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Lesson 4 Upgrading clients running Windows NT Workstation
Objective Upgrade clients running NT Server

Modern Day equivalent of Windows NT

Question: What is the modern equivalent of Windows NT Workstation?
The modern equivalent of Windows NT Workstation is Windows 10 Pro.
Windows NT Workstation was a version of Windows NT that was designed for use on individual workstations, rather than server environments. It was released in 1993 and was succeeded by several other versions of Windows, including Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Business/Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro, and finally Windows 10 Pro.
Windows 10 Pro includes many of the features that were available in Windows NT Workstation, such as advanced networking capabilities, support for domain join, and remote desktop access. However, it also includes many new features and enhancements that were not available in earlier versions of Windows, such as improved security, virtual desktops, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Upgrading Clients running Windows NT Workstation 3.51 or 4.0 (Legacy)

How to upgrade clients running Windows NT Workstation 3.51 or 4.0 when running Windows legacy operating systems..
Because Windows NT Workstation 3.51, Windows NT Workstation 4.0, and Windows 2000 Professional share common registry, file system, security, and operating system kernel structures, nearly all applications that run on Windows NT Workstation 4.0 will run without modification on Windows 2000 Professional. In addition, upgrading from Windows NT Workstation to Windows 2000 Professional is easier than upgrading from other Windows operating systems for of the following reasons:
  1. Almost all peripherals and devices that work with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 will work with Windows 2000 Professional.
  2. The version of NTFS used in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 is transparently upgraded to the version of NTFS used in Windows 2000 Professional during the upgrade process.

NTFS Differences

There are some differences between the version of NTFS used by Windows NT 4.0 operating systems (NTFS 4) and Windows 2000 operating systems (NTFS 5). This may prevent some of the programs you have used in Windows NT 4.0 from working properly in Windows 2000.
For example, anti-virus programs that work in Windows NT 4.0 may not be able to handle "reparse points" that they might encounter if you have created Volume Mount Points. This incompatibility may not be reported by the Upgrade Evaluation tool.

Setup compatibility report

The Windows 2000 Setup Wizard generates a compatibility report similar to the reports that are generated on client computers running Windows2000 and Windows 98. This report is automatically saved in the systemroot folder in a file called Winnt32.log, as shown below.
setup-log-location
setup-log-location

If the upgrade process stops due to hardware incompatibility, check this log to determine the source of the problem.

Performing the upgrade

To upgrade clients running Windows NT Workstation 3.51. or 4.0 to Windows 2000, follow the steps shown the following simulation:
Upgrading Windows 2008
Click the link below to learn about running the Setup program.
Upgrading Windows 2000 Client
In the next lesson, you will learn how to install the Directory Services Client.