The Internet offers many Windows NT resources that are freely available to anyone. Even though you can call Microsoft for questions related to Windows NT, you might first want to find out if anyone else has come across the same problem and learn what was done to solve it, possibly saving you some time and money. Another advantage of posting questions on the Internet is that they are read by a diverse group of people. Therefore, responses you get will be greatly varied and will include a wide range of experiences. You can take advantage of this by sifting through the different responses and selecting the best solution that suits your needs.
With a few exceptions, the Internet is generally a friendly place where people sometimes go a little out of their way to help those who need help. If you are supporting Windows NT, consider joining one or more Windows NT Internet mailing lists. In the next section, you learn about various Windows NT mailing lists and get directions for joining them. In addition to joining various mailing lists, you can also browse Windows NT newsgroups and participate in various discussions; these Internet options enable you to keep up-to-date with new information and learn from the experiences of others.
Windows NT mailing lists are a rich source of information related
to Windows NT. Most people who subscribe to these mailing lists
use Windows NT everyday and are quite helpful when someone has
a problem. Before you join a mailing list, be aware that some
of them generate quite a few e-mail messages each day. If you
don't want to receive dozens of e-mail messages daily, it's better
not to subscribe to a mailing list. In my opinion, however, the
knowledge that you can gain from being in one or more mailing
lists is well worth the extra e-mail. By joining a mailing list,
you not only get a chance to find solutions to various questions,
but you also are able to discuss topics related to Windows NT
with other NT users. By sharing your experiences with others,
and by learning from the experiences of others, you will be able
to find innovative ways of accomplishing your objectives. It's
a safe bet that you'll see me occasionally in some of the Windows
NT mailing lists provided next.
| Tip |
If your e-mail application supports "rules," use them to divert e-mail from mailing lists to a folder. This will make sure dozens of messages you get from various mailing lists do not distract you from reading your personal and business e-mail. It's generally a good idea to use a different folder for each mailing list so that when you have some free time, you can open a folder and read all the messages. |
To join any of the following Windows NT mailing lists, simply
send an e-mail message to the addresses listed. Be sure the body
of your message contains the appropriate text listed. Usually,
after a few hours, you will start receiving messages directed
to the list you sent the subscription request to.
| Tip |
When you're subscribed to a mailing list, you will receive a "welcome message" that contains information about the mailing list. Be sure to save this message; it also contains information regarding how to unsubscribe from the mailing list in case you change your mind. Some list members are not very friendly when "unsubscribe messages" are sent to the mailing list! |
For discussions related to Windows NT-based WWW servers:
Send e-mail to: webserver-nt-request@DELTA.PROCESS.COM
Include this in body of message: subscribe webserver-nt
Send e-mail to: http_winnt@Emerald.NET
Include the string subscribe in the subject line; leave the body blank
For general discussions related to Windows NT:
Send e-mail to: list@bhs.com
Include this in body of message: join iwntug
Send e-mail to: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
Include this in body of message: join windows-nt
Send e-mail to: listserv@eva.dc.lsoft.com
Include this in body of message: subscribe winnt-l
There are many resourceful Windows NT Web sites on the Internet. The following WWW sites are devoted solely to Windows NT. You might want to add some of these sites to your favorite Web browser's bookmark list, visit them every now and then to keep up-to-date with information related to Windows NT, and find solutions to various problems.
http://www.microsoft.com/NTServer/HCL/hclintro.htm
Visit this URL to determine whether a peripheral in question is compatible with Windows NT. If you don't see an item in the hardware compatibility list, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's not compatible with Windows NT. In such a case, you might want to contact the hardware manufacturer for information about Windows NT compatibility.
http://www.microsoft.com/BackOffice/reading/nt4unix.htm
This paper provides a technical overview of Windows NT for the information technology professional with a strong background in UNIX. It approaches the subject from the UNIX point of view and relates the concepts of Windows NT to corresponding ones found in UNIX. The paper begins with a technical comparison of the two operating systems and moves on to cover how the two can coexist in a heterogeneous environment. The paper finishes with a brief section describing some of the tools available to aid developers in creating applications for both platforms.
http://www.shore.net/~wihl/unix2nt.html
If you're interested in learning about NT versions of UNIX and TCP/IP utilities, visit this URL. You might find these utilities quite useful. This site also contains a list of frequently asked questions about how to port UNIX applications to Microsoft's Windows NT. This URL is particularly informative to anyone who intends to port UNIX applications to Windows NT, and it's typically updated with new information about once a month.
http://www.neystadt.org/winnt
This site contains many resources about using Windows NT to host a Web site and set up other Internet information distribution applications.
http://www.emwac.ed.ac.uk/
EMWAC acts as a focus for activities and events that support the use of Windows NT. This is a very informative Web site to find various Internet tools and services for Windows NT. Be sure to browse the Internet Tool Chest for Windows NT at this site for various NT Internet applications such as Finger Server, Gopher Server, HTTP Server, Internet Mail Server , WAIS Server, and WAIS Toolkit.
http://www.windowsnt.digital.com/
This URL leads you to the Windows NT resources page at Digital; this page contains many Windows NT information resources. If you're hosting your Web server on an Alpha, you'll find this Web site particularly useful.
http://www.bhs.com
The Beverly Hills Software Windows NT Resource Center is an excellent source for Windows NT resources and information. Beverly Hills Software is an Internet consulting and presence firm that specializes in the design, installation, and implementation of Microsoft Windows NT-based Internet servers.
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver
This site contains many Windows NT server resources as well as information about creating Web sites using Windows NT.
http://COBA.SHSU.edu/messages/nt-list.htm
This site contains hundreds of Windows NT resources that are self-reported. If you set up your own Windows NT resources page, add it to the list found at this Web page.
http://www.fbsolutions.com/sdwntug
The mission of SDWNTUG is to promote the use of Windows NT Server and Workstation and to act as a conduit for the free exchange of information and discussion of NT-related issues.
http://www.telemark.net/~randallg/ntsecure.htm
Visit this site to find how you can make your NT Web server on the Internet more secure.
http://mfginfo.com/htm/website.htm
A comprehensive list of Windows NT software and resources to host a Windows NT-based Web site.
http://rick.wzl.rwth-aachen.de/rick
A large number of Windows NT links to NT download sites, user groups and associations, newsgroups, mailing lists, and so forth.
http://infotech.kumc.edu/winnt/
This Web site contains many Windows NT resources, including information about Remote Access Server and Windows NT file archives, as well as other Windows NT resources on the Web.
http://Wonderland.dial.umd.edu/~NT
Contains numerous Windows NT information resources. This resource center is maintained by me and contains information about hosting a Windows NT-based Web site and setting up various Internet information systems on the Internet. You can also find at this Web site information about various NT applications and other Windows NT resources on the Internet.
There are many Web sites on the Internet that distribute Windows NT software. You'll be able to accomplish certain tasks more efficiently by utilizing the utilities and applications found in the Web sites listed next. You'll also find applications that provide solutions to limitations of NT, such as a lack of a disk quota management.
http://www.net-shopper.co.uk/
Internet Shopper is a company dedicated to the promotion of Windows NT on all platforms. At the Internet shopper Web site, you'll find a number of Internet services for Windows NT. Internet applications found at this Web site include mail server, mail list server, NNTP news server, and Domain Name Service.
http://coyote.csusm.edu/cwis/winworld/nt.html
This site contains a very extensive collection of Windows NT shareware applications as well as device drivers and Windows NT ports of useful UNIX utilities.
ftp://ntperl.hip.com/ntperl/
You can obtain the latest version of NT PERL free of charge from this FTP site. PERL is a very powerful programming language commonly used to develop Web CGI programs.
http://www.telemark.net/~randallg/ntdns.htm
This link is very useful if you need to set up a Domain Name Service (DNS) server on a Windows NT machine. This link provides you with a free Windows NT port of UNIX Bind.
http://www.ccsi.com:80/pragma/
Pragma Systems has a telnet server for Windows NT that can be used to connect to a Windows NT Internet server via telnet. You can download an evaluation version of the InterAccess Telnet Server for Windows NT from the preceding Web page.
http://www.ntsoftdist.com/ntsoftdist/
At the Sunbelt International Web site, you'll find numerous Windows NT disk management utilities, such as a utility to check disk fragmentation.
http://www.fbsolutions.com/ntav
Carmel Anti-virus is a Windows NT virus detection and eradication utility.
Listed next are a few Internet newsgroups that discuss issues relating to Web site development. In order to keep up to date with new technologies and learn innovative ways of distributing information on the Internet, it's a good idea to visit the following newsgroups occasionally:
comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows comp.infosystems.www.servers.misc comp.infosystems.www.browsers.ms-windows comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc
A number of newsgroups have been set up on the Internet for discussions related to Windows NT. In order to take part in these discussions, you might want to check out some of the following newsgroups:
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.pre-release comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.misc comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.hardware comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.networking comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.misc comp.os.ms-windows.nt.software.backoffice