Daniel G. Newell
If you are like most network administrators, you have installed Windows 95 and intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 several times. Perhaps Windows 95 became unstable, and you could not fix it. Perhaps you upgraded a hard drive, or a user inadvertently deleted essential Windows 95 files.
Whatever the reason, installing Windows 95 can be time consuming. Even when you select a typical Windows 95 installation, you must remain at the workstation throughout the installation process. For example, the Windows 95 Setup program prompts you to accept the licensing agreement, prompts you to click the Next button before moving from one step to another, requires you to enter a username and a company name, prompts you to install additional components, and requests confirmation to reboot the workstation. And after you complete the installation process, you must install intraNetWare Client for Windows 95.
Recently, a reader asked us if you could automate the installation process and reduce the time it takes to install Windows 95 and intraNetWare Client for Windows 95. The answer is yes--if you have the Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM.
This article explains how to use the tools included on the Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM to automate the installation of Windows 95 and intraNetWare Client for Windows 95.
Before you can configure an automated installation, you must create a network setup directory on a server. Because the Windows 95 source files and intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 require 130 MB of hard drive space, you must ensure that at least this much space is available on the server.
To create a network setup directory and to copy the Windows 95 source files to this directory, you run the NETSETUP utility from the Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM. (The Windows 95 source files are located in the WIN95 directory.) You can use the Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM even if Windows 3.1x is not already installed on the workstation.
Although this section explains how to copy the Windows 95 source files from the Windows 95 Upgrade CD-ROM, you can also copy these source files from the Windows 95 version A CD-ROM, which includes the updates from Windows 95 Service Pack 1. However, you cannot use the Windows 95 source files from the Windows 95 version B (OSR2) CD-ROM because the OSR2 version of the NETSETUP.EXE file does not work with an MSBATCH.INF installation. If you must use the OSR2 updates, you can install these updates after you install version A or earlier of the Windows 95 source files.
To copy the Windows 95 source files onto the server, you complete the following steps on a Windows 95 workstation:
You must have read-write access to these files so thatyou can replace the MSBATCH.INF file and modify the NETDET.INI file.
You must also copy intraNetWare Client 2.2 for Windows 95 to the network setup directory. You can download this client software from Novell's World-Wide Web site (http://www.novell.com/download) and decompress the software in a server directory, such as the SYS\PUBLIC\CLIENT\W95 directory.
If you purchased intraNetWare in August 1997, you can also find intraNetWare Client 2.2 for Windows 95 in the PRODUCTS\WIN95\language directory on the intraNetWare CD-ROM. You must ensure that your copy of the intraNetWare CD-ROM contains this version of the client software.
The languagedirectory names on the intraNetWare CD-ROM may be confusing: For example, the IBM_ENU directory contains English files. If you want to ensure that you have selected the correct directory, view the directory's SETUPNW.HLP file, which is written in the language you selected.
Because the network setup process requires a specific version of the NWSETUP.DLL file, you must download the 95211ut1.exe file, which includes this version of the NWSETUP.DLL file. You can download the 95211ut1.exe file from Novell's Support Connection web site (http://support.novell.com/search/ff_index.htm), and you can decompress this file in a server directory, such as the SYS\PUBLIC\CLIENT\W95\95211ut1 directory.
If you download intraNetWare Cli-ent for Windows 95, you must also download the ADM32_22.EXE file, which contains administrative files, from Novell's Support Connection web site (http://support.novell.com/search/ff_index.htm). You can decompress the ADM32_22.EXE file in a server directory, such as the SYS\ PUBLIC\CLIENT\W95\ADM32 directory. (If you copy intraNetWare Client 2.2 for Windows 95 from the intraNetWare CD-ROM, the necessary ADMIN files are located in the PRODUCTS\ADM32\language\BATCH95\NLS\language directory.)
To copy intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 to the server and to configure this client software for an automated installation, you complete the following steps:
If you want intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 to support NetWare/IP, you should also copy the NWIP.INF file to the SYS\C32 directory.If you want intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 to support Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), you should copy the NWSERV.INF file to the SYS\C32 directory.
Unfortunately, the NWSETUP.DLL file that shipped with intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 does not fully support the function calls made by the Windows 95 Setup program. If you do not replace this NWSETUP.DLL file, an unrecoverable error occurs during the Windows 95 installation process.
After you copy intraNetWare Client for Windows 95, you must create a custom MSBATCH.INF file by completing the following steps:
You must then add intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 to the network setup directory. To add this client software, you complete the following steps:
Do notkeep the existing NETWARE.DRV file, even if it is newer than the file you are copying. The existing file is for Microsoft's Client for NetWare Networks; intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 requires the file being copied from the SYS\C32 directory. (If the workstation appears to hang, be patient. The process should finish normally.)
You may be prompted for the location of one or more files, which are located in either the SYS\C32 directory or the SYS\WIN95 directory. For example, suppose that the INFINST utility could not find the NWCLIENT.INF file in the SYS\WIN95 directory. In this case, you would change the directory path to SYS\C32 and click the OK button. Repeat this procedure as necessary.
A message similar to the following frequently appears when you install intraNetWare Client for Windows 95: "intraNetWare Client marks a departure away from VLM technology and does not support loading files with a .VLM extension. If you need to load a VLM program, you must use intraNetWare Client for DOS/Windows 3.x."
You can prevent this message from appearing by commenting out several lines in two copies of the NETDET.INI file located in the SYS\WIN95 directory and the SYS\WIN95\SUWIN directory. To comment out lines in the NETDET.INI file, you complete the following steps:
Next, you must complete the following steps to add the settings for intraNetWare Client for Windows 95 to the MSBATCH.INF file:
The [MSTCP] section configures Microsoft TCP/IP, the [NOVELL32] section configures intraNetWare Client for Windows 95, and the [NWIP] section configures NetWare/IP. If you are not installing Microsoft TCP/IP or NetWare/IP, you can omit one or both sections. You can also comment out these sections by inserting a semicolon (;) at the beginning of each line.
Because the Windows 95 Setup program expects the NWPASSWR.DLL and NWSHELLR.DLL files to be located in the SYS\WIN95 directory, you must copy these files from the SYS\WIN95\NLS\language directory to the SYS\WIN95 directory. Copying the files to the SYS\WIN95 directory saves time and allows the Windows 95 Setup program to proceed uninterrupted.
To begin an automated installation of Windows 95 and intraNetWare Client for Windows 95, you run the SETUP utility from the SYS\WIN95 directory. If you are upgrading a Windows 3.1x workstation, start Windows 3.1x first. Then in Program Manager choose the Run option from the File menu, and enter the SETUP command. If the workstation is running DOS or has been booted from floppy diskette, simply type the SETUP command at the command prompt.
You must include the MSBATCH.INF file and the complete directory path to this file in the SETUP command. To prevent the Windows 95 license agreement screen from appearing, you must also include the /IW parameter. (The /IW parameter must appear in uppercase letters. If you use lowercase letters, the Windows 95 license agreement screen appears.) For example, you would enter a command similar to the following:
SETUP /IW X:\WIN95\MSBATCH.INF
The entire Windows 95 installation process runs without prompting you for any input other than to confirm the initial scan disk operation.
If you used a floppy diskette to boot the workstation, remember that in this example we have configured the Windows 95 Setup to proceed without requiring user intervention. As a result, when the workstation is rebooted to complete the Windows 95 installation process, you will not be prompted to remove the floppy diskette from this workstation's floppy diskette drive. If you start the Windows 95 installation process and return later to the A:\ prompt, eject the floppy diskette, and reboot the workstation. The Windows 95 Setup program then completes the installation process.
If you configured the MSBATCH.INF file to install Microsoft TCP/IP, every time you use this file you must change the IP address either by modifying the file before the Windows 95 installation process begins or by reconfiguring each workstation after this installation process is completed. Otherwise, multiple workstations will contend for the same IP address.
Finally, if you encounter problems related to specific hardware or software configurations, consult Novell's KnowledgeBase (http://support.novell.com/search/kb_index.htm). KnowledgeBase contains technical information documents that address a variety of issues.
Although configuring the network setup directory takes a few hours, you will save time in the long run by running an automated installation of Windows 95. If you install Windows 95 more than two or three times a month or if you need to upgrade a number of workstations at one time, these few hours are well worth it.
To ensure that the "Practical Networking" column meets your needs, we need to know what you want to learn about. Please send your suggestions for future issues to practical@niche-associates.com. In addition, please send any networking tips or tricks you would like to share with other network administrators.
Daniel G. Newell works for Niche Associates, an agency that specializes in technical writing and editing.
NetWare Connection, March 1998, pp.42-46