations on your network along with Novell's Intranetware Client for Windows NT, you're probably having problems. You're not alone.

When Citrix developed WinFrame they were given access to the source code of the Microsoft Graphical Identification and Authentication (GINA). They updated it to include it as part of the WinFrame solution. The installation program of the Novell intraNetWare Client v4.10 for Windows NT replaces the Microsoft GINA with Novell's GINA named NWGINA. Because a component of the WinFrame solution is hard-coded in the Microsoft GINA, when customers install the intraNetWare Client v4.10 for Windows NT, the WinFrame solution no longer functions correctly.

Novell's release of the intraNetWare Client v4.11 for Windows NT in August 1997 attempted to work around this problem. When you install this verion of client, it detects if the Citrix WinFrame product has been installed. If it has, the installation program won't replace the default Microsoft GINA. This will allows you to use both the WinFrame product and the Novell intraNetWare Client for Windows NT. However, doing so makes the Client not fully functional.

Novell is working with Citrix to get the code that is currently only in the Microsoft GINA moved from the Microsoft GINA to WinLogon so that the WinFrame solution will not be limited to functioning only when Microsoft's GINA is loaded. This modification has to be performed and delivered by Citrix. Novell also plans to modify the manner in which NWGINA stores configuration information for the WinFrame solution to be complete when used in conjunction with the intraNetWare Client for Windows NT. So hang in there!

Avoiding username errors with NDS for Windows NT

If you use NDS for NT on your network to integrate your Netware and Windows NT servers, you may have enountered the following error when trying to create a new user in User Manager for Domains on a domain that you've migrated:

"You specified a Username which is already in use by another user. Choose a Username which is not already in use by another user or group."

This error can occur if there's an NDS object in the "Default User Creation Context" of the NDS Domain Object with the same name as the NT user you are trying to create. This object can be any NDS object, not just a user or group.

To avoid the error, make sure the new NT name for the user or group is unique for both the NT Domain and the NDS context.

Making RAS start automatically

Do you have Microsoft's Remote Access Service running on your NT Server?
Do you want it to start when your server starts?  Here's how:

Select Settings from the Start menu and click Control Panel. Next, double click Services. When the list of services appear, click Remote Access Server, and then click Startup. Click Automatic and then click OK. Finally, click Close.

When you start your server in the future, RAS will start with it.

Don't believe everything you read!

Sometimes when vendors print manuals, they make mistakes. Microsoft is no exception to this rule. On page 10 of the Microsoft Cluster Server Administrator's Guide, Table 1.1 seems to say that MSCS will allow a DCHP server to failover if it encounters a problem. It won't. MSCS doesn't include a DLL to allow the failover of a DHCP server resource.

How do licenses work on MS Cluster Server?

When you have several NT Servers gathered together in a cluster, you may wonder how the licenses work for your applications.  Do the licenses apply to the CLUSTER or to each server?

Microsoft claims that each application vendor determines its own licensing policies for applications running in a clustered environment. Microsoft's own policy is that for its applications, each application must be separately licensed for each server on which it is installed. Check with your application vendor to find out their policy on clusters.

Why is the Intranetware client for NT so slow?

Have you noticed that opening files from a Novell file server using the Novell IntraNetWare client takes a long time? It's not your imagination. It does.

Slow file access doesn't happen if you use Microsoft's client for Novell instead of Novell IntraNetWare client. Here's why.

Microsoft added the MultinetGetConnectionPerformance API to Windows 95 and Windows NT version 4.0 to speed file access on a network. Microsoft's Novell Client supports the API call, Novell's doesn't. Without this call, things slow down appreciably. Until Novell fixes the Intranetware Client for NT, if you want performance, go with Microsoft's client if possible.