Windows NT 3.51 build 854

Windows NT 3.51 build 854.1 is a very early build of Windows NT 3.51. It was originally scene leaked by several warez groups in late 1994, and has been widely available online for years.

Compared to the RTM version of Windows NT 3.5, it includes an early version of Chicago Shell and User update (commonly known as "NewShell"), MSGINA, new Media Player application, CMD customization, new Windows 95-like common UI controls (e.g. tooltips on buttons), support for NTFS compression and the PCMCIA interface, as well as the OFS driver (version 0.33). All of these features except NewShell and OFS were later introduced with Windows NT 3.51, though at least two later builds of NewShell were released for NT 3.51 in mid-1995.

For a long time, there was a dispute on whether this build is a post-RTM build of Windows NT 3.5, or an early build of Windows NT 3.51. Considering that it contains many features that would be introduced in the latter, it has been concluded that this build is a build of Windows NT 3.51. Sometimes, this build has been considered a build of Windows Cairo by some due to the inclusion of the Object File System, however, this is unlikely as the component has been included in other non-Cairo builds, including Windows NT 3.51 build 896.1 and numerous Windows NT 4.0 (Shell Update Release) builds.

Chicago Shell
To install Chicago Shell, follow this procedure:


 * 1) Copy the IDW, MSTOOLS, and UI directories from the GUI or NEWSHELL folder of the installation media onto the Windows root directory of the hard drive.
 * 2) Edit the  file and add on the "path" switch in the file to include.
 * 3) Run the  file from the UI directory and reboot the computer.
 * 4) *If you get a STOP error on reboot, then the NewShell doesn't work for your PC, use a different computer.

OFS
Support for this file system can be enabled using The Distractor's batch file.