Windows NT 3.51 build 854

Windows NT 3.51 build 854 is a very early build of Windows NT 3.51 that was originally uploaded to warez BBSes in late 1994. Due to its earliness, the system identifies itself as Windows NT 3.5 and Setup still has references to it.

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.

Changes

 * When selecting SCSI adapters in text-mode Setup, "BusLogic Family" has been renamed to "BusLogic Standard SCSI Host Adapters".

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 Windows crashes on reboot, then the NewShell doesn't work for the current machine, use a different computer.

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

PCMCIA driver
The new PCMCIA driver is set to start on every boot by default, even if the computer doesn't support PCMCIA. In this case, an error about a service or driver failing to start will be shown on boot.

To fix this, change the startup type for the PCMCIA driver in the Devices control panel to either Manual or Disabled.