Windows NT 3.51 Arcinst.exe Release Notes


If you are installing Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 on a Digital Alpha System,
AND need to partition one or more hard disks in your system, then these
notes apply to you.

Windows NT 3.51 CDs contain an updated version of the Arcinst utility that
may not behave as documented in your Digital Windows NT release notes.
This disparity may cause confusion for some customers.

Note that both the updated and original versions of arcinst are completely
compatible with each other, and with Windows NT 3.5 and 3.51. The only thing
that has changed in the new version of Arcinst is that the ability to
create non-system partitions has been removed. The program also erroneously 
leads you to believe that you can create non-system partitions.

You can either continue to use the previous version of Arcinst.exe from
Windows NT 3.5 or follow the instructions below for preparing a hard disk
with the 3.51 version or Arcinst.

To use the previous version of arcinst to prepare your hard disk
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o	Copy the Arcinst.exe file included with this kit to a diskette,
	and run this version from diskette, or

o	Use the version of Arcinst.exe included on your Windows NT 3.5 CD.

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To prepare a hard disk from scratch using the arcinst.exe released with Windows NT 3.51:
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1.	Insert the Microsoft Windows NT CD-ROM into your computers CD-ROM
	drive.

2.	At the Boot menu, select Run a program and press Enter. A Program
	to run prompt appears.

3.	Type cd:\alpha\arcinst and press Enter. The ARC Installation
	Program screen appears.

4.	Select Configure Partitions and press Enter. The available disk
	partitioning options appear.

5.	Select Delete Partition and press Enter. If your computer has only
	one hard disk, press Enter. If your computer has more than one hard
	disk, select the disk to be prepared, and press Enter.

	Depending on the previous disk configuration, you might be notified
	that no partitions exist, or you may see a list of one or more
	partitions. Follow the on-screen prompts to delete all partitions
	on the disk.

6.	Select Create System Partition and press Enter. When the list of
	available disks appears, select the disk to be prepared and press
	Enter. You are prompted for the size of the partition.

7.	Type a number that is 6 MB less than the maximum size displayed,
	then press Enter. For example, if the largest possible value is 500,
	type 494. A partition of that many megabytes is created.

	At the "Do you want to make this a system partition" prompt, type n,
	and press Enter. The partition is formatted. Once the formatting is
	completed, press Enter.

	Note that step 7 is where the anomaly lies. Answering no to this prompt
	still creates a system parition.

8.	Select Create System Partition and press Enter. When the list of
	available disks appears, select the same disk and press Enter. You
	are prompted for the size of the partition.

9.	Type the larger of the two values in the Enter size prompt (it will
	be close to 6), then press Enter. The partition is created.

10.	Press Enter. The partition is formatted. Once the formatting is 
	completed, press Enter.

	If you see a System Partition has already been defined message, it
	means that NT has been previously installed. Type y to delete the
	existing system partition definition.

	If a Boot selections already exist message appears, exit the arcinst
	utility, go to the Setup menu, choose Manage boot selections, and
	delete all existing boot selections. Then start the arcinst utility'
	again, and return to this step.

11.	Select Exit and press Enter. Select Exit again and press Enter.
	The ARC firmware Boot menu appears.

Note:  Steps 12 through 17 address an anomaly in the updated version of
ARCINST.EXE supplied by Microsoft on all Windows NT 3.51 CDs. This updated
version cannot create non-system partitions. Therefore, in order to arrive
at the Digital-recommended partition arrangement, it is necessary to first
create two system partitions using ARCINST.EXE, and then edit system
environment variables to remove the system flag from one of the partitions.

12.	Select Supplementary menu and press Enter.

13.	Select Set up the system and press Enter.

14.	From the Setup menu, select Edit environment variables and press
	Enter.

15.	Next to Name:, type systempartition and press Enter. The current
	system partition definition is displayed on the Value: line.

16.	Press the Home key to move te cursor to the beginning of the
	system partition definition, and press the Delete key to delete
	the text up to and including the semi-colon. Once the text is
	deleted, press Enter.

	CAUTION!  Do not to delete the text after the semi-colon. If you
	accidentally delete any of this text, press the Escape key twice,
	then return to step 15.

17.	Press the Escape key to return to the Setup menu. Then select
	Supplementary menu, and save changes, and press Enter.
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End of arcinst.txt
