NT4.0 system restore trick from DAT

Let me avoid the embarrassing details and just get to the heart of the problem. I used to have NT4.0 running on a Digital Workstation (233 MHz DEC Alpha processor, 128 MB RAM, FX!32 converter for Intel apps) with SP3 and a bunch of software for which I’ve since lost the original media but still would like to use, in particular a CAD package worth several thousand dollars. Yes, that’s why I still care about this old crate.

Then came the half-educated-user wants to improve the system “event”, and I could no longer boot the system up. Thank God I had a back up of the entire original hard drive on a DAT tape, but before I could do anything I needed a working NT system.

So I got an unregistered NT4.0 SP5 CD over Ebay and installed that successfully. As I have 2 hard drives in the computer, I used to c-drive to run the more recent NT version. Then I restored all the files I had from the original configuration from the DAT to the d-drive, re-configured BIOS to allow me the option of booting from either c or d at start up and hoped for the best. For whatever reason I get an error message (system corrupt or install not complete) when trying to run NT from the d-drive, i.e. the older NT version with SP3 and registry information from several years ago. I suspect that it ignores system or .ini files that are older than its own boot sector information.

My question to the NT gurus: Can I systematically replace the newer system and register files of the most recently installed NT with the old ones to trick the system into thinking its configured the way it used to be, i.e. with the old software? Or is NT too smart for that? There just has to be a way to recreate the system from the DAT tape even if boot sector information isn’t stored on it. I've started the system from the c-drive and tried to run the .exe's from the d-drive but I get conflicts with every program.
Any suggestions for a workaround would be greatly appreciated, condolences are accepted as well but less effective .

 

Good quesiton. I will admit, I too ran NT on a Dec-Alpha machine back in the day. The underlining problem here is the machine architecture. A dec-alpha doesn't speak i386, and visa versa. The NT Kernel you installed was specifically compliled to run on a dec-alpha (MIPS) hardware, and thus, you cannot boot from your D drive, since your motherboard is i386 pc-architecture based.

I would proceed with this methodology:

- Find the registry keys associated with program X. This may require a lot of searching. I would not extract the entire registry, since, again, there may be differences between a registry built for i386 hardware, and a dec-alpha.
- Extract them, save them to a .reg file, and install that file on your new installation.
- Copy the program over (most likely c:\program files\program X)
- Try running it, and if it crashes (Needs file myfile.dll blah blah blah), go searching for them on your D: drive, and copy them to the same location on your C: drive. (Some programs install custom files in C:\winnt\system32, etc)

This is about all you can do, without the original install media. If you own the license for the original product, then download it from the net, and do a fresh install that way.

Best of luck.

 

Hello swingheim out in Utah,

How's the pow-dah on them mountains?

Maybe my fault for not clarifying that before but both versions of NT4.0 Workstation were/are written for the DEC Alpha processor. And the CAD software I'd like to continue using is an Alpha-compatible. Correct me if I'm wrong, but then there should be no need to convert or transpose registry keys from i386 to Alpha or vice versa.

I could be inexperienced enough to have misunderstood you but think it's due to the fact that I didn't clarify that point earlier. The FX!32 converter allowed me to run 'normal' i386 versions of MS Office, Outlook, etc.

Thanks for your help!

P68