How to Install Windows NT 4 Server on Proxmox
18 comments
·May 25, 2025racingmars
Now all we need is for Apache Guacamole to add support into its RDP client for whatever old version of RDP NT 4 Terminal Server uses. Access all those old NT 4 applications through my web browser!
reconnecting
Was the choice of Windows NT 4 Server over the Workstation version intentional? I can't recall the specifics, but I remember the Workstation version being way more lightweight and easier to setup.
chungy
They're basically the same, with a different performance profile default and server software.
Almost surely the whole article applies identically to Workstation
reconnecting
Quoted in PC WeekOnline ("Microsoft: 'significant differences' between NTS, NTW", Norvin Leach, September 10):
Roberts acknowledged that NTS and NTW are included in the same binary file. It was easier to build and test them that way, he said. The setting in the Registry, he said, triggers 48 changes to the kernel. These changes cascade down to 700 additional settings in software outside the kernel.
jacob019
Just got to say that I love the BBS style blog and retro fonts.
LeoPanthera
The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack: https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/
bitwize
The font shown on this site is VT323, a TrueType/OpenType version of the DEC VT320 terminal font. It doesn't come from the PC font pack.
jetbalsa
Nice, I've had to do this to get NT4 for Open Stack, QEMU has better support for some of the older hardware required. I've also gotten DOS 6.22 and Networking turned on
LeoPanthera
Is there anything you can do with NT4 Server that you can't do with 2000 Server? (Other than run it on Alpha, MIPS or PowerPC.)
reconnecting
NT 4 feels way stable comparing with 2000.
Despite my own experience with Windows ends with XP, NT 4 was always my favourite version.
simondotau
The main reason for preferring a newer version of Windows has generally been hardware compatibility. But when virtualising (or emulating), this is far less important as compatibility is usually scaffolded by emulated hardware and/or backported drivers.
When your requirements call for an old version of Windows, generally you have a specific piece of software you want to run, so start by choosing the version most widely used at the time, which sometimes isn't the latest version. And you should always experiment, because there are thousands of things which contribute to stability. Newer (or older) version of Windows could be better or worse, depending on your specific case.
Regardless which version you pick, treat them as a security risk and (if you're in a serious production environment) avoid giving them unrestricted access to your local network or unrestricted access to the wider internet.
reconnecting
NT 4.0 was way different from XP or 2000, and it wasn't just a matter of hardware support. It wasn't as "Plug and Play" as XP, but somehow it worked much more stably. I think back to the days when we had an NT server that ran for years without a reboot, and that's not something you could expect from XP or 2000.
Actually, if I ever decide to dive into old Windows, NT 4.0 will be the only version I have personal sentiments for.
orionblastar
The link for your ISO of the VGA driver https://blog.pipetogrep.org/downloads/win_nt_proxmox/vbempk.... doesn't work. Did you delete it or move it?
out-of-ideas
im guessing its an iso made of the contents from the zip linked as the source of that, at https://navozhdeniye.narod.ru/vbemp.htm#2 ; you want the 2nd column down ( ensure the url file name matches the filename, except iso is a zip => vbempk.zip )
orionblastar
The download link for that website goes to here: https://navozhdeniye.narod.ru/donate.htm
Do I have to donate to get the driver?
Lammy
That's the first table row, the 2019 version. Click the link in the second table row to get the 2015 version without donation.
binarycrusader
archive.org to the rescue
My only "critique" of the article is the lack of SMP (multi-core) enablement
NT 4 did support rudimentary multi-processor (Symmetric Multi-Processor) systems back in the day. But it seems to lack the `HLT` instruction in the SMP enabled HAL
This means an NT 4 VM will always operate at 100% CPU usage even if it's simply idling.
Back in the 2000's when folks were slowly migrating NT 4 workloads to VMware, enterprising users took it upon themselves to patch the NT4 SMP HAL to fix this. But in my own testing that doesn't seem to work and results in a blue screen of death on boot.
There's probably a way to do it under QEMU/Proxmox. But I haven't dug deep enough to figure it out myself