Sign up for the ITPro Today newsletter
Stay on top of the IT universe with commentary, news analysis, how-to's, and tips delivered to your inbox daily.
Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 due soon
Microsoft Corporation has begun bracing its channel partners for the upcoming release of the long-overdue and oft-delayed Service Pack 4 forWindows NT 4.0. Service Pack 4, which is due later this month, will bemade available on CD-ROM and for
Paul Thurrott
October 1, 1998
3 Min Read
Microsoft Corporation has begun bracing its channel partners for the upcoming release of the long-overdue and oft-delayed Service Pack 4 forWindows NT 4.0. Service Pack 4, which is due later this month, will bemade available on CD-ROM and for download via the Microsoft Web site. TheWeb download will weigh in at a hefty 95 MB. Regardless of how you obtainSP4, it will require 40-80 MB of disk space, depending on what options youchoose.
Service Pack 4 will include the following features:
Profile Quotas. The System Policy Editor can now be used to edit the size of user profiles.
System Key. The NT account database now supports additional encryption.
Preferred domain controller setting. The setprfdc.exe utility will allow for direction of secure channel clients to a specific preferred domain controller.
RRAS Hotfix 3.0. NT Servers running RRAS will be upgraded to Hotfix 3.0.
PPTP Performance Enhancements. Data transfer speeds are greatly enhanced, though both client and server will need to run the performance update.
WINS and DHCP Enhancements. Several enhancements have been made to WINS and DHCP.
Viewing Security Event Log now requires Security Privilege. SP4 includes a fix that will require the Security Privilege to be enabled in order to view and manage the Security Event Log.
Euro Key Patch. The new European "Euro" currency symbol is now supported.
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) 2.0. IGMP version 2 allows a computer to inform a router that it is leaving a group. When all members have left a group, the router will stop forwarding multicast packets.
File and Printer services for NetWare (FPNW) clients. FPNW allows a Windows NT 4.0 server to provide file and print services to NetWare clients, including NetWare Client32 systems.
Remote Winsock. Allows configuration of a DNS Server port number other than Port 53.
RIP Listener support for NT Workstation. Previously only available on Server.
TAPI 2.1. Updates transparent client-server and remote control capabilities used for automating personal, corporate and call center telephony operations.
Year 2000 Enhancements. Several enhancements have been made to improve Y2K compliance.
Windows NT Option Pack Fixes. Several still-unknown enhancements have been made to the Windows NT Option Pack. Expect more info when SP4 is released.
CHKDSK Enhancements. You can now abort the utility at boot. Chkdsk.exe can also bypass or limit cycle checking, speeding completion time.
NBTSTAT Enhancements. The nbtstat.exe command has been enhanced with the -RR command, which deletes and re-registers a user in WINS Database without having to perform a system reboot.
In addition to the above list of features, the CD version of Windows NT 4.0Service Pack 4 will include the following applications. Note that none ofthese applications will be installed with SP4; you must install themseparately:
Windows NT Resource Kit Support Tools. A collection of tools and utilities from the Windows NT resource kit.
NetShow Services version 3.0.
Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM). A cross platform web-based management tool.
Security Configuration Editor (SCE). Originally slated for NT 5.0, the SCE is an integrated security system that gives administrators the ability to define and apply security configurations for Windows NT Workstation and Server installations.
Internet Explorer version 4.01 SP1.
Assorted Third-Party Drivers.
Message Queue (MSMQ) for Windows 95 Client.
Service Pack 4 will likely be the last major update to Windows NT 4.0 untilWindows NT 5.0 ships in early 1999. It also incorporates all of the bugfixes from previous service packs as well as any hot-fixes released sinceService Pack 3
About the Author
You May Also Like
