This repository contains some hints, tips, links and software to help you setup at least somehow comfortable environment in Windows NT 4 Workstation in year 2022.
I am trying to collect in one place all the latest information on required updates, problems, available software, etc. I also try to compile and backport some modern open source software to run on Windows NT 4.
Why? Because I like this retro OS :)
If you would like to find your favorite software in this repository, working on Windows NT 4, just create a GitHub issue. I will take a look!
For your convenience, you can build an ISO image with all useful stuff in this repository to burn on CD and apply to your Windows NT4 installation at once.
To build ISO image just run makecd.cmd command from the root of the repository. No additional software is needed to build ISO image, all dependencies are already in the repo.
If you want to recompile software from source code, you can use the compile.cmd script. It does not have external dependencies, everything needed is either provided in the Toolchain library or is built by the script itself. Running it without arguments will compile everything, or you can pass a name or multiple names of the packages to build.
The first thing you would like to do after you install fresh Windows NT 4 is to install latest system and security updates. These updates are highly recommended to install. They improve user experience and increase compatibility with software.
I) The first thing to consider is of course the latest Service Pack 6A for the system: SP6AI386.EXE. Don't forget to restart after installing the Service Pack. On Windows NT 4 it is very important to restart each time an update is installed (there are exceptions though, see below), because otherwise you may end up with a newer DLL being overriden by an older update.
II) After you install latest Service Pack, good idea will be to install Post-SP6A Service Rollup release. This is the collection of patches, prepared by Microsoft after SP6 came out. This was intended to be SP7, but it never seen the light of the day. For more information you can check out the corresponding KB article. You can find the executable here: Q299444I.EXE. Don't forget to restart after installation as well.
III) After these two important big patches are installed, its time for the smaller ones. After Service Rollup came out, there were some smaller security updates that are nice to install as well. NOTE: Each of the updates requires reboot, but there is a helper tool from Microsoft you could use to avoid restarting after each update. Download the QCHAIN.EXE file and run it after installing all the updates but before restarting the system. You may need to give proper command line parameters to the updates to prevent them from restarting the system (usually its "-z" flag). The version of QCHAIN.EXE in this repository is the newer one from the Q815062 update, with some bugfixes. For more information search for "QCHAIN.EXE" in the following articles: 1, 2.
- Q810833.EXE Unchecked buffer in locator service could lead to code execution
- Q817606.EXE Buffer Overrun in Windows Could Lead to Data Corruption
- KB828035.EXE Buffer Overrun in Messenger Service Could Allow Code Execution
- KB828741.EXE Cumulative Update for Microsoft RPC/DCOM
- KB835732.EXE Security Update for Microsoft Windows
- KB839645.EXE Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Remote Code Execution
- KB841356.EXE Vulnerability in Windows Shell Could Allow Remote Code Execution
- KB841872.EXE Vulnerability in POSIX Could Allow Code Execution
IV) Now its time to install IE4. Make sure to do this before you install IE6, otherwise you won't be able to install it later! This version will update your shell with support for 256-colored icons, font smoothing and other improvements. Just make sure to enable this feature during installation. To install, run IE4SETUP.EXE from the IE4 directory.
V) After IE4 has been installed, you can install IE6 SP1 to get the latest supported Internet Explorer on your system. This won't really help to browse Internet, but it will install newer versions of some important system components and improve overall compatibility with the software. Run IE6SETUP.EXE from the IE6SP1NT directory.
These updates are not necessary to install, but may be needed by some software and are still recommended.
I) To support MSI installers, it is also highly recommended to install MSI 2.0 update. It won't support newest MSI packages, but will definitely improve a range of software that can be installed on the Machine. Grab it here: INSTMSIW.EXE.
II) Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC_TYP.EXE) and Microsoft Jet database engine (JETSETUP.EXE) are used by some software, most notably big Microsoft software packages like Microsoft Office and Visual Studio.
III) .NET Framework. Yes, you can install it on Windows NT 4! Unfortunately, the latest version you can install is only 1.1. But still, it improves compatibility considerably and is recomended for installation. Installers for .NET Framework 1.0 (DOTNETFX.EXE) and .NET Framework 1.1 (DOTNET11.EXE) are available.
IV) MSIMG32.DLL. Some software requires this library. Multiple versions of the library can be found and most of them require Windows 2000 or newer, and will not work on Windows NT 4. On the other hand, version in this repository works perfectly. Just copy it to your \WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory.
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7zip 21.06
2021-11-29: free and open source compression tool. Supports 7z, zip, rar and many other file formats. 7zip source code has been modified to build with Visual C++ 6.0 and work under Windows NT 4. -
WinRAR 3.93
2010-03-15: trial version of the popular commercial compression tool. This is the latest version known to work under Windows NT 4. NOTE: due to its age it doesn't support RAR4 archives.
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CardWare: total software solution for PC Cards and PCMCIA for Windows NT.
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USB support: set of USB drivers, developed by Inside Out Networks and provided by DELL for its computers. It is reported to work with non-DELL computers as well. NOTE: there is an information on the Internet that this driver may cause problems with PS/2 keyboards. NOTE: installer claims that the driver does not support multiprocessor systems.
- WinAMP 2.95
2003-06-24, WinAMP 32003-02-25, WinAMP 5.0942005-07-18: very popular freeware audio player from late 90s - early 2000s. Included here are latest versions from three generations (player was heavily modified between major versions). Version 2.95 is the most lightweight, while later versions have more features and are more visually appealing. Version 5.0.94 is not the latest one that starts on Windows NT 4 (in my tests the latest version to be able to start was 5.35), but later versions display various errors and seem to only provide partial functionality.
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ACDSee 2.43: an image organizer, viewer and image editor program for Windows. NOTE: this program should be purchased for use.
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ArtIcons 5.52
2019-03-23: an advanced icon maker for Windows. It allows professional and amateur alike to create and edit icon images and manage icon files and libraries. NOTE: this program should be purchased for use. Visit the official website for more information. -
IrfanView 4.35
2012-11-07: very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows. It is designed to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals.
- PuTTY 0.76
2021-07-17: an SSH and telnet client. PuTTY has been compiled for Windows NT from source code.
- DOSBox 0.74-3
2019-06-26: DOSBox is an emulator that recreates a MS-DOS compatible environment (complete with Sound, Input, Graphics and even basic networking). This environment is complete enough to run many classic MS-DOS games completely unmodified.
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CMake 3.52
2018-12-03: free and open source tool for generating project files for C and C++ projects. This is not the latest version, but its the latest one to support Visual C++ 6.0 and Visual Studio 7 (aka .NET 2002). So there is little benefit in using newer versions. CMake source code have been modified to build and work under Windows NT 4. -
Git 2.34.1
2021-11-15: free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. Compiled from source code. NOTE: it is recommended to also install Perl along with Git, otherwise some of the Git commands will not work. -
HxD 1.7.7.0
2009-04-03: freeware hex editor and disk editor (for more information see https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd). This is the latest version known to work on Windows NT 4. -
Nullsoft Scriptable Install System 2.51
2016-04-20: free and open source system for creating installers for Windows applications. This is the latest version of NSIS 2.x. Actually NSIS 3.082021-09-25also installs and works perfectly on Windows NT 4, but it seems to be unable to parse scripts used by CMake. For this reason it is recommended to install NSIS 2.x if you plan to use it together with CMake. -
Perl 5.12.3.0
2011-05-15: the latest version of Strawberry Perl known to work on Windows NT.
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Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.09
2006-12-05: freeware utility to view, print and annotate PDF files. This is the latest version known to work on Windows NT 4. -
FAR Manager 1.70
2006-03-29: freeware and open source orthodox file manager (for more information see farmanager.com). -
ShellExView 2.01: utility to display the details of shell extensions installed on your computer. Also allows you to easily disable and enable each shell extension. For more details visit the official website.
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System Information Viewer 5.62:
2021-12-14utility for displaying lots of useful Windows, Network and hardware info: CPU info, PCI info, PCMCIA info, USB info SMBus info, SPD info, ACPI methods, Machine info, Hardware Sensors, Networked computers, Operating System Information and more. For details visit the official website.
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Windows NT 4.0 Reference Material: the information presented on this web site is intended to assist those who still maintain a PC running the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (Workstation or Server) Operating System.