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to the Unleashing Windows Index Windows NT 4.0, like many high-end operating systems, is very selective about the hardware requirements used. It is not only demanding of the hardware power, but many hardware devices that work well under DOS or Windows may not work under Windows NT. So, how does a user or network administrator know what devices will or won't work? Microsoft tries to alleviate the situation by providing a hardware compatibility list (HCL) for Windows NT. This list is updated on the Microsoft web site (http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation).
However, the most common way for users to test a system with unknown devices is to just install Windows NT and hope that things work. However, this method can be frustrating for an individual user if a device doesn't work. For a network administrator, it can become an unmanageable situation if a lot of incompatible computers are involved. Windows NT 4.0 has a utility on the CD-ROM to help avoid some of this aggravation. This utility is NT Hardware Query (NTHQ) program.
This utility is a program designed to be run before Windows NT 4.0 is installed. The NTHQ utility queries the hardware components and devices on the system and displays the information on the screen. This information can also be printed or saved to disk. It also checks the hardware devices against the hardware compatibility list to see if a device may cause a problem.
To use this utility, you need to have a 1.44 floppy disk. This disk will be used to boot the computer, so the computer you will check with the NTHQ program will have to be able to boot from a 3.5" floppy drive. The computer to be check must also have Windows NT's minimum requirements of 12 Mb RAM and a 486 or better processor. Currently, the NTHQ utility only runs on Intel processors, not RISC-based computers.
To use the NTHQ utility, do the following:
1. On a computer running Windows NT or Windows 95,
insert a blank 3.5" 1.44 floppy disk into the drive.
2. Insert the Windows NT 4.0 CD-ROM. Find the \SUPPORT\HQTOOL
directory on the CD-ROM.
3. In this directory, run the MAKEDISK.BAT file. This will create
a bootable floppy disk and create the needed files for the NTHQ
program.
4. Insert the disk into the computer to be checked and start (or
restart) the system.
5. The NTHQ program will be started automatically. First, the
program will create a 4Mb RAM disk to store the program files.
This prevents the need for hard disk space to be free. The
program will query the system and display the results in a GUI
window.
The NTHQ program has 12 buttons at the bottom of the display window. This buttons allow you to switch views, print the report, or save the report to disk. The buttons are labeled as follows:
System - Displays the computer manufacturer and BIOS information.
Motherboard - Displays the motherboard manufacture and information
Network - Provides information about the network adapter.
Video - Gives information about the computer's video card.
Storage - Lists the adapters and drives on the system.
All Devices - Provides information about all the devices located on the computer.
Others - Identifies any other cards attached to the computer.
Compatibility - Checks the detected items against the HCL to see if they will work with Windows NT.
Print Current Topic - Prints the topic currently displayed in the window.
Save - Saves the query results to disk.
Help - Displays help information.
Exit - Exits the program and returns to DOS.
The NTHQ utility is a very welcome addition to the
Windows NT CD-ROM for anyone who has to install Windows NT on
possibly incompatible systems. It is also useful as a general
hardware reporting tool. No matter how it's used, many users will
find the NTHQ program to be very useful.