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Q147012: Activating /W Switch to Prevent Restarting in WinNT

Article: Q147012
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): Winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsetupkbbuglist kbfixlist
Last Modified: 08-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

The /W switch no longer works with Winnt.exe in Windows NT 4.0.

CAUSE
=====

In previous versions of Windows NT, Winnt.exe used the /W switch to prevent
restarting because this caused problems with the Intel i386 running under
Windows 3.x. The switch was excluded as unnecessary in Windows NT 4.0, because
the Intel i386 processor is not supported on that platform.

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

In certain situations, it might be desirable to prevent Winnt.exe from
restarting after you copy files, so that you can do some postprocessing,
especially when you start Winnt.exe from a batch file.

In previous versions of Windows NT, this could be done by using the /W switch
with Winnt.exe. This switch does not work with Windows NT 4.0.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. This
problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 U.S. Service Pack.
For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

  S E R V P A C K

Additional query words: 4.00 prodnt

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Keywords          : kbsetup kbbuglist kbfixlist
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400
Version           : Winnt:4.0
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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