Installation of Windows 95 for diskless operation with an                              ISA or PCI network adapter

This document is designed for network administrators or equivalents who have good experience installing and configuring the open standard BOOTP/DHCP and TFTP Remoteboot Services. Good knowledge about installing Windows 95 for a shared network installation using NETSETUP.EXE is also required. Furthermore this documentation can only be used with InCom`s TCP/IP BOOT-PROM and the corresponding utilities

Preparation of the Windows NT server for the server based setup of Windows 95

Create the following network shares on the Windows NT Server :

machines 		for the hardware information of each PC.
appshare 		for the shared application directory.

create a user account for the diskless installation. 

In this example we use the username diskless and the password: diskless123.

Create a Server based setup of Windows 95 on the network server with netsetup

The program netsetup is an equivalent of setup /a of Windows 3.11. The netsetup runs a Server based installation of Windows 95.

Start a Windows 95 client with a network connection to the shared installation directory.
For this example you must bind the drive z: to the network share appshare .

Start the netsetup from the \admin\nettools\netsetup directory of the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM.

In the Server Path dialog box, type Z:\WIN95 for the path of the directory to install. 
When the Source Path dialog box appears, you can choose where the shared files will be installed.
Click on the User's button and select the OK bottom.
The Create default dialog box appears and you must click on Don't Create Default. 
In the Product Identification box, type in the product identification number and click on the OK button.

Now the netsetup tool creates a server based setup in the shared directory appshare.

After the setup is completed, exit the netsetup program.
Create a network installation disk.

For a network installation disk you need a bootable floppy disk with MS-DOS 6.22. 
Create the directory \dos on the bootable floppy with the following files:
	
Keyb.com
Keyboard.sys 

create the configuration files Config.sys and Autoexec.bat with the following contents:

Config.sys
 Files=30

Autoexec.bat
Path=a:\dos
keyb us

After having created the bootable floppy disk , start the Network Client Administrator on your Windows NT server. 

Choose on the Windows NT Server the menu:

Start -> Program -> Administrative Tool's ->Network client administrator

In the Network Client administrator dialog box, choose the following settings.
 
1.	Choose Make Network Installation Startup Disk
2.	Choose Network Client Installation Files
3.	Choose Network Client v3.0 for MS-DOS and Windows
4.	Select your network adapter from the listbox
5.	Type in the computer name of the diskless client 
6.	Type in the username for the diskless client 
7.	Type in the Domainname of your shared file Server.
8.	Select the network protocol TCP/IP from the Network Protocol listbox
9.	Modify the Network protocols with your settings .

Insert the bootable MS-DOS floppy disk and continue. The network client administrator program creates the network boot disk automatically. After the Network boot disk is ready, modify the Config.sys and autoexec.bat files according to the following examples.

For the first boot you can either use a floppy disk or a boot image.

Example of a modified config.sys to boot from a floppy disk
files=30
device=a:\net\himem.sys /testmem:off
device=a:\net\emm386.exe noems
device=a:\net\ifshlp.sys
dos=high,umb
lastdrive=z

Example of a modified config.sys to boot from a boot image 
files=30
device=\bin\bputil.sys -f
device=a:\net\himem.sys /testmem:off
device=\bin\bputil.sys -x
device=a:\net\emm386.exe noems
device=a:\net\ifshlp.sys
dos=high,umb
lastdrive=z

Example of a modified autoexec.bat
path=a:\net;a:\dos
keyb gr
a:\net\net initialize
a:\net\netbind.com
a:\net\umb.com
a:\net\tcptsr.exe
a:\net\tinyrfc.exe
a:\net\nmtsr.exe
a:\net\emsbfr.exe
a:\net\net logon diskless diskless123 /yes /savepw:no
net use z: \\SERVER\appshare
net use m: \\SERVER\machines

Note : The Bputil.sys you can only find on the InCom utility disk. Use the BPDISK program to create a bootable image of the network installation disk.
Preparation for the remote boot procedure.

Before you start your diskless Windows 95 client you have to create an unattended installation file in your APPSHARE\WIN95 directory. The default name is msbatch.inf but we use diskless.inf in this example instead. 

Create the configuration file diskless.inf in the directory \\appshare\win95 of the Windows NT server.
 
Example of diskless.inf
[Setup]
Express=0
InstallDir="M:\pc01"
InstallType=3
CCP=0

[Network]
Display=1
HDBoot=0
RPLSetup=1
WorkstationSetup=1
DisplayWorkstationSetup=1
SaveSUBoot=1

Preparation of the Windows 95 diskless workstation

Verify if the power is off and plug an ISA network adapter in the ISA bus of the diskless PC.
Now check its hardware configuration (I/O base and IRQ).

Note : Microsoft does not support a PCI network adapter to be properly configured in the very first installation step. The adaptation for PCI NIC can only be done at a later point in time of the configuration.

Windows 95 diskless installation 

Start the diskless workstation with the just created bootable network floppy or load it’s content as a bootimage file from the server.

Now verify the client-server connections M=machines and Z=appshare.

Start the Windows 95 setup procedure with the following parameters:

setup diskless.inf /im /id /is 

note : you may use the /IW option which is called “no license argrement”.

Windows 95 Setup starts and the Software License Agreement dialog box appears. Answer the questions there, now the Windows 95 Setup wizard starts.

When the Server-based Setup window appears, choose installation type Set up Windows to run from a network server

The Startup Method dialog box appears and displays several starting methods of Windows.
Choose Start Windows from the network (remote boot server) from the list

In the Machine Directory dialog box, type in the path M:\PC01 as the installation directory. 

The Save System Files dialog box appears, and you click the no buttom .

In the Setup Options dialog Window, choose custom installation.

In the User Information dialog box, type in your name and company and click on the next button.

The Computer dialog box appears and Windows 95 wants to analyse your computer. In the setup step the installation can be stopped with an error. The best functionality you will get if you modify the Hardware manually . So choose the NO button in the Analysing Your Computer dialog box.
Now you must disable the sections CD-ROM, Network Adapter, PCMCIA Socket, SCSI Controllers as well as the Sound,MIDI section.Accept your settings and the setup wizard will check your Hardware without your disabled settings.

When  the Get Connect dialog box appears, click on the Next bottom and the Select Components dialog box opoens. Select your choice and continue.

The Network Configuration box appears with the default network adapter. 

•	Delete all non Dial-Up Network Adapters !! not the Dial-Up Network Adapter !!
•	Add a new network adapter
•	In the Select Network adapters dialog box select your ISA network adapter. for example  3Com Etherlink III ISA (3c509/3c509b) in ISA mode
•	Verify the Hardware settings of the 3Com network adapter. 
•	Add the TCP/IP and the NetBEUI protocol to the 3Com Network adapter 
•	Modify the network protocols with your network settings
•	Modify the NetBEUI protocol properties click on Advanced, switch Set this protocol to be the default protocol on.

The Setup validation Box appears, check your settings and click on OK to install Windows 95.

The setup wizard installs Windows 95 and restart your Computer 

When the diskless PC reboots, switch its power off.

Create the Windows 95 runtime boot image

Create a directory for the boot images on the Windows NT-server to modify the boot images.
For this example create the directory C:\bootimg\

Copy the file net$dos.sys from the network share \\machines\pc01 to c:\bootimg on the Windows NT server.

Copy the files bpdisk.exe and bputil.sys from the InCom Utility Disk to the c:\bootimage directory.

Expand the Windows 95 bootimage to a separated directory win95

C:\bootimg\bpdisk -dnet$dos.sys -owin95

After the process is finished, copy the emm386.exe from a Windows 95 system and the bputil.sys to the c:\bootimg\win95 directory. 

Create the registry file bootimg\win95\bootprom.reg with the ms-dos editor and the following lines:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\setup]
"BootDir"="m:\\"
"BootHost"="m:\\"
"WinBootDir"="m:\\"
"HostWinBootDir"="m:\\"

modify the configuration files in the directory bootimg\win95 following the examples.

config.sys
DEVICE=bputil.sys -f
DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS /testmem:off
DEVICE=bputil.sys -x
DEVICE=emm386.exe noems
device=a:\ramdrive.sys 2880 /E
device=display.sys con=(ega,,1)
Country=049,850,country.sys

autoexec.bat
mode con codepage prepare=((850) ega.cpi)
mode con codepage select=850
keyb gr,,keyboard.sys
@if not exist C:\winboot\nul mkdir c:\winboot
copy a:\system.dat c:\system.dat
@copy a:\ C:\winboot
C:
cd \winboot

win.bat
set comspec=c:\winboot\command.com
nwrpltrm
snapshot /S /B:C /R
net start
net logon diskless diskless123 /savepw:no  /y
net use Z: \\Server\APPSHARE
net use M: \\Server\machines
PATH=Z:\WIN95\;Z:\WIN95\COMMAND
setmdir /r:m:\pc01
if exist m:\pc01\stop.tmp goto fin
regedit bootprom.reg
pause
win.com
:fin

After the modification you can create a new bootimage 

bpdisk -ddiskless.X -F2880,net$dos.sys
bpdisk -ddiskless.X -iwin95

the diskless.X file is your new bootimage.

At last you must transfer the new bootimage to the tftpboot directory of the tftpd server.

First start with the runtime boot image of Windows 95 diskless.

Switch the power of the diskless client on.

The Windows 95 diskless boot image will be loaded and establish a realmode network connection to the Windows NT Server. 

If Windows 95 starts in VGA mode, it asks for a username and password for the Windows network connection.

Windows checks the last system configurations and then the DATE/TIME Properties dialog box appears. 

Select your country and press the OK button.

If the ADD Printer wizard appears, click on the cancel button. You can add printers later on.

Windows restarts the diskless computer automatically

If some errors come up, ignore them in the first step and login as the user you want .

Windows 95 now runs in protected mode with the ISA network adapter.

Windows 95 diskless using a PCI network adapter
and TCP/IP + NetBEUI protocols 

Note: before you execute the steps below you have to follow they ”Installation of Windows 95 for diskless operation with an ISA or PCI network adapter” documentation, and make sure that they ISA based installation works properly so far .

Insert a PCI Network adapter like the 3C590 in the diskless PC, equipped with InCom`s corresponding TCP/IP BOOT-PROM. Now modify the Bootptab file on the bootpd server by inserting the new PCI mac address instead of the old ISA mac address.
Step by step
•	start the Windows 95 client to install the PCI network adapter.

The PCI controller will now be auto detected and added to the configuration of the client.
You have to delete all network protocols from the PCI NIC, stop and then power off the system.
•	To make life easier copy the PC01 directory once again but to another safe directory for recovery
•	start the windows 95 client for the network adapter configuration.
remove all protocols, Dial-up and ISA network adapter from your Windows 95 Network settings.
Click on the OK button. Ignore the error message box and accept your settings. 
Do not reboot Windows 95,  press abort on the Reboot massage box.

 Note: Now Windows 95 has saved the information in the registry

Run the Network settings again and bind the NetBEUI and the TCP/IP protocol and also the Client for Microsoft Network to the PCI network adapter. Verify all settings of the Protocols and accept your settings. Shut down the diskless client and press power off to Save the current configuration for later recovery.  After you have rebooted the client and checked that the PCI network adapter with the TCP/IP stack runs you must shut down the diskless client and press power off. 

Note : 
 Now Windows runs with the ISA and PCI network adapter hardware installed. Windows starts and makes a real mode network connection to the NT-Server (over NetBEUI). If Windows binds its registry with setmdir it can start the Network in protected mode. Windows establishes a Protected mode connection to the network drives and leaves the real mode driver sleeping.

•	And finally

You have to modify the boot image to make only the PCI NIC run.
Create a file m:\pc01\stop.tmp and reboot the diskless client. 

Note: In the boot image exists a break point. If the file m:\pc01\stop.tmp exists, the client stops after the SETMDIR program of  Windows 95. 

 The client reboots and stops after the network connection. With the diskless client, Create the directory m:\reg. 

export the mini system.dat 
     regedit /L:a:\system.dat /E m:\reg\pc01.txt

modify the file pc01.txt and change the parameters:

from :

.......

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Network\Real Mode Net]
"transport"="*netbeui,ndishlp.sys"
"netcard"="elnk3.dos"
"LoadRMDrivers"=hex:00,00,00,00
"preferredredir"="VREDIR"
"Transition"=hex:01
"SetupN"=hex:01
"SetupNPath"="\\\\SERVER\\APPSHARE\\WIN95\\"
"StaticDrive"="Z,m"
.........

to:

.......

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Network\Real Mode Net]
"transport"="*netbeui,ndishlp.sys"
"netcard"="el59x.dos"
"LoadRMDrivers"=hex:00,00,00,00
"preferredredir"="VREDIR"
"Transition"=hex:01
"SetupN":01
"SetupNPath"="\\\\SERVER\\APPSHARE\\WIN95\\"
"StaticDrive"="Z,m"
.........

import the mini system.dat 
     regedit /L:a:\system.dat /C m:\reg\pc01.txt

With attrib, change the attributes of the system.dat to copy the file to m:\reg\system.dat
•	Modify the existing Windows 95 bootimage to boot from the PCI network adapter.

Copy the driver file and the new system.dat for the network adapter to the boot image directory.
copy el59x.dos c:\bootimg\win95\.
copy   m:\reg\system.dat c:\bootimg\win95\.

Change the c:\bootimg\win95\Protocol.ini file
from :

[NETBEUI$]
DriverName=NETBEUI$
Lanabase=0
sessions=10
ncbs=12
Bindings=ELNK3$

[ELNK3$]
DriverName=ELNK3$
IOAddress=0x300

[protman$]
priority=ndishlp$
DriverName=protman$

[ndishlp$]
DriverName=ndishlp$
Bindings=ELNK3$

[data]
version=v4.00.950
netcards=ELNK3$,*PNP80F7

To:

[NETBEUI$]
DriverName=NETBEUI$
Lanabase=0
sessions=10
ncbs=12
Bindings=el59x$

[el59x$]
DriverName=el59x$

[protman$]
priority=ndishlp$
DriverName=protman$

[ndishlp$]
DriverName=ndishlp$
Bindings=el59x$

[data]
version=v4.00.950
netcards=el59x$,PCI\VEN_10b7&DEV_5950

Note: 
The network driver ID for the data Netcards section is in the inf\net3com.inf file.

You can now create a new bootimage by typing in 

C:
Cd \bootimg
Del w95diskl.X
Bpdisk –d w95diskl.X –F2880,net$dos.sys
bpdisk -dw95dislk.X -iwin95

copy the Boot image to the TFTPBOOT directory of the TFPD server and reboot the diskless client.

Everything should work now. Shutdown the client, power it off, and then remove the ISA network adapter from the PC. If Windows 95 displays an error for the ISA network adapter, disable the Network adapter in the device manager.