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Q118380: Windows NT 3.5 and Windows 95 on the Same Computer

Article: Q118380
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 3.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbinterop
Last Modified: 08-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5 
- Microsoft Windows 95 
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SUMMARY
=======

Windows NT version 3.5 and Windows 95 can reside on the same computer, but they
will not work properly if they are installed into the same directory. If Windows
NT is installed over Windows 95, the Windows 95 installation will be unusable.

Installing these operating systems in the same directory is not supported.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Windows NT version 3.5 installed into the same directory as Windows 95
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Windows NT cannot be installed into the same directory as Windows 95. Doing so
will render the Windows 95 installation un-bootable. Windows NT will replace
some of the new Windows 95 .DLL files (version 4.x) in the \SYSTEM directory
with old Windows 3.x .DLL files which are needed for the WOW subsystem. Without
the newer .DLL files, Windows 95 will not boot.

Windows 95 installed into the same directory as Windows NT version 3.5
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Windows 95 detects the presence of a Windows NT boot sector and it will not
overwrite it, if you select MS-DOS from the Windows NT Boot menu, Windows 95
will then load. However, Windows 95 will make several changes to the directory
structure and the files in the \SYSTEM directory which will affect the operation
of Windows NT.

Windows 95 rewrites the Windows 3.x default .DLL files (such as SHELL.DLL) in the
SYSTEM directory. This is by design so that Windows 95 can run both 16 and
32-bit Windows applications. However, Windows NT Windows on Windows (WOW)
subsystem relies on the original Win16 DLL's to run Win16 applications. If
Windows 95 is installed, some Win16 applications may not run under Windows NT,
such as some of Microsoft's Setup programs and WinBUG.

Windows 95 moves all the screen fonts to a newly created \FONTS directory. Since
Windows NT uses the screen fonts normally present in the \SYSTEM directory, it
will be forced to use a default Courier-type font rather than the normal system
font. This default font is not proportioned correctly for Windows NT's dialog
boxes, and some text will be unreadable.

Additional query words: prodnt

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Keywords          : kbinterop 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNT350search kbWinNTW350 kbWinNTW350search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS350 kbWinNTS350search kbWin95search kbZNotKeyword3
Version           : 3.5

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