Windows NT 3.1 Beta (Complete Set - Boxed)

[Pooraim]

Hello. I was having a clear out the other day and came across a box containing my old Windows NT 3.1 Beta collection. Although the items have all been opened, they are in very good condition and the CD's were only used once (to make backups). I expect these to be very rare and thought that they might be worth something. I did a quick Google, but couldn't find very much. I would be grateful if anybody here provide some advise on what they are worth if anything? The items have some sentimental value to me, but I'm no collector. Thanks in advance.


July 1992


October 1992


March 1993


Final


Complete Set (Windows Flag Colors)


Visual Studio Preliminary June 1993

[Courage]

Although we have these builds (assuming that 1992-07 = 297, 1992-10 = 328, 1993-03 = 404 and Final = 511), your copies would be greatly appreciated if you could scan and dump all of the material properly.

[SoftPCMuseum]

I would also be interested in seeing these.

By any chance, do you have anything else in your collection that might be interesting here? Like, for example, pre-release versions of other versions of MS-DOS or Windows, or other Microsoft products in general?

[Pooraim]

Although we have these builds (assuming that 1992-07 = 297, 1992-10 = 328, 1993-03 = 404 and Final = 511), your copies would be greatly appreciated if you could scan and dump all of the material properly.

Just to be clear, I’m looking to sell these as a complete set. After taking the photos, they have been carefully repackaged and put into storage. I have no interest in opening them again for fear of causing damage.

My reason for posting here is to see if I can determine their value. I guess it is totally subjective, but I’ve not seen a complete set like this on eBay or anywhere else. There is a guy here http://www.chack.co.uk/C6401nt3.htm looking for 3500 UKP just for the March 93 package. Maybe he is crazy, maybe not.

These have a large sentimental value to me, so I’m not going to part easily with them, but if the price is right, you can buy almost anything.

If enough people tell me they aren’t worth anything, they will probably not see the light of day again and that is fine with me.

I would also be interested in seeing these.

By any chance, do you have anything else in your collection that might be interesting here? Like, for example, pre-release versions of other versions of MS-DOS or Windows, or other Microsoft products in general?

The only other things I have are Visual Studio .NET Beta 1 (still shrink wrapped) and Visual Studio .NET Beta 2. Beta 2 came in a folder so it’s not really fair to say it’s unopened, but it is unused and in pristine condition.

[Courage]

Although we have these builds (assuming that 1992-07 = 297, 1992-10 = 328, 1993-03 = 404 and Final = 511), your copies would be greatly appreciated if you could scan and dump all of the material properly.

Just to be clear, I’m looking to sell these as a complete set. After taking the photos, they have been carefully repackaged and put into storage. I have no interest in opening them again for fear of causing damage.

My reason for posting here is to see if I can determine their value. I guess it is totally subjective, but I’ve not seen a complete set like this on eBay or anywhere else. There is a guy here http://www.chack.co.uk/C6401nt3.htm looking for 3500 UKP just for the March 93 package. Maybe he is crazy, maybe not.

These have a large sentimental value to me, so I’m not going to part easily with them, but if the price is right, you can buy almost anything.

If enough people tell me they aren’t worth anything, they will probably not see the light of day again and that is fine with me.

I would also be interested in seeing these.

By any chance, do you have anything else in your collection that might be interesting here? Like, for example, pre-release versions of other versions of MS-DOS or Windows, or other Microsoft products in general?

The only other things I have are Visual Studio .NET Beta 1 (still shrink wrapped) and Visual Studio .NET Beta 2. Beta 2 came in a folder so it’s not really fair to say it’s unopened, but it is unused and in pristine condition.

In that case, these copies should be expensive indeed, as they have been in excellent condition for around 20 or so years. Sorry for acting a bit dumb though.

[Pooraim]

In that case, these copies should be expensive indeed, as they have been in excellent condition for around 20 or so years. Sorry for acting a bit dumb though.

Hey Courage, thank you for your input and it's my fault for not making my intentions crystal clear from the beginning.

[johnlemon647]

We do not have Windows NT October 1992 or March 1993 versions. This is good found.

[Overdoze]

We do not have Windows NT October 1992 or March 1993 versions. This is good found.

We do actually, stop spreading false information.

[johnlemon647]

You are right we do have Windows NT October 1992 or March 1993 versions.

[GL1zdA]

Here are my notes from eBay (probably 3-4 years old, someone dumped his collection). These were only CDs in jewel boxes.

October 1991 SDK - $282.77
December 1991 SDK - $67.67, $100
July 1992 SDK - $100.99, $80.03
August 1992 SDK WinHEC - $65.99
October 1992 SDK - $55.55 (b.319/340)
October 1992 DDK - $44.44
March 1993 SDK/DDK - $102.62
March 1993 SDK - $64.01

Remember, this was before the images were made available here.

As for the Visual C++ preliminary edition - I bought mine with all the things on your picture for 13 GBP and this was including Windows 95 beta and Millenium beta.

[Pooraim]

Here are my notes from eBay (probably 3-4 years old, someone dumped his collection). These were only CDs in jewel boxes.

October 1991 SDK - $282.77
December 1991 SDK - $67.67, $100
July 1992 SDK - $100.99, $80.03
August 1992 SDK WinHEC - $65.99
October 1992 SDK - $55.55 (b.319/340)
October 1992 DDK - $44.44
March 1993 SDK/DDK - $102.62
March 1993 SDK - $64.01

Remember, this was before the images were made available here.

As for the Visual C++ preliminary edition - I bought mine with all the things on your picture for 13 GBP and this was including Windows 95 beta and Millenium beta.

TBH, I was hoping that as a set they would sell for more. Visual Studio was sent as part of the beta program, so I only included it for completeness.

Oh well, they are worth far more than this to me as nostalgia, so I guess I'll just keep them in storage.

Thanks for this info.

[louisw3]

3500 gbp for the March 1993 beta? yeah that is crazy.

The only super rare beta is the 1991 October Beta AKA Comdex Beta. this is the one that they rushed to have a single box to comdex to give out to select people, and in the process broke the MIPS build. Even the December 1991 beta was made in greater quantity which included the working MIPS port after it had been fixed.

MS was giving these away, or at a great discount to try to sway as many people away from OS/2, and to the future of Win32.

The next significant milestone was the October 1992 beta which included the first version of Win32s.

The 1991 betas have gone for upwards of $300 USD, and the others are 50-100 USD. Yours are more complete and I'd say 100-150 each.

The real rare thing as of right now is one of the two Microsoft OS/2 2.0 betas. All I've managed to secure is the documentation set for the #2 beta, and the SDK tools. I'm still missing the OS.

[TheCollector1988]

3500 gbp for the March 1993 beta? yeah that is crazy.

The only super rare beta is the 1991 October Beta AKA Comdex Beta. this is the one that they rushed to have a single box to comdex to give out to select people, and in the process broke the MIPS build. Even the December 1991 beta was made in greater quantity which included the working MIPS port after it had been fixed.

MS was giving these away, or at a great discount to try to sway as many people away from OS/2, and to the future of Win32.

The next significant milestone was the October 1992 beta which included the first version of Win32s.

The 1991 betas have gone for upwards of $300 USD, and the others are 50-100 USD. Yours are more complete and I'd say 100-150 each.

The real rare thing as of right now is one of the two Microsoft OS/2 2.0 betas. All I've managed to secure is the documentation set for the #2 beta, and the SDK tools. I'm still missing the OS.

did a DDK of the July 1992 build exist?

[louisw3]

3500 gbp for the March 1993 beta? yeah that is crazy.

The only super rare beta is the 1991 October Beta AKA Comdex Beta. this is the one that they rushed to have a single box to comdex to give out to select people, and in the process broke the MIPS build. Even the December 1991 beta was made in greater quantity which included the working MIPS port after it had been fixed.

MS was giving these away, or at a great discount to try to sway as many people away from OS/2, and to the future of Win32.

The next significant milestone was the October 1992 beta which included the first version of Win32s.

The 1991 betas have gone for upwards of $300 USD, and the others are 50-100 USD. Yours are more complete and I'd say 100-150 each.

The real rare thing as of right now is one of the two Microsoft OS/2 2.0 betas. All I've managed to secure is the documentation set for the #2 beta, and the SDK tools. I'm still missing the OS.

did a DDK of the July 1992 build exist?

Not until they started to show it off to hardware vendors at the WinHEC thing. I dont think NT was anywhere near mature enough in July of 1992.

[mallard]

One thing to consider if you decide to sell this on the "open market" (e.g. eBay) is that it was almost certainly originally provided under an NDA and a licence agreement that prohibited resale. It may even have stated that the items remain the property of Microsoft and could be recalled. While I doubt Microsoft would be particularly concerned after 23 years, it's possible...

[DiskingRound]

It would be cool if you could at least scan all the media before you sell it. I currently have no scanner so if you sell it and I get it, it would be cool to get scans of all the CDs.
Thanks for sharing.

Offtopic Comment

Happy Birthday BA!

[mrpijey]

Well it would be great if before you put it to rot and decay in a box in storage you do a full dump and scan of it all, as its condition won't improve over time. One day all the whites may be yellowed and the disc may experience rot. This is exactly why BetaArchive is here, to save what can be saved before it's beyond any kind of preservation. There will always be collectors wanting the original discs, but at least we'll save the artwork and contents.

[MM-DD-YY]

It looks like the documentation for the "Final Release" Win32SDK mentions that it is the final pre-release version, so does that mean it's geared towards the April '93 beta (438)? Likewise, since the Visual C++ is also a preliminary version wouldn't be geared towards the April '93 beta too?

[Pooraim]

All of the printed documentation is available on the CD's in Postscript format, so scanning is not required. That said, I highly suspect that posting copies online is breaking more copyright laws than selling the physical items. Obviously, the actual software will always belong to Microsoft.

Having thought about it, if I do decided to eBay these, I would probably put a reserve of $1,250 for the set ($250 each, but I'm not splitting the 4x OS CD's under any circumstances). I'm just not sure I would want to part with them at that price, even if someone was prepared to pay it, which it sounds like they are not.

[ReflectiaX]

Talk about resurrecting an old thread, lol, hey!

So, ever since seeing this thread, I've been trying to piece this set together...both sealed AND unsealed, and with all the documentation.

While I've not managed to find any fully sealed packages, so far, I've managed to find everything but the July 1992 disc sealed (nor do I have the documentation from that build); however, I have the non-SDK version of the July 1992 beta, as well as others (in the first picture below). I don't have the final SDK nor the October 1992 SDK unsealed yet. So...still on the lookout.

Onward to some pics (click for higher resolution):

[mrpijey]

Post edited.

Please, if you have something to offer the community then present it, but do not use this community to post your trading offers or anything like that. You know our policies surrounding trading and selling on the forums!

Thank you, and that's a very nice set!

[ReflectiaX]

Sorry about that! I guess I was a bit too hasty. Aside from that, are you interested in "sealed" product scans at all (even if perhaps only for builds that have already been uploaded to the FTP)?

[mrpijey]

Not really no, since it would not be a complete release. But you're free to take pics yourself and put up here if you want.

And I believe some of the discs in your photos are not archived here, so if you wish to preserve them in our archive you're free to do so as well .