Creative Mapping Tricks

In July's Inbox, Satyam Bheemarasetti says that "most Windows programs must install some files under C:\WINDOWS. If this bottleneck is fixed, software installation (i.e., distribution) on Microsoft platforms can be as good as it is on Unix and truly capitalize on the Distributed File System (Dfs)."

With a few minor mapping tricks, we run Windows and Windows software on completely diskless computers. Our 160+ desktop PCs boot via boot PROMs to our Novell network. The user then types Windows after logging in. Windows runs just fine.

We have one group that holds new software-installation scripts. The user, upon seeing a new install icon, double-clicks on it: The program is installed into his or her user space on the network. Again, no hard, floppy, CD, or other type of drive is needed for thi s to work.

Our system has been running this way for over a year and is as bulletproof as you can make Windows 3.11. Users can even customize their screen colors, backgrounds, and so forth, just as if Windows were running on a local disk. The funny thing is that, with 10Base-T on a PCI 3Com card, Windows loads faster than it does from my IDE hard drive! Overall performance for memory hogs like WordPerfect is slightly slower, but this is almost undetectable.

Todd Crenshaw
Computer systems management analyst, State of Nevada
todd@innorth.reno.nv.us