Server-Based Setup: An Overview

To install Windows 95 source files on the network and create setup scripts, you must run Server-based Setup under Windows 95, and follow the instructions to do the following:

• Copy the Windows 95 source files onto the server, as described in "Task 1: Copying Windows 95 Files to a Server" later in this chapter.

  This is the only step required to make Windows 95 source files available for running Windows 95 Setup from a network source.

• For shared installations, create a machine directory for each computer, as described in "Task 2: Creating Machine Directories" later in this chapter. This step is required for floppy disk-based and remote-boot installations. For computers that start from the hard disk, you must run Windows 95 Setup on each computer, even if the computer will use a machine directory on the network.
• Create setup scripts for automated installation of Windows 95 on client computers, as described in Chapter 5, "Custom, Automated, and Push Installations."

The following illustration summarizes the main tasks that are performed using Server-based Setup.

After you have completed these preliminary tasks, you can run Windows 95 Setup to complete the installation, as described in "Installing Windows 95 for Shared Installations" later in this chapter.

Note Run Windows 95 Setup from the directory where SETUP.EXE is stored. In Windows 3.x, you had to switch to the directory you were setting up before running setup /n. This is no longer necessary in Windows 95.

The files that make up Server-based Setup are uncompressed files in the ADMIN\NETTOOLS\NETSETUP directory on the Windows 95 compact disc. The program can be run directly from the compact disc, which is the recommended method.