In most cases, people who customize Windows NT Setup are doing so for a corporation whose users will run Setup from a distribution share. Therefore, the first step (after installing Windows NT on at least one computer) is to set up a distribution share for your corporation. You need separate shares for Windows NT workstation and Windows NT server. You will modify the files after they are in the shared directory.
This section explains some of the caveats to creating Setup shares along with a few preparatory steps you will need to take before modifying the files.
By copying the entire set of files you can reproduce the directory structure on the distribution media. As a result, your distribution share will have different subdirectories for the different platforms (x86, MIPS, and so on).
Copy the files from the Windows NT Setup CD, using the following syntax for the xcopy command:
xcopy cd:\ share /s
where cd is the drive letter you have assigned to your CD-ROM drive. Share is the location of the distribution share you created. For example:
xcopy f:\i386 \\winnt35_dist\x86
From target computers, users can connect to the appropriate directory on the distribution share to install Windows NT. Users running MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, or Windows NT can connect to the appropriate directory on the distribution share and run the winnt or winnt32 utility to start the installation process. For more information, see the Windows NT System Guide.
These distribution shares are used primarily for installing Windows NT with the winnt or winnt32 utility. They can also be used by a user who has installed Windows NT and wants to install additional files. For instance, a user who wants to install a printer driver can type in the path to the network distribution share when Setup prompts for the location of the printer driver.