Windows NT 3.1 CPU Fix

[WinWhat]

This is my hard work (not really) on making this thing. Windows NT 3.1 CPU Fix fixes CPU problem when installing windows nt 3.1 on CPU's newer than old 386, 486, and Pentium.

HOW TO USE IT:
1. Start windows nt 3.1 setup normally.
2. When first stage (dos) of setup is completed, you'll prompted to reboot.
3. Mount the Windows NT 3.1 CPU Fix floppy image to drive A.
4. Reboot and boot from drive A.
5. Run fix.bat.
6. After completed, eject the floppy image from drive A.
7. Press Ctrl + alt + delete to reboot.
8. Setup should continue normally

Here's the file link (MEGA) :
https://mega.nz/file/TcxgiYSA#q9TY4rwn ... RDum2wC3k
(the file format will be .7z . To unzip the file, use 7zip or winzip)

For more information please read readme.txt inside the downloaded file.
Use the comment section to report problems.

[backtofuture]

unfortunately often on the internet there are very pseudo computer scientists who publish wrong information ...
actually you don't need to change various command lines of the files "initial.inf" "ncpashel.inf" and "setup.inf"
just delete the "read-syms ProcessorID" line in the "initial.inf" file
Windows NT 3.1 can be easily made bootable without using any floppy

[Overdoze]

unfortunately often on the internet there are very pseudo computer scientists who publish wrong information ...
actually you don't need to change various command lines of the files "initial.inf" "ncpashel.inf" and "setup.inf"
just delete the "read-syms ProcessorID" line in the "initial.inf" file

It's not "wrong" information really, just a different way of achieving the same result.

[backtofuture]

unfortunately often on the internet there are very pseudo computer scientists who publish wrong information ...
actually you don't need to change various command lines of the files "initial.inf" "ncpashel.inf" and "setup.inf"
just delete the "read-syms ProcessorID" line in the "initial.inf" file

It's not "wrong" information really, just a different way of achieving the same result.

I didn't say that method doesn't work ...
but if I have to get to a result ... why modify files and command lines when you just need to delete a line in a single file ?!

[AlphaBeta]

You don't need to do any of this if you just set up a period accurate system in 86Box or similar emulator. VMware and VirtualBox are certainly not the right tools for this job.

[backtofuture]

You don't need to do any of this if you just set up a period accurate system in 86Box or similar emulator. VMware and VirtualBox are certainly not the right tools for this job.

we are talking about real PC

[yourepicfailure]

And even then there's still the processor check in the kernel that doesn't know how to handle CPUs past the Pentium 4.
Don't know someone would want to try though.

[WinWhat]

Well, seems some people made this hard work became useless. At least this is better than you have to manually edit those files.

[backtofuture]

Well, seems some people made this hard work became useless. At least this is better than you have to manually edit those files.

I suggest a much better method and you also take it as an offense
no changes ... I have all Windows NT 3.1 already modified and booted ... so they are installed directly from the CD-ROM without any floppy and without any changes.
you want to use your own method, fine ... but in the batch only edit the "initial.inf"

And even then there's still the processor check in the kernel that doesn't know how to handle CPUs past the Pentium 4.
Don't know someone would want to try though.

I have never tried it ... also because without a SCSI card I am forced to start the installation from the hard disk
anyway I don't know how many people in the world install Windows NT 3.1 on an i7 today

in any case someone installed Windows NT 3.51 on modern PCs ... I think it is also possible with 3.1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVdW_SQG5ZY

[Overdoze]

in any case someone installed Windows NT 3.51 on modern PCs ... I think it is also possible with 3.1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVdW_SQG5ZY

3.51 was the version that fixed the Pentium II and later detection bug that the fix in this topic is for, so no modifications are needed in that case (as far as setup goes).

[AlphaBeta]

You don't need to do any of this if you just set up a period accurate system in 86Box or similar emulator. VMware and VirtualBox are certainly not the right tools for this job.

we are talking about real PC

That makes the thing even more ridiculous, since anything post-Pentium is pretty much guaranteed to have no NT 3.1 compatible drivers.

I hope you do enjoy wasting your time.

[yourepicfailure]

The newest system I have tried NT351 on was a Dell C6220II with dual 2697V2 processors. It was made possible because that server has the ability to mask the CPUID to be Pre-2k compatible.
It was a mere proof of concept to see if it actually would work. And with a set of boot floppies it actually booted NT setup.
I could have found a way to get the IDE compatibility to work and actually install it. But as others have said, it would be a sheer waste of time.
Not to mention pre-NT4 also has issues on newer hardware as it can't see more than 65Mb of ram on many bios/hardware configurations. Not even NT351 SP5 with all its hardware compatibility fixes can.

You'd be better off purchasing compatible hardware than wasting time trying to coax it on newer hardware. It's already enough hell trying to get XP or 2K3 on post 2012 hardware, let alone anything older.


Hell, those Xeons have more cache memory than NT351 was even designed for.

[backtofuture]

That makes the thing even more ridiculous, since anything post-Pentium is pretty much guaranteed to have no NT 3.1 compatible drivers.

I hope you do enjoy wasting your time.

it's like saying
what sense did it have to speculate time to create FIX95CPU or PATCHMEM for Windows 95 ...
if you can't understand this it's useless to continue arguing

[AlphaBeta]

That makes the thing even more ridiculous, since anything post-Pentium is pretty much guaranteed to have no NT 3.1 compatible drivers.

I hope you do enjoy wasting your time.

it's like saying
what sense did it have to speculate time to create FIX95CPU or PATCHMEM for Windows 95 ...
if you can't understand this it's useless to continue arguing

There is a huge difference between Windows 9x and Windows NT 3.1. One is a popular series with an active modding community, which created the tools you mentioned and more in belief that its design is a better fit for some specific scenarios than modern versions of Windows. The other is an obscure early version nobody really bought (because most people got it for free as a promotional offer), with little hardware and software support as it has been replaced a mere year later.