winnt.exe vs winnt32.exe

kingfish

I am really confused! Do you use winnt.exe to upgrade to 2000 from 3.1,9x or winnt32.exe. I have searched and searched and still can not find a clear answer. Can anyone explain these two files to me?

vex

Running Winnt.exe, performing a network installation, starting from the Windows 2000 Professional operating system CD, or using the four boot floppy disks performs a clean installation and does not allow you to upgrade. You must be inside the existing operating system to upgrade.

Running Winnt32.exe from the command prompt installs or upgrades Windows 2000 Professional from a previous version of Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and 3.51.

Hope this helps

Cheers

vex

here is a link to more info:

Intstalling Win2K

kingfish

So you use winnt.exe for clean installs and winnt32.exe for upgrades right?

vex

Correct

kingfish

Thanks taking the OS tomorrow and this is no time to be second guessing myself!

Whiteice27

WINNT should be used when upgrading from 95,98 and ME
WINNT32 should be used when upgrading from WinNT and Win2000

This is what the exam wants you to know when preforming an upgrade, use this information to estimate your answer, be sure to pay attention to the question and what its asking of you.

Webmaster

Whiteice27 wrote:

WINNT should be used when upgrading from 95,98 and ME
WINNT32 should be used when upgrading from WinNT and Win2000

This is what the exam wants you to know when preforming an upgrade, use this information to estimate your answer, be sure to pay attention to the question and what its asking of you.

No, that is not correct, it won't even work. And it's certainly not a matter of 'what the exam wants you to know', and there's no need to estimate the answer, it's a matter of technical facts that can be confirmed simply by reading the product documentation, or trying it out in a real-world scenario.

www.techexams.net/technotes/aplusos/upgrading_windows.shtml

And here's one of the many documents at microsoft.com that will confirm it:
www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/prork/prbb_iwp_iruj.asp

Winnt is never used as an upgrade utility. That's why CompTIA is confusing people because they list "Determine correct upgrade startup utility (e.g. WINNT32 vs WINNT)" as an exam objective. For the win 9x/2000/xp this is not a valid choice as winnt is never used to perform a real upgrade, which must be done from within the 32-bit Windows OS, using winnt32.

Jubi

Ya thats what I heard, is that you use Winnt32 within windows and Winnt in command prompt.